Talent Recruitment
Early career recruitment and university relations
Axalta is a strong advocate of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. We have built strategic and multi-faceted relationships with leading businesses and higher education institutions for the purpose of supporting these areas of study. The goal is to help build a stronger foundation for recruiting top talent at all levels of the organization. Our support is also consistent with a STEM focus of our corporate social responsibility initiatives that help develop interest and capacity in such disciplines for the betterment of the communities in which we work and live.
As part of our commitment to higher education and university recruitment, Axalta has created Invent U, a world-class internship program that provides participating students with the opportunity to become integrated into company operations by working on key projects that have business value and impact. Students have direct access to senior-level executives and customers as well as company R&D facilities and customer training sites. The ultimate goal of Invent U is to give the company a means to evaluate interns as potential full-time employees and, if they meet our standards, offer them employment once they have completed their studies.
In the 2014 and 2015 program cycles, interns were based at key U.S. locations including our global headquarters, North America main offices, central R&D laboratory, and at one of our main manufacturing sites. To further enhance the intern experience, all interns were brought together for a three-day Invent U Summit at global headquarters in Philadelphia, PA. During the Summit, the interns were provided additional access to Axalta senior management and customers. They also participated in a professional development colloquium that provided skills to enhance individual development and growth. The interns were also offered various venues to network among themselves.
From the 2015 pool of interns, Axalta was able to convert 92 percent of the rising seniors to full-time employees with several of the engineering students placed into our Graduate Rotation (GRO) program. The GRO program supports the early development of engineers by rotating them through various manufacturing sites where they acquire increased levels of experience and responsibility. GRO employees participate in the program for up to three years before they are placed into a permanent position.
In the 2016 U.S. program, nearly 60 percent of the intern pool is composed of engineers and nearly 85 percent are pursuing quantitative fields such as engineering, finance and accounting, mathematics, and management information systems. Almost 40 percent are women. In 2016, the program has been expanded to include the three other regions where Axalta does business: Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific.
Recruiting experienced talent
Since we became an independent company in 2013, our recruitment efforts globally have been significant. Our global leadership team now consists of some of the best and brightest talent who have learned their disciplines while rising to positions of increasing responsibility at many of the world’s leading companies representing a variety of industries.
Our focus has been to hire individuals who bring the best technical talent in addition to possessing tangible and intangible personal attributes that align with Axalta’s culture and values. At all levels in the organization we demand a “can do” ownership mindset that thrives in a culture of accountability and lean thinking in which decision-making is driven by analytical rigor. Candidates must be adept at flexing from the “boiler room to the Boardroom” quickly and flawlessly while executing with excellence.
The overriding collaborative nature of the Axalta culture has aided us in building a cohesive, aligned, results-focused leadership team, which is always focused on our contributing to our customers’ success.