Randstad France adopts secure and agile computing with ChromeOS
Olivier Lepoivre
Digital Workplace Manager, Randstad France
Founded in the Netherlands in 1960, Randstad is the world’s largest HR service provider, operating in 38 countries, and is listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The Randstad France Group operates across a range of professional services including recruitment, onboarding, management, training, and mobility. It has a national network of 900 locations, and the broader Randstad Group deploys an average of 85,000 temporary employees each week and recruits nearly 27,000 professionals for permanent and contract positions each year. In 2021, the Randstad France Group delivered €3.6 billion in revenue. Randstad, Randstad Group, and Randstad Portugal are Top Employer certified and Randstad France is an official supporter of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Secure Remote Work
Shortly before the pandemic, Randstad’s IT equipment was facing a classic problem with ageing PCs. With the sudden advent of remote work, equipping a large number of employees with laptops became a priority. Branch managers already use laptops, but consultants still rely on desktop PCs to use specific applications, assess their clients’ needs, and carry out applicant matching in real-time.
Renewing IT equipment and improving mobility was a top priority, and when Randstad’s Chief Information Security Officer evaluated Chromebooks, he was impressed by the security, ease of deployment and speed of employee adoption the ChromeOS solution provided. Randstad had already been using Google Workspace for 10 years, and the transition to ChromeOS was a natural next step in their journey to the cloud.
From proof of concept to deployment: 50 to 4,000 devices activated
Randstad set up a proof of concept with 50 employees across different profiles and networks. Olivier Lepoivre, Digital Workplace Manager of Mobility led the project. The deployment was able to be carried out quickly as only certain applications needed to be adapted. HR tools, payroll, and other key applications already relied on SaaS solutions. Therefore the migration had minimal impact on operations.
Fast Adoption
All departments committed quickly, with operational staff transitioning first, followed by functional staff. The deployment and support rates were extremely high, with more than 150 activations per week. In 14 months, 4,000 Chromebooks were activated throughout the country, covering almost 85% of Randstad’s workforce .
Employees were a bit worried about a new technology at first, and then after a few weeks, everyone wanted to try it out and make the switch. It created a huge buzz and we even had to set up prioritization committees to decide who would migrate first
Olivier Lepoivre, Digital Workplace Manager, Randstad France
Deployment was carried out city by city. ChromeOS devices were sent out a few weeks in advance so employees could get used to them ahead of a hands-on training session “Whilst we had planned a one-month transition period with the old PCs, some people didn’t even wait until halfway through that period to unplug their old machines,” says Olivier Lepoivre.
A Google hub was created at each branch so employees could live-chat, store useful documents, and receive immediate technical support. ChromeOS support teams were involved at every stage of the project— from support to deployment to solving technical issues.
Equipping Randstad employees with ChromeOS devices delivered a 50% cost saving compared to migrating from PCs to Windows 10 laptops. Randstad employees have transitioned from transportable tools to genuinely portable machines. This not only allows them to work from home, but now all of their applications are on a single device, instead of having to use both a device and a tablet based on the application they were using. Internal tools like the companies’ CRM, payroll, and other applications are all loaded on the same ChromeOS device.
With the voice dictation feature, consultants can now compile the minutes of their visits or recruitment interviews faster; making life much easier and boosting productivity of the frontline staff.
Consultants can now operate in a fully flexible work environment, greet candidates easily, and prepare for sales calls. The dual screen feature in ChromeOS devices allows multiple tabs to be opened at the same time so consultants can work on several tasks at once. “The team was very positive about this feature, which is a great time saver. ChromeOS devices are convertible and have a touch screen so we can easily carry out needs assessments on our clients’ sites,” explains Linda Hadjloun, Randstad Branch Manager, Saint-Denis.
New use cases for new integrations
The migration from desktop PCs to Chromebooks is an on-going process within the Randstad France Group, with a plan to deploy Chromebooks to 100% of their workforce.
Google has become a strategic partner for Randstad. The opportunity to integrate mobile and Android is currently being assessed to support the company’s ‘Google to the Max’ product strategy.
