Success Story: The African Development Bank Group
The Challenge: Hiring Professional Staff Sourced from 77 Countries Quickly
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, one of the world's oldest multilateral development banks, was formally created in 1964 and provides solutions to development challenges for the 53 countries of Africa by partnering with governments, companies, civil society organizations, and other member organizations. The Bank's primary objective is to assist African countries—individually and collectively—in their efforts to achieve economic development and social progress.
In January 2009, AfDB was in need of top talent and embarked on an initiative called the "Accelerated Recruitment Program". This program included a mandate to quickly fill approximately 390 vacancies, of which roughly 250 were professional level openings. "Traditionally, this volume of recruitment involved a significant amount of time and work for AfDB's Recruitment Unit staff and the hiring unit, which included mangers and other staff involved in interview panels", said AfDB's Division Manager for Staff Planning and Recruitment Benson Maina. "We were looking for opportunities to gain time and cost efficiencies for the entire recruiting process while implementing measures to safeguard quality". As part of the Accelerated Recruitment Program, AfDB HR began searching for a video interviewing solution to reduce talent acquisition costs, engage users in advanced technology, and increase recruitment efficiencies across the 77 member countries AfDB sourced candidates. Prior to HireVue, candidates sourced from the Bank's 77 member countries would be flown to AfDB headquarters located in Tunis, Tunisia. This was a significant investment, particularly considering the travel cost and time required to merely coordinate schedules for the Bank's highly mobile staff. Furthermore, a panel interview was required and the actual time for many candidates to travel to and from Tunis would take 3-5 days.
The Solution: Recorded Video Interviewing Technology and Services
In March 2009, AfDB chose HireVue's video interview solutions as its exclusive provider for hundreds of candidates and to fill a portion of the approximately 250 professional positions opened as a result of the Accelerated Recruitment Program. AfDB used HireVue Recorded Video Interviews to capture video responses to job-specific candidate interview screening questions in both French and English languages. Panelists and others in the process were able to review the candidate responses when they wanted and as many times as they needed to make the appropriate hiring decision. As part of the solution, many candidates used their own webcams or relied on HireVue's direct distribution of webcams if they did not have the necessary equipment. Furthermore, as part of the implementation, for extra-support in certain areas, HireVue equipped each of AfDB's 23 country offices with webcams and other hardware for candidates to use in case they did not have access to high speed Internet.
The Results: Reduced Cost and Time with Improved Quality Outcomes
This change reduced the number of candidates selected for face-to-face interviews in Tunis, Tunisia. AfDB reduced travel costs by a minimum of 60 percent, depending on the professional position, and HR also was able to better screen candidates and compile short lists of candidates for panel members faster. Face-to-face interview meetings were scheduled with fewer and higher quality candidates. Furthermore, the video interview provided panelists with more comprehensive knowledge about the candidates prior to the candidate's arrival for an interview. Maina explained, "By adding HireVue's video interviewing solution to the hiring process, in one project alone, our team was able to screen through 150 candidates from 49 countries in 10 days. This was really positive and, as a result, we further evaluated how video interviewing should be used across other positions. Today, all short-listed candidates for professional positions at AfDB are being processed through HireVue before being brought to Tunis".
