Last week, I spoke at the HCI Conference in New York about how PepsiCo is exploring new ways to attract and nurture the best talent in an increasingly global, complex world. With a history dating back over 100 years, our company has adapted its business model and strategy in response to shifts in the economic, political and social environments as well as the evolving change in consumer preferences. It is exactly this ability to adapt and embrace global and organizational change that has allowed us to succeed.
As part of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo is committed to talent sustainability, investing in our people as a competitive advantage. With this priority, my team has worked to develop a refreshed approach to talent acquisition. Here’s a look at just five ways we’re evolving from a recruiting perspective:
- Being global while acting local – With operations in 200 countries and roughly half its revenue coming from outside the United States, PepsiCo is truly a global company. Therefore, we must recruit and develop talent that have a global mindset and cross-cultural skills but can lead on a local level. Through our new employer brand, we’re able to share the Possibilities of a career at PepsiCo with one voice, across many languages.
- Developing leaders – Consider this: 75 million baby boomers are nearing retirement, but there are only 30 million generation X-ers to fill their roles. Moreover, 58% of multinationals lack talent for critical leadership positions. We’re strengthening our talent pipelines by giving associates learning opportunities to develop, such as classes to gain functional skills or management training – and communicating to candidates that PepsiCo is best-in-class as a place to launch as well as grow their careers.
- Advancing the digital experience – Whether it’s enhancing our careers website with multimedia, developing mobile apps, participating in virtual career fairs, or telling the PepsiCo story using QR codes, we’re committed to using technology to effectively communicate and connect with digitally savvy talent.
- Engaging and creating dialogue – The days of delivering a message through one-way channels are over. We’re using many channels to create fresh dialogue with candidates. For example, with @PepsiCoJOBS on Twitter, job seekers can directly interact with PepsiCo recruiters and learn about corporate culture or available positions. With more than 35 new followers a day, it’s also been an effective channel for identifying talent.
- Thinking like a candidate – We’re more clearly presenting ‘one PepsiCo’ to job seekers. Rather than recruiting in business silos, we’re giving a full look at the opportunities available – whether it’s at Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker or Pepsi. Rather than recruiting as a food and beverage company, we’re presenting ourselves as an organization made up of sales, marketing, R&D, finance, IT and other functions, which better resonates with job seekers. Our consumer is the candidate and we are striving to give them a wonderful experience with our brand – PepsiCo!
With these efforts, I believe we’re making progress in our talent journey. I invite you to listen to a podcast with Total Picture Radio where I further explain the evolution of our global talent acquisition function and how we’re bringing our strategy to life in exciting new ways.
How have you seen the job seeking experience change? How can companies like PepsiCo continue to evolve and advance their recruiting practices? What part can you play in our journey? Send me your thoughts, ideas and comments.
