Accor is embracing digital recruitment to meet the expectations of a new generation of candidates. The Group is now using Pinterest, a social network with 70 million users that allows members to “pin” images, videos and links to their online pinboard.
“To attract and retain new talents, our ambition is to offer the candidate a digital experience as rich and attractive as possible, both in terms of navigation, interactivity and content. Our ambition is to be positioned in all the media currently used by job applicants”, explains Philippe Liger, Accor’s Human Resources Marketing Director.
Social networks
Already active on YouTube and LinkedIn since 2011, AccorJobs has expanded its online community to Facebook and Twitter users, attracting 33,000 fans and 2,500 subscribers respectively by September 2013.
On Pinterest, Accor’s page aims to provide information on several topics, encompassing both the employees and their jobs, with pictures reflecting their daily lives in the hotels. Users can “like” the content, comment, apply for jobs and “re-pin” images on their own boards and share them.
“Pinterest was clearly the best way of communicating on the diversity of our professions, transmitting our values, and promoting the work of our employees. It should enable us to source talent outside our recruitment sites. This new source should divert traffic towards all our other recruitment devices”, adds Philippe Liger, Accor’s Human Resources Marketing Director:
Mobile
The AccorJobs mobile site provides real-time access to job vacancies from a smartphone. Candidates can set up a “job alert” to receive offers matching their profile as soon as they are published and save them in a basket before applying from a computer. Since it was created, the mobile site has already reached 210,000 visits and new developments are to come in 2013/2014.
Websites
Since June 2013, Accor has been testing SEEing’s methodology in order to recruit future receptionists. This screening via an online questionnaire includes MCQ tests, open-ended questions for the candidates to talk about their professional accomplishments, and questions via webcam to measure language skills. The objectives are to identify potential talents without training or experience of hospitality, but with a deep sense of customer relations, and also to optimize the HR process leading to recruitment. This initiative has just been awarded in France with “Le Grand Prix de l’innovation numérique des Trophées SIRH 2013”.
At the core of Accor’s e-recruitment lies AccorJobs. The Group’s recruitment site, which is available in 12 languages, reached 5.1 million visits and received over 350,000 job applications in 2012. Every year, it advertises close to 20,000 job and traineeship offers. In 2012, AccorJobs.com launched a series of new features, including a video providing recruiters with advice.
And finally, in the Accor.com corporate website’s “Recruitment and Careers” section, browsers can access a Group presentation, videos and podcasts of employee testimonials, a professional guide, a job quiz entitled “Which jobs would suit you best?”, and a section specially for students and graduates. In 2012, employer branding and recruitment specialist Potentialpark ranked Accor first in France and fourth in Europe for its Online Talent Communication.
Thomas Dubaere, Managing Director, Accor UK & Ireland said: “We take our responsibility as an employer very seriously and are committed to investing in new talent and developing careers across our portfolio of brands. To engage with a new generation of prospective employees it is vital to have online and digital tools to support our recruitment strategy. Accor has recently been recognized by The Great Place to Work® Institute as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces and we are always looking for talented people to join our growing network”.
