Articles 
A celebrated online travel agency known worldwide was looking to capitalize on the strategic opportunities presented by the post-pandemic landscape to enhance its international presence while further consolidating the strength of its domestic operations.
With the agency looking to branch out rapidly into over 25 countries scattered across six continents, creating a coherent global talent strategy capable of navigating the complexities of diverse cultural and regional markets soon became paramount. The agency knew it needed a partner with both the technology and the expertise to support a transformation of this scope within a limited timescale. It was at this point it turned to Avature.
Just four months later, all talent acquisition data, workstreams and third-party integrations had been consolidated within Avature’s highly configurable ATS. The result was a smoother recruitment process that is both globally coherent and locally adaptable, efficient in design yet customizable enough to be shaped according to the agency’s evolving needs.
Defining the Challenges of an Evolving Travel Industry Recruitment Strategy
The obstacles the agency found itself grappling with will be familiar to any company looking to scale up its workforce to match accelerating global ambitions. Chief among these were:
- Challenges in deploying digital technology that can adequately handle regional recruitment demands while supporting an integrated global recruitment strategy.
- The inability to effectively track candidates’ progress throughout the entire recruitment process, from screening to onboarding.
- Poor coordination among global HR teams in synchronizing information and managing their work efficiently.
- Difficulties in responding to overseas data privacy compliance issues and finding a customized solution to meet local recruiting needs.
- Lack of integration with overseas job boards and platforms, making it impossible to store applicants’ resumes centrally.
- The absence of an integrated multi-language system to support local HR teams and the candidates’ application process, leading to lengthy screening times.
- Tracking and reporting on global recruiting effectiveness was undermined by a lack of integrated data and the means by which to interpret it effectively.
It was evident the fragmented recruitment practices it had employed until this point no longer met the organization’s changing needs. A technological solution that would enable HR teams globally to manage talent sourcing, engagement, recruiting and onboarding more effectively was now imperative. It was at this point the company contacted Avature.
How Avature Helped Establish an Integrated Global Approach
Avature first set about facilitating discussions among key stakeholders, sharpening their focus on the unique regional demands and recruiting issues faced across the business, and aligning everyone behind the overall project vision.
Working together and drawing on Avature’s best use cases, they defined the configuration and implementation strategy for a highly customizable, fit-for-purpose ATS, which would see the entire recruiting process, as well as all candidate data, consolidated on one platform.
Working to an ambitious timeline, Avature and the agency employed an agile approach to the transformation. Avature’s scalable integration architecture was harnessed to connect and support a comprehensive third-party ecosystem, from job boards, online assessments, interview scheduling and e-offer to background checks, onboarding and core HR processes.
Avature was also able to help the agency achieve brand consistency across all recruitment touchpoints, in doing so leveraging global brand recognition to promote the agency’s EVP.
In just four months, the new ATS was live, with stakeholder portals accessible in five major languages. Throughout the implementation and post-implementation periods, Avature’s flexible architecture allowed it to respond to the customer’s change requests while ensuring the solution can evolve in tandem with the customer’s recruiting strategy.
The Early Impact of an Ongoing Digital Transformation
Avature ATS has enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of the customer’s recruitment efforts and paved the way for a synergistic third-party ecosystem that complements its global operations. This approach has ensured that regional recruitment needs are met without compromising the agency’s overall talent objectives.
The results of this transformation have been impressive:
- A significant reduction in candidate screening time using Avature’s powerful profile screening functionalities.
- Over 360 new job openings created and more than 12,540 resumes collected in the first five months after the ATS system went live.
- International candidates have been engaged through more than 11k branded emails.
- A single source of truth coupled with Avature’s reporting capabilities has empowered management to effectively track and analyze recruitment activities across various countries and business lines, enhanced visibility, and underpinned strategic decision-making.
Looking Ahead
The work does not stop here. Spurred by the success of its ATS implementation, the agency has set its sights on the next phase of its ambitious optimization project. Looking further along the talent lifecycle, it will cover the improved automation of the agency’s overseas onboarding process and its information-gathering activities, reducing the management of master data and lightening the administrative burden of its talent teams.
