Read how Publicis.Sapient, the digital transformation hub of Publicis Groupe, transformed their leadership hiring approach to meet the fast-growing business needs in India. Read more such inspiring Indian talent stories at lnkd.in/ltsindia

1. CASE STUDY
How to ace leadership hiring on LinkedIn
Publicis.Sapient, the digital business transformation hub of Publicis Groupe, helps clients drive growth and
efficiency and evolve the ways they work, in a world where consumer behavior and technology are
catalyzing social and commercial change at an unprecedented pace. With 19,000 people and over 100
offices around the globe, their expertise spanning technology, data sciences, consulting and creative
combined with their culture of innovation enables them to deliver on complex transformation initiatives
that accelerate clients’ businesses.

2. OBJECTIVE
Pubicis.Sapient, as a growing company was on the lookout for leaders who possessed considerable
experience (14+ years) and the right skill sets.
As the company sought out its leaders, the team was only reaching active talent on various jobsites.
They needed to go beyond active jobs seekers and find individuals who not just fit for the role, but also
shared the company’s zeal for development.

3. Building a robust talent pipeline is the first step to successful leadership hiring. The hiring team at P.S
combined the power of their network and LinkedIn’s Recruiter tool to go beyond basic keyword search and
expand their talent pool.
They looked for a combination of requisite skill sets and desired years of experience,
instead of just job titles
1
1 Find the right people: organize your search
3
2
The team also made use of “Find more people like” feature to create a search based on
ideal candidates for the role
The recruiters focused on mining the hiring manager’s network, thus expanding their
search beyond personal connections
THE APPROACH

4. When your job depends on finding and impressing quality candidates, you need a personal brand that
stands out. Pramod Nair, the leadership hiring recruiter at P.S, built a strong LinkedIn profile that
impressed senior prospects. Regular engagement on his profile and a host of senior connections boosted
his credibility, making candidates want to connect with him.
2 Invest in your LinkedIn profile: put your best foot forward
“LinkedIn helped me become a smarter professional with its content-rich
approach discoverable through hashtags. I strengthened my connections
on the professional networking website and simultaneously architected my
approach towards candidates in a way that is driven by data.”
Pramod P Nair
Associate - Leadership Hiring
Publicis.Sapient
Create the Perfect LinkedIn Profile: A 6-step guide for recruiters

5. Professional pictureDescriptive headline
Great Summary
Regular activity on the
platform - authored,
shared and reacted to
relevant articles,
connected with
relevant professionals

6. Pramod realised that in-order to get the attention of quality candidates who are inundated with
recruiter calls and emails, he needed to go beyond the standard “I have an exciting opportunity for
you” and make an impact. LinkedIn gave him the advantage of “personalizing” his communication,
whether through an InMail or a phone call.
Here are 3 tips from Pramod on how to build a connection with prospective candidates:
Engage with a personalised approach: break through the clutter
Engage talent with a customized approach - Review all the professional information he/she
has shared on LinkedIn and then focus on finding common connections to your business1
3
2 Connect over common interests or connections - Spend time researching his/her latest
LinkedIn activity and use it to your advantage
Leverage relevant industry information to initiate a conversation - Keep yourself updated
about the industry and skills you hire for by following the right groups, people and hash tags
8 tips to hook candidates with your message
3

7. With opportunities everywhere – and more of them than before – you don’t pick talent. Talent picks you.
Your company’s digital footprint thus becomes integral to positioning your “talent brand”.
P.S’s LinkedIn Career Page was populated with content that resonated with the potential candidates.
This made it easy for them to understand company’s culture, growth opportunities and benefits.
4 Create a memorable Career Page: attract amazing talent
Get Inspired Lookbook: 3 Brilliant LinkedIn Career Pages

8. To build INTRIGUE, they placed
content that communicated the
company’s philosophy and ethos
To create EXCITEMENT, they
highlighted the company culture
and candidates were given a
glimpse of “life at P.S”
To ENGAGE them, they created
appealing content focused on the
employees
“Sapient’s LinkedIn page and my interactions with them made it easier to for me
to imagine a future with them. I was particularly impressed with their culture,
and most importantly, their values aligned well with my personal values. All this
and the challenge articulated for the role gave me comfort that this is a place
I want to associate with and could belong to.”
Pawan Tayla
CFO India
Publicis.Sapient

9. hired in a span
of 6 months +
2 other Vice Presidents
2
CXOs
THE RESULT: A transformed leadership hiring process
USD
1M
Average InMail
response rate for the
leadership hiring team
Total cost savings
for leadership
hiring team
Pramod’s personalised hiring approach did not just help improve the candidate’s experience,
but also shortened the time to hire, ensuring the leadership hiring team met the fast-growing
business needs.
50%
*All results are calculated for the time period Jan-Jun 2018

10. “The right leadership at the helm is essential to drive a growth mindset across any
organisation, and hence extremely critical to any business. For us at Sapient, senior leadership
hiring has traditionally been time and cost intensive. Using LinkedIn to find, attract and engage
prospective talent did not just make this process quicker and cost-effective for us, but also
resulted in an improved candidate experience. From being our primary source, it soon became
our only source for leadership hiring.”
Bhajneet Singh Dhingra
Senior Manager – Hiring
Publicis.Sapient

11. Founded in 2003, LinkedIn connects the
world’s professionals to make them
more productive and successful. With
over 580 million members in more than
200 countries and territories worldwide,
including executives from every Fortune
500 company, LinkedIn is the world’s
largest professional network.
offers a full range of solutions to help
organizations in various stages of
growth recruit relevant talent, build
their brand, and grow their business.
If you're curious about social recruiting,
join us in discovering the possibilities. `
CONTACT US