Category: Candidate Attraction

Scottish Police: Securing the Future of Policing in Scotland

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The Scottish Police Authority needed to build a strong leadership team for Police Scotland to deliver a significant transformational agenda. They were looking for candidates who not only had the operational policing experience, but also the leadership capability to drive a challenging journey of accelerated growth, intense scrutiny and accountability. Our robust, tailored assessment process enabled them to find exactly the right people for the job.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • ROBUST, TWO-STAGE PROCESS
  • INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT CENTRES
  • BESPOKE, DETAILED CANDIDATE REPORTS
  • SUCCESSFULLY APPOINTED LEADERS

SCOPE AND SCALE

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) were faced with the challenge of hiring an elite group of leaders into the roles of Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) and Deputy Chief Constable (DCC) for Police Scotland to deliver the 2026 strategy.

SITUATION

Police Scotland had undergone a wave of change, instability and uncertainty, and they needed a strong leadership team to work collectively and deliver a significant transformational agenda. The SPA needed to identify the ‘right’ individuals. Not only did they need to have technical/operational Policing experience, but also the leadership experience and capability to lead on this challenging journey of accelerated growth, intense scrutiny and accountability. And they needed a strategic assessment partner to help them do it.

SOLUTION

A ROBUST PROCESS
The SPA engaged our Assessment expertise to design and deliver a robust process to recruit a number of DCCs and ACCs into Police Scotland. We measured each candidate’s strengths
and potential areas of development against indicators from the College of Policing Competency and Values Framework.

A TWO-STAGED APPROACH
In Stage One, candidates completed an online critical reasoning test and a series of personality assessments, followed by an in-depth validation interview with a highly experienced Business Psychologist. At Stage Two, all candidates were invited to attend an individual assessment centre. They were tested by a team of independent, highly experienced assessors across four exercises.

BESPOKE REPORTS
Our assessors collated all the candidate performance information and developed detailed reports on each individual. These also included a series of specific questions that the panel
could use in the final stage interview to dig deeper and give candidates a final opportunity to demonstrate their experience or capability in a specific competency.

RESULTS

SUCCESSFULLY APPOINTED LEADERS
This robust approach enabled the SPA to successfully appoint three individuals into the ACC roles and two individuals into the DCC roles, as key players in the Police Scotland leadership team.

CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE
Our tailored, best practice-based assessment process gave the SPA confidence that the selected individuals would make a significant contribution to the development of policing in Scotland in the years ahead.

Virgin Media: High-Volume RPO and Professional Recruiting for Improve Diversity

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CHALLENGE

After publishing their gender parity report, Virgin Media set us the challenge of recruiting more female technicians into a role which has a pronounced gender bias, with 99% male incumbents.

At the end of 2017, Virgin Media changed their approach for vetting new starters. Sales starters would now have to complete full vetting before starting. vetting was completed after the start date.

In 2017 we successfully hired 275 Field Sales Advisors, in 2018 we were challenged to increase the number to 450, with a smaller attraction budget than we were granted in 2017. This was a sizeable challenge as field sales are one of the tougher areas to recruit for. Typically it uses up a higher percentage of our media budget.

APPROACH

Setting up a ‘Women in Field’ working group and regular project calls with the client were key. We explored every avenue to tap into a market which previously wasn’t engaged with this opportunity. We wanted to be bold and disruptive in our approach, particularly around how the role was advertised and positioned. We listened to existing female employees and involved them in the recruitment process, making sure they were present for female candidates attending assessments.

Fully vetting new joiners before they start on induction makes for a fantastic candidate and hiring manager experience. We used our existing partnership with ‘Security Watchdog’ to identify how to dramatically reduce the three-week clearance period. With better signposting and a clearer process, we reduced the clearance period to just 11 days.

We developed new channels to engage people who previously would not have applied. We streamlined the application process and introduced the option to register interest in hotspot areas. We used our internal SNAP team to post across social channels such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Our Field Sales recruiters were then able to engage those interested and convert them into applicants.

‘We’ve made more than 30% more hires in 2018, with a 20% smaller attraction budget.’

