Building an Employer Brand In Romania

Deployment for Verint’s new R&D site

ABOUT VERINT

Verint is a global provider of security & cyber intelligence data-mining software solutions that help governments, critical infrastructure providers and enterprises to neutralize and prevent terror, crime and cyber threats for a safer world.

A $1+ billion company, Verint employs 5,000 employees in tens of locations around the world, including many R&D centers.

In 2017, Verint Cyber Intelligence Business Unit selected Bucharest, Romania to open a new R&D center for cyber solutions.

cis.verint.com

The company selected Romania for several reasons:

THE CHALLENGE

Verint embarked in an employer-branding project for their new R&D center in Bucharest, Romania, and entrusted Xtra mile with the mission of doing it and ‘doing it right’.

One of the goals of the process was to build a positive recruitment experience. To this end, strong ties were built with local placement companies.

Talent acquisition and recruitment managers received suitable training, and an organized work process was established, in full cooperation with the Israeli group; Different waves, each with five batch domains with recruitment targets were defined.

The first wave focused on team leaders. Another objective was to generate buzz about Verint’s entry into the Romanian market.

This included doing campaigns about the brand, introducing the cyber-intelligence technology and concept, building an effective recruitment process adapted to the local culture, and then hiring new employees in a very short time frame.

THE APPROACH

A team was created with people from Verint’s R&D, Talent Acquisition and Marketing departments, and the employer branding experts at Xtra mile.

The research of the Romanian market focused on getting to know Verint and the competition, understanding the company’s recruitment needs, culture and key business persona, and its perception by employees.

Since Verint had no employees in Romania, focus groups were formed, and interviews were held with other recruiters to define the following Employer Value Propositions (EVPs):

Cyber intelligence - a new and "hot" domain that needed introduction to Romania
Global company, worldwide presence, impact and opportunities
Be a pioneer, and enjoy professional development/growth
End-to-end involvement of all stakeholders from initiation to launch

The slogan selected was “Cyber Intelligence. Your Time Is Now”, which served two purposes: introducing the new technology to the local market, and offering the Romanian candidates the opportunity to be pioneers in the new site with end-to-end involvement in their projects.

THE RESULTS

The results could not have been more encouraging, and Xtra mile surpassed Verint’s expectations:

Tens of new employees started working at the new Verint R&D center in Romania by January 2019
Widespread awareness to the Verint brand (as reported by recruitment companies)
Verint Bucharest landing page had 7,662 page views (6,404 unique views)
Average time spent on page - 02:22 minutes
Open positions landing page - 704 page views
A high CTR of 11% from landing page - to open positions page

Xtra mile succeeded in ‘doing it right’ the first time, as Verint wanted.
This meant choosing the right messages and language, establishing a winning team, defining the strategy, a tactical plan and methodology, and ensuring close collaboration between HR and Marketing.

TOOLS

The process followed the very clear Xtra mile methodology for employer branding, including:

Localized candidate brochure
Educational videos featuring cyber intelligence, specifically created and adapted to the local market
Branded collateral
Scripts for recruiters that emphasize the EVPs and campaign messages
Design of the new offices with Verint’s brand using the specific campaign’s language
Collaboration with local technology partners like Google, Microsoft and Oracle for employees training
Participation in the main recruitment and professional fairs in Bucharest
Collaboration with local technology partners like Google, Microsoft and
Office inauguration with officials from Romania and Israel
Launch of new social channels and website
Organic, paid and location-based campaigns specifically developed for Bucharest and Romania featuring the cyber intelligence technology

Quick Facts

Customer:

Verint, leading global provider of security and cyber intelligence data – mining software.

Industry:

Security and cyber intelligence through the synergy of technology, domain expertise, and intelligence methodologies.

Solution:

Employer Branding (EB) project for Verint Romania. The challenges for Xtra mile were many, among them:

Beginning from scratch in a market where Verint was rather unknown in Romania
Competitive market with many R&D centers vying for the same candidates
A new type of solution, new company culture
Creating a positive candidate journey
Most of the work was done in the summer months when the market is ‘dead’

Results:

Successful campaign from the outset, making a proper market and target audience analysis, and using a unified message and graphic concept
The employer branding campaign started in June; by September, Tens of new employees had been hired
Visitors to landing page remain an average of 2.22 minutes
CTR of 11% from landing page to open positions page!

“For us, doing it right the first time meant establishing a winning team, defining the strategy, tactical plan,
and methodology.

Working with Xtra mile was a great experience. They are true professionals, with the passion and creativity that led the entire process to amazing outcomes.”

Amit Daniel, SVP Marketing & Employer Branding