Cazar brings expertise in automating the recruitment process to Kuala Lumpur

Recruitment technology and branding firm Cazar continues its growth across Asia with the opening of an office in Kuala Lumpur, two years after the company’s entry into the region through Hong Kong.

Cazar's regional director for Asia Pacific, Stefan Sawh, commented: "We are very excited about having a stronger presence in Malaysia to support our clients there as well as the growing business opportunities."

"This includes in attracting top talent, building a strong employer brand and delivering an overall candidate experience that captures the employees they are looking for."

Cazar has already made its first hires for the KL office, comprising expats with specific product experience. However, the majority of the workforce will comprise Malaysians and permanent residents.

Sawh explained: "Recruiting local talent is key to the success of the business particularly in KL, which will serve as the hub for South-East Asia.

"The office will have full sales, implementation, account management and helpdesk manpower to serve our existing clientele in the region, and key markets of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

"We’ve met some excellent candidates so far in the region, and looking forward to building our team over the next 12 months to support the growth in the business."

ALSO READ: Demand for HR talent in Malaysia is still low

In a conversation with Human Resources, Sawh spoke further about the strategic objective behind the Malaysia expansion for Cazar. 

Q. Having been in Hong Kong for two years, what is a big learning for your team?

The first thing we realised about being in Hong Kong, was the importance of being truly localised with what we deliver. For a technology and employer branding implementation to truly work, as a vendor, you  must have a deep understanding of the recruitment landscape in that country.

For example, with the growing influence of Mainland China – companies in the banking and finance sectors really need Mandarin speakers.

Also, with HK’s highly educated local workforce, we have seen a decreasing reliance on expat talent in the last 10 years and growing competition for local talent.

We clearly cannot deliver a one-size-fits-all solution across all of Asia, each country has its own issues.

Q. What is the major talent challenge you see playing out in Malaysia in the coming year?

The biggest challenge employers will face is finding and attracting quality. There are a lot of people on the job market, but finding the gems is often a question of luck unless companies have a good recruitment strategy and the appropriate tools.

Today, top talent is online, using social media and their mobile – they are not reading job ads in the newspapers.

They also have higher expectations around the candidate experience because that’s how they identify companies who care about their employees.

Does the organisation have a website dedicated to recruitment? Is the application process smart? Once they’ve applied or interviewed, does the recruitment team communicate well with them?

If they get a bad impression of this journey, good candidates – the ones you want working for you - will just move on to the next employer.

So my advice to HR leaders: make sure every step of your candidates’ experience is better than that of your competitors.

ALSO READ: 3 in 4 Malaysian job hoppers expect pay raises of up to 40%

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