At Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the largest car rental company in North America, everyone begins as a management trainee, and all higher-level positions are filled through internal promotions. Recruitment is therefore critical. “If we’re not getting the right people coming in the front door, we’re not going to be able to grow and sustain our operations,” says Donna Miller, HR director for Europe. “So, from our point of view that’s always the biggest focus. It’s not just a function that falls into the HR or the recruitment teams. Everyone is involved in recruiting.” She estimates that the European managing director spends up to 30 days a year reviewing recruitment campaigns, meeting with students and promoting the company as a place to work.
The company’s recruitment efforts are highly localised. Instead of basing efforts out of the home office or several large cities, recruiters are distributed across all of Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s markets in North
America and Europe. This allows the company to develop relationships with hundreds of colleges and universities, rather than focusing on the top ten or so, as many multinationals do. In the Los Angeles area, for example, about 15 recruiters will each cover two to five schools and “really get in and work with the department heads, faculty chairs, the different athletic departments, and the clubs and societies on campus to attract a variety of talent,” she says.
Proximity to many schools allows recruiters to make appearances on short notice, adds Ms Miller. If a London-based employer cancels an event at a university in Leeds, for example, the local Enterprise recruiter will be able to fill in. “Being very close and having those close relationships is very similar to our branches,” she explains. “So much of our business is built on relationships, and I think our recruitment business is no different from how we operate our rental business.”