RESULTS

‘Women in Field’ was launched in four key locations and in just two months, we received triple the number of applications from women that we received in the whole of 2017. And by the end of the pilot, we had more than doubled the number of female employees.

The new vetting process has helped to reduce early attrition by up to 20% across sales channels.

In field sales we’ve made more than 30% more hires in 2018, with a 20% smaller attraction budget compared to 2017.

Overall, we’ve dramatically improved our application to hire ratios across all of the UK. And in 2018 (year to date) hiring managers have saved 376 hours in interview time.

The campaign was shortlisted in the ‘Diversity’ category of the 2018 Recruitment Marketing Awards. We’re now seeing more regions across the UK using a similar approach in order to increase their gender diversity.

Safran Nacelles: Reducing Time-to-Hire by a Third for Critical Engineering Talent

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CHALLENGE

With increased litigation and fear around aeroplane safety, stress engineers have become an essential part of the design and test processes. Consequently, Nacelle’s were keen to attract experienced stress engineers to join in permanent roles. This had proved difficult to say the least, as experienced stress engineers are in very short supply. The aerospace market is highly competitive and the best candidates opt for contracts rather than permanent positions. All of which demands substantial time and focus for resourcers. So after 18 unsatisfying months trying to fill roles with their previous supplier, Nacelles approached PeopleScout for help.

APPROACH

Four things defined our approach: rigour, innovation, relationships and brand unity.

To assess in detail, the skills, experience and behaviors that typified an excellent candidate for Nacelles, we held a detailed briefing with the hiring manager and other stakeholders. Next, we devised an innovative sourcing strategy, including deep web searching, competitor mapping and tapping into online forums, reaching out to candidates from Romania, India and the UK.

A unified employer brand simplifies life. But more than that, it’s a reason for candidates to gravitate to us over traditional agencies. So we worked in the Nacelles headquarters to build great relationships with the hiring managers. And the unity behind the scenes extended to candidate communications. Every contact by the PeopleScout team was made under the Nacelles name, whether sourcing candidates, conducting interviews or leading tours of the factory. Nacelles and PeopleScout were as one.

‘The agreed time per hire is 45 days, while our average is just 30 days. That’s a reduction of 33%.’

RESULTS

Because we manage every part of the process we’ve substantially streamlined Nacelle’s resourcing, yielding fantastic results. Within a month, we filled the first 3 roles. Then we placed nine more stress engineers in permanent roles at Nacelle: an unheard-of achievement in the aerospace industry. And the good results continue to build as we help with the client’s ongoing recruitment needs. The agreed time per hire is 45 days, while our average is just 30 days. That’s a reduction of 33%. And we’ve managed to halve the cost per hire.

HM Treasury: Building Inclusion into the Candidate Experience

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CHALLENGE

Every year Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) recruits up to 150 graduates for their Graduate Policy Adviser programme, offering the chance to shape policies that affect a nation. A popular proposition, they sought our help to identify the very best candidates from almost 2,500 applications. While well-subscribed, delivering a satisfactory candidate journey had historically proved to be a challenge, and they were keen for our help to improve the application experience. A key objective was to attract a more diverse range of candidates, reflecting the diverse make-up of the UK population they would be supporting. Specifically, they wanted to engage a wider socio-economic, gender, ethnic and disability community. Understanding – and addressing – any adverse impacts on these groups was essential.

APPROACH

Our attraction strategy was to shift the perception that HMT roles are primarily ‘financial’ when, in fact, communication and analytical skills are the most important abilities. This allowed us to broaden the sweep of our attraction strategy in general and also, to target specific talent groups.

We reviewed all of HMT’s assessment materials to establish their fairness, and to ensure they represented best practice. We also monitored every recruitment stage for any adverse impact. Implementing a batched recruitment process, we established a structured schedule of keep warm emails, regularly updating candidates on their applications. And we also applied our standard reasonable adjustment process, making sure that every candidate with a disability-related request was personally contacted to assess requirements.

A recruitment team was also made available to support candidates throughout their entire recruitment journey.

‘The attraction campaign generated 49% of all applications and increased applications from key target audiences – particularly women, BME and state schools.’

