Marceline Beijer: Leading by Walking the Talk and Delivering Strategic Value to Customers

Exemplary leaders set the standards for everyone else through their attitude, behavior, talents, and skills. They demonstrate excellence in all that they do. They lead with authenticity. There is harmony in their thoughts, words, and actions. They walk the talk and talk the walk. This helps them become a trustworthy and reliable leader.
Marceline Beijer embodies these ideals by leading by example. She believes that positivity and change starts with oneself and therefore, her mantra is to walk the talk. Marceline is the Global Brand Leader of ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions RPO. By driving innovation, thought leadership and the development of people, her ambition is to deliver strategic value to customers, and strong growth for Talent Solutions.
In an interview with Insights Success, Marceline Beijer shares her journey and discusses her contribution to ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions as a Global Brand Leader.
Below are the Highlights of the Interview:
Please brief our readers about your leadership position at Talent Solutions.
Within ManpowerGroup, I am the Global Brand Leader for Talent Solutions RPO and Vice President for Talent Solutions RPO and TAPFIN-MSP in Europe. The Talent Solutions brand was launched in January 2020, and I have been fortunate to be part of the design and definition of this new brand and the industry-leading capabilities behind it. In my career, and as a leader, I have always been a ‘builder’, which is at the core of how Talent Solutions works with clients to help them transform their workforce.
When we launched Talent Solutions, we used butterfly wings on our branding as a symbol of the transformative effect that is possible when human potential is unleashed in an organization. This transformational journey connecting the specific skills and capabilities of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Managed Service Provider (TAPFIN) and Right Management is an exciting and compelling development I really enjoy participating in and being able to influence.
What were the challenges you came across as a Global Brand Leader?
In my Global RPO Brand Leader role, I have been given a head start by the great work started in North America in the field of technology under the leadership of Sarah Peiker, Senior Vice President, RPO North America, and Wayne Crowley, VP Global Business Innovation and Intelligence. Following the launch in North America of PowerSuite™, our best of breed tech ecosystem, as well as the fully digitized Rapid Recruit, it was a rewarding project to be able to expand our offering across all regions throughout 2020.
The main challenge I see is the future of RPO: In a world where by 2025, humans and machines will split work-related tasks 50-50, I believe AI and automated processes thrive when they are coupled with human intelligence, but what should the human role in a world leaning towards seamless digital recruitment be? In such an unpredictable world still grappling with the current health and social crisis, where it is difficult to create continuous algorithms and business roles, understanding human intelligence and the role for the human touch will be the key for success.
At the same time, candidate experience, which also requires intense human interaction, is becoming even more important. To deliver the kind of experiences candidates expect, we need to re-think the way that we manage candidate interaction throughout the recruitment process.
Leveraging the power of Talent Solutions by creating solutions that enable crossover of the different workforce solutions we offer has also been a great positive challenge. We see the expertise from RPO being used while building Direct Sourcing solutions for MSPs; we are able to utilize great career building and upskilling solutions such as RightCoach™ and RightMap™ which help unleash the full potential of employees after they are hired via an RPO solution. It is great to see how our different workforce solutions all work together towards strengthening our clients’ employer brand, candidate experience and engagement across the different stages of the recruitment lifecycle.
My passion as a ‘techie’ leads me to drive my team to challenge themselves and strive to get to the next level: supporting Talent Acquisition with further developments in the field of AI such as bias free psychometric assessments and authentic collaboration in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Being an experienced business leader, what is your opinion regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Staffing & Recruiting industry? And how has Talent Solutions managed to overcome this significant challenge?
Starting in this role as a Global leader and not being able to travel due to the pandemic to meet and engage with the regional teams has been a challenge, although this has been mitigated by the excellent virtual tools and capabilities of our teams. Remote working has proven to be not just possible, but also valuable in building true relationships.
During the pandemic, the real challenge has been the reluctance of companies to hire for permanent roles, which has given us the opportunity to further develop, diversify and innovate our portfolio and services. An interesting example has been the expansion of our extensive data intelligence capabilities: we have been working with our clients to analyze and understand the impact of the pandemic on their workforce, providing solutions to mitigate risk in supply chain management as well as exploring location strategies as technology and remote working have untethered talent from location.
I believe the recruitment industry should also take responsibility in equalizing the growing gap between the Have’s and the Have Not’s as unfortunately it has been the jobs in the informal economy and lower incomes which have been hit the hardest by the pandemic.  As the world economy recovers and skills needs change with wider demand for jobs in AI and the Green and Care industries, the recruitment industry needs to continue to support training, learning, upskilling and reskilling opportunities for all their workers.
In what ways have you or Talent Solutions contributed to the community? If given a chance, what change would you bring to help other RPOs?
It is in ManpowerGroup’s DNA to be a very ethical company, we have in fact been recognized by Ethisphere as a World’s Most Ethical Company for eleven years; we are a true partner in social and sustainable ways of working, and it is an incredibly important value in the world of Talent and Recruitment.
The value we bring as a company is our vision that meaningful, sustainable employment has the power to change the world, which I highly value. And, as I continue in my new role, I hope to be able to contribute to the RPO Community by promoting workforce flexibility and talent sustainability, focusing on the benefits of hybrid working and the importance of continuous learning.
What would be your advice for aspiring and emerging women entrepreneurs?
Just keep going, stay your authentic self and enjoy the journey!
What according to you is the one takeaway/lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Change happens more quickly with a real need. Look at how valued remote working is now, and how many organizations will adopt flexible working arrangements moving forward! ManpowerGroup’s What Workers Want research shows workers do not want to lose that flexibility they have gained in the past year, now preferring 2-3 days a week in the workplace. That was unthinkable few years ago and look at what we have achieved in just few days / weeks across Q1 2020.