Helping Walmart fill scores of specialized design roles.

Challenge

When global retail giant Walmart began to evolve and expand its design capabilities, its Chief Design Officer faced a monumental task: fill over 100 new, highly specialized permanent roles in its Product Design and Research Teams. In addition to the sheer scale of the hiring effort, the company also had a pressing need to diversify its talent pool. Walmart's Talent Acquisition Team, primarily focused on HR operations, lacked the expertise and bandwidth to source and recruit for these niche roles effectively. This resulted in a mismatch between the candidates presented by internal recruiters and the hiring managers' specific requirements for skills and aesthetics, wasting valuable time and resources.

Solution

To address Walmart's complex hiring challenges, Aquent Talent implemented a two-pronged approach:

1. Specialized Sourcing: Aquent Talent Direct Hire Consultants worked closely with Walmart's hiring managers to understand their specific needs and identify the most suitable candidates. By leveraging their deep industry knowledge and connections, we were able to source highly skilled, niche talent in product design and research, ensuring that the candidates presented met the exact requirements of each role.
2. Diversity Recruiting: Simultaneously, using our diversity recruiting solution, Aquent Talent focused on identifying a diverse pool of competitive candidates. We proactively expanded outreach to underrepresented groups by leveraging partnerships with TalentAlly and affinity groups like Women in Tech. These efforts focused on presenting the most qualified candidates while ensuring that the candidate pool was representative of Walmart's diversity goals.

Results

Our strategic and thoughtful approach yielded impressive results. Walmart's hiring managers were highly satisfied with the quality and diversity of the candidates presented. By providing a curated pool of talent that met their specific needs, we significantly accelerated the hiring process and reduced the time spent on interviews and assessments.

To date, Walmart has successfully filled 133 permanent design positions through Aquent Talent. This achievement not only supported the company's growth objectives but also demonstrated its commitment to building a diverse and inclusive Design Team. The partnership's success led Walmart's Design Team to rely exclusively on Aquent Talent for future hiring needs.