RESULTS

Our analysis of the recruitment process also demonstrated that it was free of adverse impacts. For example, a disabled candidate was unable to complete the online test, so we worked with the online provider to replicate testing in Microsoft Excel, and completed the test with the candidate at our offices in London. The candidate was successful and progressed to the next stage.

All hiring targets were achieved. The attraction campaign generated 49% of all applications and increased applications from key target audiences – particularly women, BME and state schools. And HMT was thrilled with the results – so much so that they have asked us to take on further campaigns.

SSE: Achieving Project RPO Success Despite Limited Talent Pool

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CHALLENGE

As part of the Government’s smart meter rollout, SSE needed to hire 1,500 Smart Meter Engineers in a short time-frame – in direct competition with all the other energy companies looking for the same people. A long-term client, SSE turned to their Talent Solutions Partner to share the problem and outsource the project.

APPROACH

Our task was to recruit 1,500 Smart Meter Installers by December 2017. Time was of the essence. The hiring process needed to be transformed, streamlined and made more consistent, as the existing process was time-consuming for hiring managers and candidates alike. Hiring managers were incredibly busy so we needed a process that required minimal commitment.

The next challenge we faced was the limited talent pool of candidates. So it was essential that SSE made an impact with highly targeted communications.

Our Occupational Psychologist team designed a new online application process that removed the need for SSE Managers to interview candidates. Now they would only need to meet the candidates on their first day of training. Our newly designed online 3D model and multiple-choice tests allowed us to assess candidates much more efficiently. And along the way, our UK Delivery Centre supported candidates at each stage, ensuring that they remained engaged and satisfied.

‘We’ve been really pleased with the speed of project set up, the team and the added value that they continue to provide.” Lee Newbold, HR Business Partner – Metering and Smart Transformation’

RESULTS

Between October 2016 and April 2018, 902 Smart Meter Installers were recruited. The average time to receive an offer has been reduced to 69 days, and recruits now start after 104 days, on average.

And, throughout we have increased the quality of the candidates. 90% of trainee candidates attended assessment and 64% passed at the Assessment Centre. We’ve increased the number of female Smart Meter Operatives by 800%.

The application process was nominated for an Innovation Award by the Association of British Psychology.

IMI: End-to-End Graduate Recruitment Balancing Technology and the Human Touch

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CHALLENGE

IMI is a specialist engineering company. They design, manufacture and service highly engineered products that control the movement of fluids. They employ some 11,000 people, have manufacturing facilities in more than 20 countries and operate a global service network. When they needed a comprehensive global graduate recruitment campaign, IMI approached PeopleScout.

APPROACH

We’ve supported IMI’s Graduate Programme for two years, with a global end-to-end talent solution designed to deliver an excellent candidate experience. It includes everything from website design, attraction and sourcing, through to candidate management.

In practice, we manage a recruitment process that comprises an online application, a detailed qualification screen, a sift of written motivational responses, online verbal and numerical reasoning testing and a telephone interview. Assessment centres are regionally administered and conducted by IMI hiring managers.

We know just how valuable human contact is in the recruitment process. So we give applicants real-time phone access to the resourcers and recruiters in the Delivery Centre – maintaining high candidate satisfaction. Candidates can expect responses to email enquiries within 24 hours. And telephone interviews and assessments are scheduled during UK evening hours, allowing IMI to concentrate on interviews and assessments.

“Moving to PeopleScout was the best decision I ever made.” Mari Docker – Global Graduate Development Manager, IMI

RESULTS

We’ve supported IMI’s Graduate Programme for two years, with a global end-to-end talent solution designed to deliver an excellent candidate experience. It includes everything from website design, attraction and sourcing, through to candidate management.

In practice, we manage a recruitment process that comprises an online application, a detailed qualification screen, a sift of written motivational responses, online verbal and numerical reasoning testing and a telephone interview. Assessment centres are regionally administered and conducted by IMI hiring managers.

We know just how valuable human contact is in the recruitment process. So we give applicants real-time phone access to the resourcers and recruiters in the Delivery Centre – maintaining high candidate satisfaction. Candidates can expect responses to email enquiries within 24 hours. And telephone interviews and assessments are scheduled during UK evening hours, allowing IMI to concentrate on interviews and assessments.

