Vodafone Smart Business Spotlight: Manpower Ireland

/ 22nd October 2018 /

Unified Communications make Manpower Ireland a smarter workplace

ManpowerGroup is a global leader in workforce solutions with over 3,000 offices in 80 countries worldwide. Founded in 1948 in Milwaukee, the company’s first office in Ireland opened on Grafton Street in Dublin in 1974.

ManpowerGroup currently employs over 25,000 people around the world, including around 150 permanent staff in Ireland and over 1,000 temporary staff working on client sites across the country.

Initially, the company provided temporary and permanent recruitment services to companies. Over the years, its solutions have evolved to meet the adapting needs of Irish businesses.

Today, Manpower Ireland offers not just recruitment solutions but also career management, talent management and IT outsourcing services. These services are offered to the Irish market through ManpowerGroup’s brands including Manpower, Experis, Proservia, Tapfin and Right Management.

Digital Transformation

John Galvin, Managing Director of Manpower Ireland, believes that further development of the recruitment industry will be heavily dependent on communications technology.

“Everything is now technology driven, be it by integrating a company’s database into an online jobs board portal or utilising social media to engage, attract and retain candidates,” says John. “That’s something that’s not going to change anytime soon - in fact we expect the speed of digital transformation to continue to increase.”

There has been a fundamental shift in the way the recruitment business is conducted. Where once face to face meetings were the norm, increasingly candidates want to either communicate via mobile, Skype or other video technology. Similarly, companies looking for staff are happy to conduct interviews using different communication channels as well.

Mobile Workforce

This placed a strain on Manpower Ireland's IT and communications infrastructure, as IT manager Brian O’Reilly explains

“As a company we were also looking at how we could enable our workforce to be more mobile, flexible and work from anywhere. Many candidates for jobs are looking for just this kind of flexibility, and we needed to be able to provide that to our own staff,” says Brian.

To facilitate this move to become a digital workplace, Manpower Ireland wanted to move away from having fixed-line phones that require staff to be connected to a desk. Staff wanted to be able to work from anywhere and still have the full machine power of an office environment behind them.

One Net Business

The decision in the end wasn’t difficult. Vodafone’s Unified Communications solution, One Net Business, ticked all the boxes and offered functionality over and above what the company was seeking.

“One Net Business ties all our mobile and landline phone infrastructure together and give us ‘green button’ technology which is incredibly flexible,” says Brian O’Reilly.

“You can be on a call using the Unified Communications software on your laptop, but if you need to leave the office you can easily flick that call over onto your mobile and continue working as you walk.

“One Net Business enables us to grow as a business -- if we need to add more people to the system it’s very easy to do. We are always pushing ourselves forward and as part of that we want to ensure that our technology is world class.’’

Manpower Ireland's continued investment in cutting edge technology and partnership with Vodafone has helped the business become a smarter workplace and be ready for the future.