Forging Bosch’s local hiring strategy with Project RPO

Case study

Bosch is a leading global supplier of technology and services, aiming to help shape universal trends such as automation, electrification, digitalisation, connectivity, and an orientation to sustainability. All this is made possible with a combined global workforce of over 400,000 associates.

Service: Project RPO
Industry: Engineering technology and services
Size: 400k+ employees
Locations: 60+ countries

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A Project RPO success story

38

roles managed
15,000+

candidate applications screened
70%

agency use reduction
MYR 140k+

(£25k+) agency cost avoidance through direct delivery

The challenge

Bosch’s presence in Malaysia, which began in 1923, is currently located in Selangor and Penang, and growing significantly - with surging demand for Bosch’s mobility electronics, power tools and semiconductors, Bosch Malaysia employed over 4,000 associates in 2023. Off the back of a successful partnership with Robert Walters where we supported their end-to-end recruitment needs, Bosch decided to reach out regarding the implementation of an RPO service in the face of overwhelming hiring volumes.

Yoke Sum Lim, Senior HRBP at Bosch Malaysia, elaborates: “Our previous experience working with Robert Walters was extremely positive. As we sought to meet growing demand in headcount, Robert Walters’ RPO services were brought up, and we saw an opportunity to further our partnership.”

Setting up the partnership

Integrating an entire outsourcing strategy into an existing TA team is never a straightforward process, but there was an additional hitch - Bosch’s urgent hiring needs demanded an accelerated implementation process. However, we were keen to ensure that our stakeholders were not left behind as a result.

Yoke Sum attests to this abundance in touchpoints: “Robert Walters set up regular catch-up sessions to keep us updated on progress and ensure a smooth implementation process." This high-touch partnership was quick to bear fruit, with our fully outsourced end-to-end recruitment service commencing in just 6 weeks.

The solution

With Bosch’s primary concerns including (1) speed of implementation, (2) agency usage reduction and (3) active candidate management in the face of high application numbers, Robert Walters proposed its Project RPO product - a scalable outsourced recruitment solution designed to offer both speed of implementation and quality of direct hiring, while reducing agency spend.

This arrangement sought to cover the end-to-end recruitment process from hiring manager brief to offer for internal, referral, agency and direct candidates, for professional white-collar roles. An extensive process requires proper support which we provide through a dedicated partner, allowing Bosch’s HR team to focus on the function’s strategic objectives.

Kieran Millington, Client Services Director at Robert Walters, describes how the close-knit relationship has faciliated key improvements: “I’ve had the pleasure of meeting our partners in person at their Malaysia headquarters with our dedicated recruiter, which was essential in understandings their urgent needs, meeting key stakeholders and ensuring that our solution met the business's needs.”

Key results

In a short span of 7 months, Robert Walters has managed 38 of Bosch’s live requisitions, including the management of over 15,000 candidate applications. This adds up to more than 380 applications per role, an overwhelming volume that we’ve now taken off Bosch’s hands.

In addition to greatly improving the HR team’s capacity, Robert Walters has provided additional value to their talent strategy through initiatives such as:

RW Insights - data-driven insights that empower direct sourcing capability
Management reporting - designing a web-based management reporting suite that seamlessly complements Bosch’s existing applicant tracking system, providing real-time updates on requisition and candidate statuses
Process optimisation – ensuring that Bosch’s recruitment processes are fully standardised and documented, thus keeping all Bosch stakeholders equipped with enhanced, improved processes and technology.

These initiatives have allowed Bosch to focus on its strategic initiatives, with full confidence that the partnership will provide the talent required for its growth strategy.

Client testimonial

"Setting something up from scratch is never easy, but Robert Walters’ expertise and recommendations, curated to our unique hiring environment, have been invaluable in navigating these new and exciting changes to our talent strategy.”

Yoke Sum Lim

Senior HRBP, Bosch Malaysia

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