Virgin Money: Creating a Candidate Assessment Like No Other

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CHALLENGE

Virgin Money’s brief to us: find me Harry Potter, a creative genius who can come along and change banking. Someone from outside banking that we couldn’t attract through the normal processes.

APPROACH

How do you recruit an executive from a completely different sector? And how do you reach them in the first place? Above all, by making the front pages, not the banking job section. So we set out to create a headline-grabbing experience and generate PR and noise in the right places – starting with a pilot of the assessment experience. And that experience was ‘The world’s most creative job interview’, a hybrid of immersive theatre and robust assessment. Building on psychological principles, it set candidates tasks that engaged as thoroughly as they tested.

“The thing I love about PeopleScout is they have that really interesting blend of a robust approach to assessment and the creative ability to think differently.” – Head of Resourcing, Virgin Money

RESULTS

Alongside coverage in the usual HR publications, we earned high-profile media coverage in titles like The Evening Standard, City A.M., Campaign, Marketing Magazine and Brand Republic, with a combined circulation of around 30 million. Ten outstanding candidates were chosen for the ‘interview’. Which all led to the discovery of the successful applicant, Dhiraj Mukherjee, a founder of the music application Shazam, and a truly creative entrepreneur. And the new assessment approach has ushered in a legacy beyond a new Head of Innovation. From one niche role, we’ve now scaled up the approach to be used nationally across all volume hiring.

Derby City Council: Candidate Generation for Future Generations

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Derby City Council needed to recruit several Directors to drive forward their 2030 vision for a safer, stronger city. They engaged our expertise in Candidate Generation and Assessment solutions to ensure the right candidates were identified and assessed in a robust, pragmatic way. We delivered a streamlined, structured solution to ensure they had the information they needed to make successful appointments based on objective, role-specific insights.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS
• A ROBUST PROCESS
• IN-DEPTH INSIGHT
• MEASUREMENT & VALIDATION
• BESPOKE CANDIDATE REPORTS
• SUCCESSFUL APPOINTMENTS

IDENTIFYING THE RIGHT CANDIDATES TO DRIVE DERBY’S 2030 VISION

SCOPE & SCALE

Derby City Council has a clear vision for 2030, based on building a “safe, strong, ambitious city”.To achieve this vision they needed to recruit a number of Directors to drive forward their ambitious plans.

SITUATION

Derby City Council engaged our expertise in Candidate Generation and Assessment solutions to ensure the right candidates were identified and assessed in a robust, pragmatic way

SOLUTION

IN-DEPTH INSIGHT
To target suitable candidates for each of the roles, our specialist Candidate Generation team immersed themselves in the culture of Derby City Council. They asked questions to understand the key success requirements, experience and qualities essential for each role. This also supported the development of a compelling, yet realistic, narrative that could be used to keep candidates motivated to complete the recruitment journey.

MEASUREMENT & VALIDATION
Our Senior Assessment Consultant ensured that each candidate completed two personality questionnaires to measure their profiles against the organisation’s key strategic level
competencies. In addition, our Occupational Psychologist conducted a 60-minute validation call with each individual to really get under their skin and bring their behavioral preferences to life.

BESPOKE CANDIDATE REPORTS
We then compiled a report on every candidate, highlighting their key strengths and development areas, providing briefs for the panel to use to probe further during the selection interviews.

RESULTS

SUCCESSFUL APPOINTMENTS
This streamlined, structured solution ensured that Derby City Council had the information they needed to make appointment decisions based on objective, role-specific insights.

A ROBUST PROCESS
It also made for a fair process which both successful and unsuccessful candidates found to be enriching, as they received insightful feedback throughout. Similarly, the assessor panel reported that the briefings helped to focus their questions at the final stage interviews for each candidate.

Bombardier: Keeping the World Moving with a Global Employer Brand

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A worldwide leader in rail technology, Bombardier Transportation had no global employer brand presence. So they approached us to develop a recruitment value proposition. Launched initially in the UK, and now rolling out to other territories, our global messaging framework and toolkit has already helped them recruit to previously hard-to-fill roles, as well as meet diversity objectives.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS
• GLOBAL PRESENCE
• SUCCESSFUL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
• FILLING CRITICAL ROLES
• IMPROVED DIVERSITY

SCOPE AND SCALE

With no global employer brand presence, Bombardier Transportation was keen to develop a recruitment value proposition (RVP). The RVP was not only to be used to push out the overall brand message, but also to underpin specific propositions for, and support recruitment activity in, each of their territories around the world.

