In a world where businesses branch out across countries and continents, reaching employees, candidates, and co-workers has become more complicated than ever before – but technology can ease the strain.
Anthea Deo is the people and capability manager for Hawkins Infrastructure – one of New Zealand’s largest construction companies. She says there’s one particular tool that the organization has come to rely on across multiple areas of the business.
“We are currently using video collaboration within our HR function in a number of ways,” says Deo.
Employee training
“We are currently setting up virtual training and plan to share these videos with employees for one-on-one, on-demand training,” reveals Deo. “We are also developing a video clip series of our offshore hubs to support the on-boarding of new team members.”
Talent acquisition
“Recruitment is another significant area for us,” says Deo. “You would be surprised how much we rely on video technology to meet candidates.”
According to the Auckland-based HR professional, most candidates have their first and second interviews via video.
“We wouldn’t have it any other way,” stressed Deo. “Introducing video has enabled us to improve our recruitment process. Quick turnarounds mean that we can attract high calibre candidates who have selected Hawkins as an ‘Employer of Choice’ and this gives us an edge, not only within New Zealand, but more recently, within the international marketplace too.
“As our team at Hawkins Infrastructure is getting more widespread, we are using video capabilities to connect with both colleagues and clients to have more engaging and interactive meetings,” she continues. “This eliminates any barriers to having the whole team together.
“Now, no matter where we are or which city we are in, there is a high chance we’ll manage to connect. For example we now have weekly catch ups with our National Teams without too much IT support need. We also have weekly collaboration meetings with our International Teams with ease.”
Hawkins Infrastructure current operates on the Polycom Microsoft Lync Room System.
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