Already responsible for 4,500 hotels and 666,000 hotel rooms around the world, IHG is opening new locations at an average of one a day around the world.
IHG boasts the industry's largest hotel development pipeline, currently progressing 1,100 hotels (more than 180,000 rooms).
This rapid expansion has created the positive challenge of ensuring that IHG has the right people in place to manage the growth, and over the next four years, the Group plans to hire 400,000 people using Taleo Recruiting.
Claire Guberg, IHG's global talent systems manager, said: "We need people who are brand aware - what we call 'brand-hearted' - who can deliver our vision to our customers and our team so that our hotels are successful.
"We believe that the best way of getting that level of awareness is to look internally for the key positions that we need around the globe.
"Taleo's software allows us to create a pool of people that we can search to find out where in the world they would like to work, and within which functions, helping us to quickly check we're approaching the right people when it comes to new opportunities."
One of the primary ways that IHG helps drive internal mobility is with its biannual Careers Week. This event encourages existing IHG personnel - no matter their level or job function - to go into the talent system and create a profile.
IHG's Career Week makes a significant impact in collating the information they need to successfully manage their internal talent. The most recent event, held in September, saw 5,000 people across 89 countries create a profile - the highest number yet. IHG also found that increasing numbers of their staff would be comfortable applying for an internal opportunity and know how to do this.
Promoting IHG as an example of best practice, Taleo is calling for employers to ensure that they have the 'talent intelligence' to mobilise and deploy their existing staff, rather than relying wholly on external recruitment drives. As the economic crisis continues to put financial pressure on companies of all sizes, an in-depth understanding of the skills and career aspirations of existing staff allows businesses to minimise recruiting and onboarding costs, while still filling the roles needed to support their objectives.
