Starting point
An international consumer goods company was expanding its European footprint. I was employed there permanently as HR Manager for a region covering several countries, responsible for everything HR meant in that region: hiring, contracts, onboarding, pay, line managers, payroll with external partners. When I started, the region had 70 employees. The plan was for it to grow substantially, in existing countries and in markets where there was no HR presence yet.
The existing structures were built for 70, and barely that. Line managers hired on gut feeling, each country entity had its own contract templates or none at all, onboarding consisted of an email and a laptop, and head office saw new employees for the first time on the payroll report. At two hires a month that worked. At eight it did not.
So the task was not to fill positions. The task was to build a route on which positions in several countries could be filled cleanly at the same time, without me standing next to every single one.
Approach
The hiring process was built once and then used in every country of the region. It started before the job ad, with a conversation with the hiring manager: which role exactly, which three criteria decide, which salary band, who sits in the interview. That conversation took half an hour and, in my experience, saved half of the later interviews, because the ad reached the right people.
Interviews were structured: the same questions for the same role, a scoring sheet with the criteria fixed in advance, two interviewers instead of one. Line managers received a guide and a short briefing. The decision stayed with them, but it rested on a basis that could be compared across candidates.
The final step was the only one that differed by country: the contract. For each country in the region, a template was drawn up with local legal counsel to fit the process, with probation, notice periods and benefits under local law. After that, a contract was a matter of minutes. In markets without HR on the ground, the process ran remotely from the region, with the local law firm as the safety net.
Onboarding was built as a plan for the first thirty days with fixed dates: contract and paperwork before day one, system access on day one, a conversation with the line manager in the first week, feedback to HR after thirty days. Head office received a weekly report on open positions and start dates, so that growth became visible before the payroll report.
Outcome
The region grew from 70 to 115 employees, an increase of roughly two thirds, with a process that differed by country only in the contract. On top of that came the replacement hires that any growing organisation generates. Line managers concentrated on judging professional fit because the administrative side was in place. New markets could be opened with the same routine; the contract template was the only new component.
Turnover in the first twelve months after hiring was, by my observation, lower than before the structured process. People hired against clear criteria and onboarded properly within thirty days tend to stay, because expectation and role match.
What transfers to your company
- Requirements before the adRole, three criteria and salary band agreed with the hiring manager before the ad is written. Half an hour that saves many interviews.
- Structured interviewsThe same questions for the same role, one scoring sheet, two interviewers. Comparable, fair, and faster, because nobody improvises.
- One process, local contractsWhat repeats gets standardised. What the law dictates stays local, with one template per country.
- Onboarding with dates, not intentionsThirty days, five fixed points. That keeps the people you worked hard to find.
Case study from an earlier permanent role, anonymised. No company names, only the industry and the role. More about me
Frequently asked questions
Over what period did the region grow?
Over my time there as HR Manager, in several waves. The figure of 70 to 115 describes headcount at the start and at the end, not the number of hires, which was higher because of replacements.
Was this an interim assignment?
No. I was a permanent employee, HR Manager for the region. The approach, process before growth, is the same one I apply today in interim mandates during growth phases.
Was there HR on the ground in every country?
No, not in the new markets at first. The process ran remotely from the region, with local legal counsel for the contracts and a contact person on site for day one.
How many hires were there in total?
Considerably more than the 45 additional positions, because replacements came on top. I do not quote an exact number because I can no longer document it, and I only quote figures I can document.
Does this transfer to a single-site company?
Yes, and it gets easier. The process is the same and the contract only has to be built once. The bottleneck is then usually the line manager who has never run a structured interview. That is an hour of briefing.