Industry: Transportation & Travel

Transport for Wales: Growing the Workforce of a Newly-Created Organisation

Posted on by mhill

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) for specialist Engineering, Transportation, Project Management and Support Function roles


Transport for Wales (TfW) were keen to engage a single recruitment partner who could provide a technology solution, expert resourcing services and expertise to help them not only go to market but engage and leverage their brand, while they built from a small entity to larger organisation with a plan to hire roles from apprentices and graduates to Directors with every level in between.

We’ve worked in partnership with TfW as their sole RPO supplier to build the workforce up from just nine employees to over 140 and growing, most of which are permanent with some temporary staff and contractors.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • FLEXIBLE AND SCALABLE RPO SUPPORT.
  • EXPERIENCED RESOURCING BUSINESS PARTNER ON SITE AND DEDICATED OFFSITE TEAM.
  • CREATING BRAND AWARENESS IN A COMPETITIVE MARKETPLACE.
  • LANDING PAGE, ATS SOLUTION AND REGISTER YOUR INTEREST PORTAL, WITH KEEP WARM STRATEGY.
  • PROVIDING RECRUITERS WHO SPEAK BOTH ENGLISH AND WELSH.

SCOPE AND SCALE

Transport for Wales (TfW) was created to drive forward the Welsh Government’s vision for a high quality, safe, integrated, affordable and accessible transport network that the people of Wales would be proud of. As a new rail franchise operator, their initial focus was to grow at speed, recruiting 100 or more key staff within challenging timescales, in preparation for a rail franchise switch over.

SITUATION

As a newly-created organisation, Transport for Wales had no recruitment expertise or technology to support their ambitious resourcing plans for roles at all levels. Our on-site Resourcing Business Partner helped shape the Transport for Wales solution and strategy. The immediate challenge was to identify and hire to key senior positions, starting with the Directors, and working with them to build their teams from the top down in order to deliver on their goals.


Another key requirement was an RPO provider who could work in both English and Welsh.

SOLUTION

A UNIQUE SERVICE MODEL
PeopleScout consulted with TfW and using a nimble yet disciplined approach created a strategy and process to swiftly start recruiting key hires. We are client-first not process-first and a unique service model was created providing an on-site senior recruiter , with expertise and industry experience who could consult and provide solutions to market challenges and engage with hiring communities and other key stakeholders. We are focused on delivery and so alongside this, we provided regular updates and insights.


BEST-IN-CLASS SERVICE
Our off-site dedicated recruiting team provided full sourcing to onboarding services, making sure that candidates received a best-in-class service right through to their first day and beyond.


ATTRACTING A WIDER DIVERSITY OF TALENT
As an RPO provider with a creative flair and history of expertise, we were able to help TfW move away from more traditional marketing style to something which attracted a wider diversity of talent. As recognised leaders in employer brand and candidate experience this extended into a go-to-market broadcasting strategy that encompassed social solutions, community management and talent pooling. It also maximised the TfW brand and story, and reduced pressure on budgets.

RESULTS

  • 95% offer fulfilment across all levels of roles
  • Rapid identification and hiring of specialist roles
  • 92% of candidates who are delighted with their hiring experience
  • Reduction in time on recruitment by hiring managers
  • Talent pools created for future hiring
  • A developed and refined future-proof recruitment strategy

PeopleScout have been excellent in the delivery of the recruitment services into Transport for Wales. They are transparent, hardworking and qualitatively focused. All the team have been dedicated to our growth ambition and have represented our brand well to external candidates. I am delighted to work with the whole team as we share our continued success with our partners.

Lisa Yates, Director of People and
Organisational Development – Transport for Wales

Transport for Wales: Recruiting the Tax Expert Who Brought Added Value

Posted on by mhill

We have been a key recruitment partner in helping Transport for Wales to grow their headcount from their inception in 2018. They needed support to build all five directorates, which encompass some niche and specialist positions, including a Tax Accountant to support the management of their finances. They needed a VAT subject matter expert to help them reclaim VAT they would invest in the Welsh transport sector.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • SUCCESSFULLY RECRUITING IN A LIMITED TALENT POOL OF VAT SPECIALIST TAX ANALYSTS IN WALES – WE RESEARCHED THE PASSIVE MARKET EXTENSIVELY
  • ENSURING A GOOD CULTURAL FIT BY CONDUCTING AN IN-DEPTH SCREENING PROCESS BEFORE PRESENTING CANDIDATES
  • ENGAGING AND SOURCING THE BEST TALENT IN A GLOBAL PANDEMIC

SCOPE AND SCALE

Transport for Wales are on a mission: to deliver an integrated travel system across Wales and revolutionise travel. So they are quickly growing and expanding their workforce. They were now looking for a qualified VAT subject matter expert to provide advice and guidelines in line with legislation to help TFW reclaim VAT to reinvest into the transport network. This is a highly competitive sector and the new Tax Analyst needed niche market skills. The sector is known for its low turnover; tax professionals are risk-averse and require significant consultation before considering a new opportunity.

