August 2017

10 APAC / August 2017 , • Constructive dialogue providing pointers and advice • Assessment of cultural fit and personal circumstance • And our belief is doing the right thing by the people involved” What differentiates Bricoleur Consulting from competitors and marks them as the best option for their clients, Nitya notes the four key differentiators at play. “At Bricoleur Consulting, we use the internal brand as our starting point. As a company, we believe that culture fit may be more important than functional fit. Thus, we use different methodologies to help articulate and match the ‘internal’ brand DNA of the company to ensure that the candidates we place are a good match. “Our specialised insight led high EQ approach and single minded focus on retention have yielded positive results.” Some of the company’s achievements include: • 92% + interview rate of all candidates proposed • 100% repeat business from all our clients • 90% retention rate on average since our inception (tracked on a 12-month basis) • Worked on regional and global lead mandates • Worked with 5 out of 6 global agency networks and major companies like Ebay, Accenture, American Express and recently signed on with L’Oréal • Positive testimonials and referrals from candidates and clients. The company were also finalists in the two categories we entered at the Asia Recruitment Awards 2017. “We bring brand thinking to HR. Bricoleur Consulting sits at the cusp of HR and brand. Since inception we have always hired team members who come from a marketing, digital, research or advertising back-ground. They bring brand thinking to people management by focusing on the employee-employer relationship. Also, we map the internal brand of an organization at the outset. “At Bricoleur, we have always hired people that have walked in the candidates’ shoes. Each one of us has worked in the industry and has held hiring responsibilities and/or done the job we are recruiting for. This strategy gives us a unique advantage as we are able to communicate with candidates with re-assuring authority, using familiar experience as a point of reference. Our agency experience and fluency in industry terminology also allows us to ask more pertinent questions that are specific to the role. This opens more avenues for deeper assessment and more meaningful conversations that further aid in ensuring that the candidate is the right fit and will ultimately achieve job satisfaction. Our high touch approach combined with our strong client relations, allows us to provide a positive candidate experience.” The HR industry is riding a wave of transformation that are brought on by changes in technology, generational differences, decentralised work sites, values, skills gaps, organisational structure, changing priorities especially of the millennial generation, Gen Z entering the work-force and more. In today’s global workplace, where environments grow more diverse by the day, employee backgrounds, race, and religious beliefs may be in total contrast to one another. There is an ever-increasing need to identify the best way to empower and engage employees. In countries like Singapore, foreigners make up 25% of the workforce (http:// www.humanresourcesonline. net/events/why-hr-asia-pacific- different-rest-world/). For HR managers identifying the best way to communicate, inspire, retain and positively affect them poses a unique and ongoing challenge. Nitya discusses the outside influences affecting the industry. “Companies have always created marketing experiences for customers and prospects, to increase loyalty and grow their profit. However now the realisation is more pertinent than ever, which is that companies need to focus on improving their employee and candidate experience. With the world of work changing and advances in the digital and social media world, the internal is no longer just internal. Employer review sites like Glassdoor have employees reviewing the company in public forums. In order to develop aligned experiences between employees, candidates and customers, the walls will come down between marketing, HR and customer service. Our company brand alignment research evaluates alignment between a company’s internal, customer and employer brand faces.” With regards to the challenges Bricoleur Consulting have had to overcome to be successful in the Asia-Pacific region. Nitya details how the firm have been able to be achieve success and maintain it. “For us at Bricoleur Consulting approximately 90% of our roles in the advertising industry are digital/tech. Agencies are struggling to compete with digital companies like Google, Facebook, Spotify in attracting and retaining talent, therefore our role in managing the candidates experience, aligning expectations between the hiring manager and potential employees, finding the right culture fit between a candidate and employer is of utmost importance. “The current climate in which we are operating presents challenges with: • High attrition rates within the advertising industry • Digital Talent shortages • Long working hours • Less attractive remuneration packages • Fast pace of change • Average tenure for employees reducing” Looking ahead, Nitya praises the staff at Bricoleur Consulting and highlights what the future holds for the firm, from plans and projects to developments within the industry. “The best way to describe our culture at Bricoleur Consulting would be - High EQ, collaborative, open, results focused, strengths focused, warm, supportive and high achievement oriented. Our founder Anu D’Souza has always encouraged an ‘ownership mentality’ to drive loyalty, engagement, new thinking and innovation. “Today almost every company is undergoing a digital transformation. According to Forrester, 47% percent of executives surveyed believe that by 2020, digital will have an impact on more than half their sales. We see how digital has transformed media, education, financial services, marketing consumer goods, retail and other verticals. Now it’s HR’s turn. Digital and consumer marketing are permeating new ways of recruiting, working, learning, and engaging employees. This is why we have just launched our brand alignment services to help business leaders and HR heads measure and align brand perceptions and experiences amongst their different audiences. “Bricoleur Consulting will focus on brand alignment amongst a brand’s different audiences and the importance of qualitative research to marry hard and soft data in the HR space. With the ongoing transformations happening in the HR space, we will continue to see our offering evolving to meet the everchanging needs of this space.