How RGF Staffing’s enterprise solutions model redefines cross-border HR

Global scale, local impact

While many clients may be more familiar with one or more of its dozens of international or regional brands, RGF Staffing is among the top 4 of global staffing providers, with an annual turnover of approximately 11 billion US dollars. “We have the stability, resources and industry-leading technology – including a strategic partnership with Indeed – to serve some of the world’s largest brands”, says Han Oey, Chief Strategy Officer. “Yet at the same time, perhaps our biggest strength is the way we are organized, which empowers local brands to make the most of their unique expertise and detailed market knowledge.”

Balancing global oversight and local execution

Oey believes that these strongly embedded local brands can be a real asset when it comes to navigating the complexities of international recruitment, which requires a sophisticated understanding of regional nuances. “Of course, for procurement and HR departments, there are huge advantages in working with one global partner: from simply having a clearer view of staffing contracts and expenditure to assurances in areas such as compliance and sustainability. Yet I would argue that even after a solid strategic framework has been set up, as much as 80% of its success may depend on local execution.”

Katrien Bex, who heads RGF Staffing’s global Tender Desk in Antwerp (Belgium), agrees. “I think few industries differ as significantly from one country to another as the staffing sector. That’s because of fundamental differences in the way the labor market is organized and regulated, and in the types of vacancies that are most commonly filled using flexible labor. There may even be differences between different sites or locations of one and the same company, in terms of their specific needs and requirements. In some instances, clients explicitly request that we talk to their local organizations separately to ensure they buy into a globally arranged agreement.”

Introducing enterprise solutions

With its enterprise solutions, RGF Staffing offers enterprises a broad portfolio of HR services that can be implemented across their international network: making the most of all the available regional expertise within its network, while offering them the key advantages of working with a global player. In this case: a partner who is active across four continents, and contributes to a labor market that is fair, inclusive and future-proof for everyone. Where possible, we will employ people who experience a gap to the labor market.

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What is the key ingredient of this unique combination? “One crucial choice we have made is not to adopt the traditional global account-management model”, says Oey. “We believe that this would only create extra bureaucratic layers, slow down decision-making and make us less agile. Even the best-informed global account team would never be able to address or answer all the questions and specific concerns that a client’s local organizations may have. At least, not without consulting local specialists. Whereas in our set-up, these local specialists are actually part of the bid team.” 

Han Oey, Chief Strategy Officer RGF Staffing: “Our enterprise solutions stand out. Instead of parachuting a global agreement into very different local markets, our local operational units are fully committed to a successful execution and delivering results.”

The set-up Oey refers to places local sales organizations at the very heart of contract discussions. “When a tender request is submitted, we assemble a team headed by the sales director of one of the countries involved, typically a country where our brands already know and work with that client”, Katrien says. “My colleagues and I, as specialized bid managers, support the team and organize the flow of information – including all the documentation and tools that a client needs ensure that our solutions align with their strategic priorities and are 100% compliant across their operations. And we are in close touch with the sales directors of all countries involved, so answering a question or ensuring our local brands’ commitment on a particular aspect of our agreement can simply be a matter of picking up the phone.”

Hitting the ground running

Does this model work? “Yes, it’s tried and tested”, says Oey. “We have already signed several agreements with various multinational clients. Of course, no organization is perfect and we continually look to improve and refine our workflows. But in many ways we found we could hit the ground running. That’s because we have not developed a new approach from the ground up. We simply expanded the scope of what Katrien and her team have been doing - very successfully – for a few years now for our Belgian brands. As a multilingual country with significant cultural and regulatory differences between its regions, you could say that Belgium was an excellent microcosm for testing and refining this approach.”

Katrien Bex, Manager Tenderdesk RGF Staffing: “Few industries differ as significantly from one country to another as the staffing sector. Our local sales staff talks to our client’s local organizations separately. We ensure they buy into a globally arranged agreement that aligns with strategic priorities and is 100% compliant across local operations.”

And the success of this approach is not limited to the process of developing and signing an agreement all parties are happy with. “What really matters is whether such partnerships deliver the anticipated results, which, as I emphasized before, largely depends on how they’re taken up locally”, Oey says. “And I think this is where we can make a real difference. Instead of parachuting a global agreement into various - and very different - local markets, we have the full commitment of all local operational units. Put differently, the people who have negotiated the agreement are the same people who are responsible for its execution – and for delivering the results.” Katrien: “And we’re happy to demonstrate the potential benefits of our approach upfront: for several clients we have organized pilot periods, to implement key ingredients of a potential partnership, without further obligations. So if you want to get a taste of how our enterprise solutions package can help achieve your strategic HR objectives, get in touch!”

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