SITUATION

This was a particularly challenging role to recruit. There is a very small talent pool of qualified candidates in Wales. This market is competitive, and many candidates are reluctant to move jobs unless for a significant increase in salary. In addition, the global pandemic was at its height – a climate that made candidates even more reluctant to change jobs.

SOLUTION

We adopted a fully consultative approach and took a detailed brief from the hiring manager. We started by using a blended approach of media and sourcing the passive market, advertising further across a number of well-known recruitment websites to drive applications. Attraction did not produce results, so we conducted a thorough search of the passive market to find that one perfect candidate that our recruiter knew straight away would be a good fit for the team. This candidate had worked
as a Tax subject matter expert for a similar government body, they understood government processes and culturally they were a strong fit for Transport For Wales.

RESULTS

We approached over 100 qualified professionals in South Wales and beyond. Our strategic search produced an ideal candidate who is moving into the Tax Analyst role.

Transport for Wales: Achieving 90% Candidate Satisfaction with Scalable Project RPO

Posted on by rharris

Transport for Wales was created in 2018 to drive forward the Welsh Government’s vision for a high quality, safe, integrated, affordable and accessible transport network that the people of Wales would be proud of. As a new rail franchise operator, their initial focus was to grow at speed, recruiting 50 key staff within challenging timescales, in preparation for a rail franchise switch over.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • Flexible and scalable recruitment support
  • Experience senior recruiter on-site
  • Seamless and branded communcation between hiring managers and candidates
  • Expertise in strategic sourcing for all levels of industry roles

SCOPE & SCALE

The organisational structure for Transport for Wales was still being defined by the senior leadership team, whilst the requirement to recruit functional leaders, transport and engineering professionals was building expansion and delivery timescales for a fully integrated travel system. As a newly created organisation, without an existing brand presence and with limited recruitment expertise and technology, Transport for Wales required an experienced recruiter to work at speed with their hiring managers, someone who could quickly understand the diverse hiring needs of the organisation and communities.

SITUATION

The recruitment expert would help shape the Transport for Wales solution whilst engaging with hiring managers. The immediate challenge was to support the in-house team
as well as providing an end to end briefing to offer service.

SOLUTION

PeopleScout consulted with Transport for Wales and agreed that flexible, on-demand support was needed, to act as an extension of the in-house HR team. We created a strategy and process to swiftly start recruiting key hires. A unique service model was created providing an on-site recruiter with industry experience who could consult and provide solutions to market challenges.The focus for this recruiter was to support recruitment priorities and make key hires within restrictive timelines. They also needed to consult with the hiring community and promote engagement and understanding of recruitment best practice. Alongside this, regular updates and insights were provided.

RESULTS

• 95% offer fulfilment across all levels of roles
• 90% satisfaction from candidate surveys
• Rapid identification and hiring of specialist hires
• Retention of control over fees and budgets
• Reduction in time on recruitment by hiring managers
• Talent pools created for future hiring
• Developed and refined recruitment strategy

PeopleScout have been excellent in the delivery of the recruitment services into Transport For Wales. They are transparent, hard-working and qualitatively focused. All of the team in Bristol have been dedicated to our growth ambition and have represented our brand well to external candidates. I am delighted to work with the whole team as we share our continued success with our partners.

The AA: Experiential Events – Ready for ANYTHING?

Posted on by rharris

Thousands more careers site visitors. Hundreds more applications. And how did we do it?
With 64 fake spiders, 15 litres of custard and 1 tube of wasabi paste – amongst other things.
This is the story of how we created a fun, conversation-sparking event that captured the essence of the AA employer brand, raised awareness of their contact centre roles, and helped them make the successful hires they needed.

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

  • Raising awareness of roles
  • Reflecting a fun and friendly culture
  • Boosting social media activity
  • Increasing careers site visitors
  • Record-breaking application figures

SCOPE & SCALE

The AA has two big contact centres in Oldbury (near Birmingham) and Newcastle. With ambitious hiring targets to meet they’d used a range of attraction methods, from job boards and paid social media, to taxi wraps and cinema. They weren’t getting the results they needed, so it was time for something bigger and bolder.

SITUATION

We discussed and planned the objectives carefully with the Talent Attraction team and local stakeholders. We wanted to raise general awareness of the organisation in local audiences and encourage them to spread the word, so we needed a way of reaching a large number of individuals easily, effectively and creatively. The AA also wanted us to showcase their fun and friendly culture, and so our event was a great fit with this.

