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February 29, 2008
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Risa Borr, center, the director of the Textron Talent Acquisition Center, receives the APQC Best Practices award from Cindy Hubert, left. Also accepting the award was Kelley Hoffman, an enterprise sourcing specialist. |
For any employer, finding the right candidate can be a long and often costly proposition, especially at a time when top talent is a highly-prized commodity. Recognizing the importance of recruiting, Textron established the Talent Acquisition Center (TAC) in May 2004 to get the most qualified candidates in the door and hired quickly and efficiently.
Sam Yoon, corporate assistant general counsel for Textron, counts himself among those grateful for the TAC. “I've gone through the hiring process numerous times in my life, but Textron's process was one of the best," says Yoon, who joined the company in July 2007, two months after he was first contacted by the TAC.
Yoon credits Nicole Cassani, a TAC sourcing specialist, for helping him make what could have been a stressful experience into something quite different. "She was the first person I spoke with during the process and she really set the tone for a professional, efficient and even friendly experience," he says.
It’s not just newly-hired employees who are noticing the effectiveness of the TAC. The American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC), an internationally renowned resource for process and performance improvement, recently recognized the TAC with a Best Practice award for its streamlined practices that has resulted in customer care and satisfaction.
The APQC also recognized the TAC for using Textron Six Sigma and Lean methodologies that created a system to streamline hiring and recruitment of candidates. Textron Six Sigma and Lean is a process that involved examining a project or system from top to bottom and creating new and more efficient ways of delivering a service or product.
Of 125 companies that submitted applications for a best practice award, Textron was one of six to be chosen. Other award winners were Abbott Laboratories, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lincoln Financial Group, Microsoft and TELUS.
"What's exciting to us is that we're a fairly new organization built from scratch and other companies who are experiencing transformation as we are, now look to us as a model," says Risa Borr, director of TAC.
There are four TAC centers located throughout the United States with the goal of expanding the TAC internationally.
Each TAC tailors its sourcing and recruitment activities to the Textron business units that it serves. The TACs use the same processes, tools and metrics. For instance, every TAC uses a recruitment management system and on-line workflow process to move candidates through the hiring process. "We tried to automate our system and make things quick and efficient wherever we could," says Borr.
With TAC, the hiring manager works with a TAC sourcing specialist to define the ideal candidate, with the sourcing specialist then conducting the search, screening resumes and qualifying promising candidates. The sourcing specialist works with candidates until they are on the job.
Paul Hoffman, director of Global Sourcing at Greenlee, has worked with TAC frequently over the past year. He says the TAC has been helpful in bringing them qualified candidates. "I've been presented with good quality candidates already pre-screened by people who are knowledgeable about Textron's needs and culture. This process makes my job a lot easier."
"I would rather my sourcing folks spend their time looking at resumes that are at least 85 percent there, rather than wasting their time talking to people who are not qualified," adds Borr.
"To further ensure efficiency, we've set up a Talent Acquisition Advisory Group (TAAG)," says Bill Sickman, executive director of organizational design and effectiveness. "This is a decision-making body that oversees all four TACs and is responsible for strategic staffing, direction, process alignment and continuous improvement efforts."
"We're all aspiring in our own areas to be a premier company and part of that is attracting and keeping talented people," says Borr. "It's nice to get affirmation that we are doing the right thing."
If you’re interested in seeing jobs that are available at Textron, visit the Careers section of our website.
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