Case Study: Walmart achieves 80% direct sourcing and rapid executive hires with LinkedIn Talent Solutions

Walmart - Customer Case Study

Walmart’s Asia executive recruiting team, led by Simon Heaton, was built in 11 months to tackle the company’s biggest problem: rapid growth in a region where organized retail and experienced local talent are less developed. The team faces the twin challenges of training people for retail roles and repatriating Asian professionals with Western retail experience, while navigating varied cultural responses to passive outreach across markets.

Heaton addressed this by building an in‑house recruiting engine centered on LinkedIn Recruiter, InMail and candidate mapping, combined with targeted training and repatriation efforts. The approach paid off: 80% of hires are now sourced directly, Heaton has placed 150 director‑level+ hires in three years with 95% retention and 25% promoted, the e‑commerce senior team was recruited and onboarded in six weeks (100% via LinkedIn), and InMail response rates reach ~40% in China and nearly 100% in India.

Walmart

Simon Heaton

Head of Executive Recruiting