This week we welcome Lucy Williams to the podcast. Lucy's distinguished career in talent acquisition spans more than twenty years, with stints at such organizations as RP International, IBM, and most recently, Visa, where she led a team as Regional TA Director for Central Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Topics include: the similarities and differences between talent acquisition functions in US, the Middle East, and Africa, how and why hiring timelines can vary widely by market, the importance of creating a robust workforce plan for multi-national organizations, proactive vs. reacting recruiting, the necessary inputs to create a viable workforce plan, getting beyond the “cost center” mindset in talent acquisition, internal mobility as an crucial component of an effective TA strategy, the meaning of “company culture,” the difference between highlighting individual employees’ personal brands and an organization’s employer brand, and the relationship between company culture and employer brand.