Building a Strong Workforce to Meet Ambitious Expansion Goals

Magna International Inc., one of the world’s largest auto suppliers, knew it had big plans for expansion and growth. In fact, the company’s operations spanned the globe and had a whopping 173,000 employees. But in 2016, Magna aimed even higher and decided to build its fourth South Carolina facility—the Magna Seating plant in Spartanburg County, after being selected as a supplier for OEM BMW’s new X models—a significant milestone for the company.

However, with this new milestone looming, Magna knew they couldn’t achieve success without building a strong workforce. The challenge was steep, given the new product launches needed to meet BMW’s ever-increasing demand. The HR team, already small and with competing priorities, struggled to support this heightened hiring need.

On top of that, the labor market in the Upstate of South Carolina was highly competitive. Across North America, Magna had even begun to move away from a temporary staffing-to-hire model in favor of a direct-hire model to attract and retain talent. They knew they needed a turnkey solution to do everything from advertising/promotion of their Employer Brand to overseeing the entire selection process from application to hire.

That’s when Magna turned to MAU, a company they had worked with in other markets. They trusted MAU to step in and take over their recruiting process with a specific division handling large-scale ramp-ups. By implementing a direct hire model and utilizing MAU’s extensive expertise, Magna successfully built a strong workforce to meet their ambitious expansion goals and produce high-quality products for BMW.

Addressing Magna’s Recruiting Challenges and Adapting to Fluctuating Demands

Magna faced a challenge with their recruiting needs, namely, to establish more efficient and scalable processes that could address sudden changes in hiring. The challenge was twofold: firstly, to consolidate their image as a top employer in the Upstate, and secondly, to set up a framework for hiring that could accommodate spikes in headcount demand.

MAU stepped up to the challenge and leveraged multiple advertising platforms to bolster Magna’s Employer Brand, keeping the company’s name and logo at the forefront of people’s minds. Through email marketing, MAU utilized its huge talent database to promote job opportunities.

MAU’s five-person team provided unflagging support to Magna’s recruiting needs, facilitating greater collaboration. Hiring events were arranged to support the job hunt, with MAU conducting interviews and assessments, and expediting the hiring process. The campaigns were customized to establish process automation, assist with scheduling interviews and ensure candidates had a flexible experience when required. With administrative support for candidate data entry and status updates, MAU took the candidate experience to the next level both through remote and localized resources.

When demand soared unexpectedly, MAU flexed in additional resources from other locations to meet the demand. Yield calculators ensured the recruiting team could track the applications received, candidates in process and what it would take to meet the demand.

MAU strove to be Magna’s true recruiting partner throughout the first year, going above and beyond to meet client needs beyond the initial project scope. Before MAU had even secured a signed contract, Magna requested support with an on-site hiring test, and without hesitation, MAU had resources ready to support the event. And when Magna’s current drug screening provider was unable to keep up with the demand, MAU went above and beyond, identifying additional drug screening resources to smooth out the hiring process.

MAU’s Commitment to Magna’s Success

To accomplish this, MAU took a two-pronged approach. The first involved raising awareness about Magna’s reputation as a top employer, with advertising campaigns focused on the company’s name and logo. Additionally, MAU utilized their extensive database of candidates, promoting available job opportunities through email marketing.

From the onset, MAU provided Magna with a dedicated onsite team of five individuals who were fully equipped to handle any recruiting support needed. This allowed for more effective collaboration with Magna’s HR team, including hosting onsite hiring events and expediting hiring decisions. With a dedication to prioritizing the candidate experience, MaU’s team provided a flexible assessment and interview scheduling process, ensuring each candidate had ample opportunities to showcase their skills.

Notably, there were times when headcount spikes exceeded expectations. But MAU took control, flexing in extra resources from other MAU locations to ensure Magna’s demands were met. With dedicated reporting tools and yield calculators, the recruiting team had a clear understanding of current and incoming applications, as well as the resources needed to handle the demand.

Throughout the partnership, MAU went above and beyond to provide Magna with unparalleled service. Unanticipated needs that arose outside the initial project scope, including onsite hiring event support and additional drug screening resources, were accommodated by MAU.

Thanks to MAU’s successful approach, Magna can now rely on a robust pipeline of qualified candidates. Overall, MAU’s versatile, adaptive, and scalable recruitment support helped to expedite the hiring process and effectively communicate Magna’s employer brand to potential applicants.