Matthew Scott is a British national. He has been with L’Oréal for 16 years, having joined as an Engineer on their Management Trainee program right after university. Matthew spent the first 10 years of his career working in supply chain at L'Oréal's UK head office in London, before making the jump to HR. After this switch, the company made use of his unique combination of HR and technical skills and appointed him as Compensation & Benefits (C&B) Director for L’Oréal UK, where he became in charge of the complex pension and taxation arrangements of the employees, as well as all other general compensation and benefits tasks. In April 2012, Matthew Scott was appointed to his current role as HR Director of L’Oréal Middle East, and is based out of their offices in Jebel Ali, Dubai, where they have operational responsibility for the GCC and Iran. Matthew manages a team which supports him in tasks related to learning and development, recruitment and integration, and payroll and administration. Matthew's team is also in charge of an HR business partner in Saudi Arabia. In this interview with Bayt.com, Matthew shares his views on L’Oréal’s approach to hiring talent, challenges in hiring local talent, and how the company, with a presence in 130 countries, handles diversity among its employees: 1. How different would you say is L’Oréal’s approach to hiring talent compared to other companies in the beauty and FMCG industry? We pride ourselves on trying to create a “tailor-made” career for our employees. This starts from the interview stage where we spend a lot of time meeting interesting profiles just for the sake of getting to know them. At this early stage we will often not know what job would be best for them. Once we have a clear idea of the person's experience, character and ambitions we can see what vacancy would best fit them. It’s not unknown for us to even create a job if we see a really exceptional talent that we think would fit our organization. 2. What are some of the unconventional questions L’Oréal asks candidates during job interviews? We don’t believe in quirky, unsettling questions in interviews, however we do focus a lot on the candidate’s ethics, values, ambition, judgment, leadership and vision. 3. What is the biggest challenge you face when recruiting local talent? Probably one of our biggest challenges is identifying future mobility. We are a multinational company, and we love to see our staff go abroad to gain experience and bring that expertise back to the region for the longer term. However, persuading people to leave Dubai, with its great weather, good standard of living, etc. can be very difficult! So really, probing that in the interview can be a challenge. 4. What would you say has been your proudest moment as an HR professional at L’Oréal? Making the step into HR in the first place was probably my greatest achievement. One of the fantastic things about L’Oréal is the trust that they can place in you to try something completely different. Moving from Supply Chain to HR was a big jump for me, and I’m grateful that I was given the chance. 5. What advice do you have for companies who want to encourage innovation at the workplace? Don’t underestimate the physical and emotional environment that you create for your employees. If employees feel that it's OK to make mistakes (as long as they are not repeated!) you may find a more risk-taking and innovative output. So make sure that they know it's OK. Equally, if you can afford to create an inspirational office space, then go for it. Not only will it help foster creativity, but you will also attract and retain the best talents. 6. How do you handle diversity at L’Oréal? It’s a major focus for us as we have a hugely diverse workforce (in all aspects of diversity). We talk a lot about diversity in the initial comprehensive induction program for new starters. In addition, this year every one of our employees (including the Management Committee) have attended a one-day Diversity training session. And in order to be even more transparent with our employees we have an “Open Talk” box in the office which allows employees to post anonymous questions on ethics and diversity and have them answered publicly by the Managing Director every month. So it’s really a major focus for us, and we aim to be a leading company in the region for ethics and diversity. 7. Which Bayt.com feature do you feel is indispensable to employers? The ease with which potential candidates can find their way to your job postings is fantastic. It's way more simple than some other tools out there and a lot easier for candidates than visiting individual company websites. This is especially useful when [as an employer] you are advertising jobs which perhaps you are not well-known for, and your own company website might not attract much traffic in this specific field.