A BRAND MESSAGING-ALIGNED EVENT

The Ready for ANYTHING? strapline is the central message in all of the AA’s recruitment communications activity, so it made sense to take this message and see just who was Ready for ANYTHING? amongst local audiences.

FUN TO TAKE PART IN. FUN TO WATCH.

With a big prize on offer to incentivise contestants, the event was built around getting volunteers on stage to take part in a mystery challenge. We built ‘The Random Challenge Generator’ – a big screen flashing through a series of silly, messy tasks. The contestant pushes a big yellow button to stop the screen, which brings up their challenge. We also engaged a celebrity host, to help draw the crowds, engage with the audience, and keep the fun moving. We ran two of these shopping centre-based outdoor events – one in Newcastle, the other in Birmingham.

PROMOTING THE OPPORTUNITIES

Maximising social media activity before, during and after the event, we also live-streamed the challenges. Filming on the day enabled us to create short videos for follow-up content to promote the AA’s contact centre roles. On the event days, we gave out flyers encouraging people to get involved and driving to the AA careers site, while the digital screen and on-stage announcements also highlighted the AA’s local career opportunities.

“Both events were a massive success and surpassed our expectations in terms of the level of engagement, prior, during & post the events.” Craig Morgans Head of Talent Acquisition, HR Shared Services, Learning & Development

RESULTS

UNPRECEDENTED CAREERS SITE VISIT FIGURES

Social media and event build-up activity drove c60,000 careers visits across the weeks of the events.
Typically, 1,500 – 2,000 people visit the AA careers site each day. For the Newcastle event, this increased to 5,000 in just one day, with a record high of 7,100 in one day for Birmingham.

RECORD NUMBERS OF APPLICATIONS

While the AA saw a huge increase in applications for their contact centre in Oldbury, they had record-breaking figures for Newcastle. With a month-on-month increase from 576 to 1026, this was 436 more than their previous application record of 590!

SUCCESSFUL HIRES MADE

So far, both the Newcastle and Oldbury contact centres have made 12 hires each as a result of the events.

The AA: Rigorous Market Mapping for Contact Centre Roles

Posted on by rharris

CHALLENGE

The AA had identified an opportunity to significantly expand the capacity of a Midlands contact centre. At the same time, they wanted to shift focus away from customer service to more sales-oriented roles. But first, they wanted to understand if the location and available talent could support the proposal. If the AA was going to commit to the expansion they needed to be confident that the investment would pay off. So they teamed up with PeopleScout to find answers.

APPROACH

The view at PeopleScout was that the assessment could only be undertaken with robust and transparent evidence of the local employment market.

Using a mixture of online research and big data tools, we sourced detailed, comprehensive data, covering market capability, salary, talent distribution and competitor analysis including site size and skill capability.

‘The client was able to demonstrate effective manpower planning – winning the support of key stakeholders.’

RESULTS

Armed with the in-depth insight into local labour and hiring potential that we provided, the client was able to demonstrate effective manpower planning – winning the support of key stakeholders.

The AA: Bot-Powered, Brand Boosting Innovation

Posted on by rharris

CHALLENGE

Mention “working for the AA” and many people can’t see beyond roadside roles– a roadblock when it comes to recruitment. Candidates assumed they knew what The AA had to offer, and weren’t engaged with the wider culture and benefits. As a result, the AA was failing to engage and convert website visitors. It was clear that the careers site needed a new brand voice and experience – to shake visitors out of old assumptions, and to attract – and ultimately hire – more candidates.

APPROACH

Last year we launched a reimagined digital solution that could do justice to the new brand proposition, ‘Ready for ANYTHING?’. It’s a totally new way to access the world of AA, replacing the need for conventional website navigation – The AA chatbot. To achieve it, we sought out bleeding-edge software, Microsoft’s Bot Framework, which was still in beta, and constructed new bot pathways even as the core code changed under our feet.

The result, AAbot, is your guide to the world of The AA. By asking him questions, candidates can access all website information from within the chatbot – utterly tailored to their interests, and, if desired, full job listings.

With expressive animations for any occasion, and banter full of cheek and surprise, AAbot is packed with personality. He takes the employer tone of voice in a playful, irreverent, funny and bold new direction. And he’s virtual proof that functional UX copy can entertain and build a brand, as well as inform.

  • See AAbot in action here

“This brilliant innovation has transformed how we engage candidates.” Craig Morgans, Head of Talent Acquisition, The AA

“I highly recommend AAbot. He’s the best robot in town. And the most modest.” AAbot

RESULTS

With no other significant changes to recruitment activity, total job applications – via the website – have increased by 146% since last year (full year 2017 – 2018 YTD).

Direct hires are also at a record high: having increased by 38%, to 2,800 in total (full year 2016 – YTD 2018), amounting to 96% of all hires (full year 2016 – YTD 2018).

