There is an untapped world of talent that companies don’t access because of rigid ways of thinking about how, and from where, they hire. Pearson's Hire from Anywhere initiative launched in mid-2020 set out to establish more flexible ways to recruit skilled staff for temporary roles as we all began to work remotely. I sat down with the leaders behind the program to learn more -- Lisa Egan, VP, Head of Indirect Procurement and Gene Carlson, VP, Head of Talent Acquisition.
How does the 'Hire from Anywhere' initiative work in practice?
Simply put, Pearson has gained access to a world of qualified employees by removing the requirements for temporary staff to be located near our offices. Currently the initiative is underway the US and UK and has brought in some exciting additions to our teams.
It's not uncommon for businesses to have geographic requirements tied to job openings. Historically Pearson would only consider candidates prepared to travel to the office location associated with the open job.This reduced the pool of talent available and limited diversity. Our Managed Service Provider (MSP), Allegis Global Solutions, helped us partner with new and innovative recruitment agencies to uncover previously hidden talent pools. Today at Pearson, hiring managers are provided with an array of CVs or resumes from people across the US and UK, regardless of time-zone.
Among our success stories, we've sourced a candidate from Yachats, Oregon,for a media role over 3,000 miles from the requester's office location in Orlando, Florida; we’ve hired someone from Dallas, Texasto fill a tech role that would have been based in Durham, North Carolina; and hired a senior software developer from Miami, Florida, for a job that would previously have been based in American Fork, Utah.
What do you see as the benefits and challenges?
Championing this new way of working provides Pearson with a competitive advantage from a temporary labour perspective, helping us to:
- Source the best possible people for the job, regardless of location
- Access diverse talent
- Reduce time to hire
- Promote flexibility
- Encourage people to view Pearson as an employer of choice
While we are finding that this approach saves money, it isn't a cost-saving exercise. This is about finding the right candidates, from a more diverse pool and delivering on our strategic diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments. We want to make sure that we're able to identify people that are going to add value to Pearson, and hopefully Pearson will add value tothem in their lives as well.
If you think of it like fishing, we're used to fishing in our own backyard and if you keep going back to the same pond, you keep getting the same fish, or you don't get any fish because you run out eventually. This solution is about casting our lines far and wide.
In terms of challenges, we’ve been lucky to experience very few so far.
How do you see “Hire from Anywhere” developing in the future?
We are exploring ways to expand this program into markets outside of the UK and US. Additionally, we're looking to see how these principles can be adopted for our permanent hiring needs.
Hear more about this initiative on the AGS podcast “Subject to Talent”
Hannah Hawkins is Media Manager for Pearson UK.