Transforming talent acquisition at Ingram Micro

Challenges

When business took a strong upturn, Ingram Micro – the world’s largest distributor of computer products – needed a talent acquisition function that could deliver workforce growth to match market opportunity. Since Ingram Micro reduced its recruitment team during the economic slump, the company sought a strategic Recruitment Process Outsourcing partner for its high-volume hiring needs.

The Fortune 100 company’s employee value proposition centered on well-defined career pathing and investment in its associates. Though its tradition was to promote and hire from within, Ingram Micro needed to embrace robust candidate sourcing and expand its recruitment funnel.

Solutions

Cielo’s true partnership approach made RPO an effective solution for Ingram Micro’s high-volume hiring needs. Dedicated recruiters spent several weeks on-site developing a close partnership with Ingram Micro’s internal recruiters in California and New York. They adjusted and collaborated as a team, defining new processes to accelerate efficient hiring for sales, market development, vendor development and technical support roles. Internal recruiters continued to fill the higher-complexity requisitions, but integrated Cielo’s best practices into their work. 

The partnership elevated talent acquisition at Ingram Micro through its focus on:

• Culture – Internal recruiters supported Cielo to fully understand and reflect the characteristics of candidates best aligned with the company’s technology industry culture. At the same time, Cielo consulted on and supported the company’s change management efforts related to the talent acquisition transformation.
• Technology – Cielo’s proprietary technology platform created efficiencies and drove sourcing excellence, while the team also provided training and best practices to ensure Ingram Micro was making the most of its new ATS.
• Reporting – Regular metrics enabled by the new technology and processes began providing greater visibility into the talent acquisition function, which quickly led to goal setting and quantifiable business results.
• Candidate experience – Together, Ingram Micro and Cielo improved communication with candidates and hiring managers, leading to better experiences for all.
• Talent pipelining – Cielo built a robust pipeline of qualified candidates to meet Ingram Micro’s high-volume hiring needs

Results

Through the partnership, talent acquisition aligned with Ingram Micro’s revenue targets. Cielo recruiters filled 400-500 positions annually. With the team’s growing recruiting funnel, 65% of hires were external candidates. But, true to Ingram Micro’s culture, the team continues to promote career opportunities internally and makes 35% of hires from within its workforce.

Cielo has established an external candidate interview-to-offer ratio of 3:1, increasing the productivity of hiring managers while keeping the focus of all hiring activities on the quality of candidates. The partnership continues to develop, with Cielo handling higher-complexity requisitions on an as-needed basis.