This is against a backdrop of steadily increasing site traffic since launch: with 10% YOY growth (full year 2016 vs full year 2017), and consistent progress in 2018 (visitors YTD 2018 = 75% of the 2017 total).

Since launching Bot-led social media pages and enhanced chatbot functions in 2018, we’ve also accelerated the impact. Notable increases include average page views (+15%), and returning visitors (+14%). Applications in 2018 have already totalled 85% of the total for 2017 (36,000 full year 2017 vs. 30,500 YTD 2018).

In a nutshell, this is a story of consistent, significant business impact. Let’s just hope it doesn’t go to AAbot’s head.

Bombardier: Keeping the World Moving with a Global Employer Brand

Posted on by rharris

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.

Talking Talent Leadership Profiles: A Q&A with David Wilkinson, Boeing Global Talent Acquisition

Posted on by epadmin

David Wilkinson spends a lot of time in airplanes, and that’s not just because he works for Boeing. In global talent acquisition at the aerospace giant, he has lived and worked in London and Dubai and now leads his team from Mesa, Arizona in the U.S. While a lot of people talk about globalising talent acquisition, David actually lives it.


Regardless of whether he is looking towards the future of Boeing in the deserts of the U.S., the drizzle of the UK or the heat of the UAE, he is a talent champion. He’s also a member of the PeopleScout community. For this issue of PeopleScout NEXT, we caught up with David on an early morning call to learn about his insights on the future of talent acquisition.

What is the mission of Boeing Global Talent Acquisition?

Our journey is to become global talent champions. To us, that means delivering best-in-class solutions that unleash the full potential of Boeing’s people, products and services.


I’m really excited by that mission because it requires us to celebrate and champion talent at every opportunity. It also acknowledges the fact that it is a competition for talent, and we’re here to win.

What are some of your priorities as your team looks to the future?

The two things that I really think are the needle movers for us are operating globally and embracing an intentional use of talent technology. We are excited to work with PeopleScout and other valued partners in pursuit of those goals.


One of our main priorities is evolving our approach to talent technology. We’re working towards a holistic end-to-end technology strategy that will use data-driven insights to inform our experience and activities. I’m hoping that strategy will enable our teams to deliver the best experience every time, at every touch point.

What tools, methods and strategies are you exploring to achieve your approach to talent technology?

For me, the single greatest opportunity is technology. It’s also our single greatest dependency.


We’re adopting Workday globally. Given our scale, this is a significant endeavor. It’s been a two-year project, and we’re going to implement in 2019. So, our focus is on maximising every opportunity that this change offers.


I see great potential for more intentional tools usage. When you implement a brand-new technology, you can be more intentional about that technology and the way you use your tools, processes and systems. What does that entail for Boeing talent acquisition? It means looking at artificial intelligence, business automation, access to real-time data and more.


We also see opportunities in technology to enable our global journey. Working in talent acquisition in London for eight years, Dubai for 10 years and now the U.S., I’ve learned that there are very, very few truly global tools. What’s big in the U.S. might not be big in Europe and may not be used at all in Asia, for example. This is an important opportunity for us and one that I believe will truly impact the candidate experience.

What are you most proud of in your role at Boeing?

I have been really lucky to lead some great teams globally, and specifically, I’ve been really lucky with Boeing to lead teams in London, Manchester, Delhi, Bangalore, Dubai, Riyadh, Nepal, Beijing, Tokyo, Mesa, Chicago and Seattle. Each of these experiences has influenced my personal development.


When I look at Boeing’s mission to Connect, Protect, Explore and Inspire Our World Through Aerospace Innovation, I embrace the global nature of that mission and the power of connectivity. We want to connect, protect, explore and inspire the world.


My experience and my career journey across the globe demonstrate the power of connectivity. I’m proud to be learning and developing alongside teammates in Mesa and nationwide. So, I’m most proud of the global nature of my role and the journey I have been on – and how I have personally and professionally developed throughout that process.

What are you excited about for the future of talent acquisition?

It’s a similar theme – the opportunities provided by global technology and the opportunity to operate as a team that is globally efficient, locally relevant and resolutely focused on the candidate and user experience.


The opportunities that come with a global talent approach are long established. We know that, for example, there are a million graduates in India. There are also 200,000 Chinese nationals who pursue further education in the U.S., but they have yet to truly be embraced because it is difficult for employers to hire them.


We need to make it easier for talent to move around the globe, and even if you just look on a local scale, we need to make it easier for talent to move around the country. Then we need to make it possible for workers who have been influenced and enriched by an experience in a new location to return home with a more global perspective and stronger than when they left. That’s huge.


I’m energised daily by our mission to become global talent champions and to embrace an intentional use of talent technology. As I look to the future, that is what I’m most excited about as we evolve our partnership with PeopleScout and other valued partners.