SITUATION

Bombardier Transportation had to tackle a negative market perception of redundancies and lost orders. The truth was that they had a full order book and some new and exciting contracts to deliver in the future. With this positive story to share, they realised they had a great opportunity to enhance their position within the market.

SOLUTION

RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
We began with extensive research in all key Bombardier Transportation global territories. As well as conducting interviews with a mixture of senior stakeholders and employees from the main talent groups they needed to recruit from, we also carried out external sessions with relevant talent groups.

FOUNDATION & FRAMEWORK
Using the insights we’d gained, we developed a set of RVP pillars capturing the key themes from the research. This provided the framework for creating our global messaging platform and design.

OUTCOME: GUIDELINES & TOOLKIT
Working closely with Bombardier Transportation’s Centre of Excellence, Branding and Communications teams, we produced a set of guidelines and toolkit of materials that could be used globally and nuanced for each individual territory.

RESULTS

GLOBAL PRESENCE
Initially launched within the UK, the RVP continues to be rolled out to other territories around the world.

SUCCESSFUL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
Bombardier Transportation also launched its first media campaign using the RVP in the UK, with encouraging results. The campaign used a variety of digital and outdoor media in key hiring locations, which was a first for Bombardier Transportation.

SUCCESS IN HIRING CRITICAL, HARD-TO-FILL ROLES
Across the whole campaign, they received over 500 applications and made hires into critical roles that they had struggled to recruit to previously.

IMPROVED DIVERSITY
They were also able to recruit several females into these positions addressing their global diversity objectives.

FUTURE FOUNDATION
The RVP and media performance have been well received within Bombardier Transportation as they continue to plan their activities.

Sellafield: Transforming an Employer Brand to Engage Entry-Level Talent

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As part of a new vision and strategy, Sellafield Ltd had redefined and expanded their Graduate and Industrial Placement schemes, and they needed to hire more graduates and placement students than ever before. To help them do this, we developed a new brand messaging and visual approach that told their story across a range of channels – and significantly increased applications.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS
• TRANSFORMATIVE BRAND MESSAGING
• COMPREHENSIVE ATTRACTION STRATEGY
• WIDER AUDIENCE
• INCREASED APPLICATIONS

SCOPE AND SCALE

We’ve worked with Sellafield Ltd for several years, supporting their annual Graduate and Industrial Placement schemes. As part of an ongoing transformational journey, the organisation
had repurposed its values and strategy for the future. In response to this, they also redefined and expanded their schemes to attract and hire more graduates and placement
students than ever before.

SITUATION

Sellafield Ltd needed to hire 55 graduates and 50 students. And, with a new vision and strategy, they were keen to develop their existing brand messaging to reflect the opportunities that these changes would bring. They agreed with us that a re-launch of the Graduate and Industrial Placement schemes was required, to tell the story of their transformation and engage candidates across the breadth of disciplines.

SOLUTION

ENGAGING BRAND MESSAGING
We worked with Sellafield Ltd to develop an engaging recruitment value proposition (RVP). Using the RVP as a platform, our brand messaging and design conveyed the new vision and strategy, and what that meant for our target audiences, across a range of attraction materials.

COMPREHENSIVE ATTRACTION STRATEGY
This included careers fair materials, such as stands, leaflets and posters, and collateral for their online attraction strategy – graduate media, search engine Pay Per Click and assets for
their careers website. We also supported our client with their approach to media channels and the purchase of relevant job boards.

RESULTS

A WIDER AUDIENCE
The new Sellafield Ltd RVP messaging has been seen by an audience of just under 1 million across all channels.

GREATER RESPONSE
With almost 30,000 people clicking to their website from media channels, Sellafield Ltd now has a higher number of visitors to their website – 8% up on the previous year. And, with around 1500 applications, we’ve enabled them to gain a greater breadth of response across all disciplines.