Effective recruitment in action – real life case studies
Intelligent recruitment solutions can also support an employer’s reskilling and retention requirements.
The Defence Commercial Graduate Programme (DCGP) is a two-year programme focused on developing the next generation of commercial officers for employment within the MOD’s commercial function.
The MOD needed an experienced assessment partner to support the recruitment of graduates onto their scheme. Right Management was appointed as that partner in 2020 and remains so to this day.
In just three years, the assessment and selection landscape changed significantly. The shifting demographics and societal forces that triggered the war for talent have intensified; while the unpredictable environment caused by Covid-19, alongside rapid shifts in digital technologies, have presented multiple challenges for organisations competing for the best talent.
By selecting Right Management, the MOD was able to draw on our expertise in navigating these complexities, and to build a continuous pipeline of future talent.
Right Management led the multi-stage selection process which initially involved psychometric tests, a competency-based sift and in-person assessment centres. In 2020, during the pandemic, we delivered Covid-secure, face-to-face assessment centres for 96 candidates involving a range of interactive scenario-based exercises. These were designed to assess candidates against the Civil Service behaviours and strengths required for the role.
With Government-imposed lockdowns still in place, Right Management introduced the idea of virtual assessments in the latter part of 2020, when piloting the newly designed exercises for future campaigns. This work supported the MOD’s business case to transition to a new digital assessment process from 2021.
The platform was configured to host four scenario-based exercises: a written exercise, a role play, a group exercise and an interview. The intuitive user interface gave candidates the opportunity to connect with current MOD graduates and hear about their experiences. Integrated video technology enabled all parties (candidates, assessors, centre managers and role players) to interact with each other as they would during an in-person assessment event, and improved accessibility features provided enhanced access for candidates applying under the Disability Confident Scheme.
All assessment centre exercises and associated marking guides were configured within the platform, enabling assessors to manage and score each activity, and candidates to easily access their materials and respond accordingly.
Committed to continuous improvement and following a full review of the virtual process after the 2021 campaign, we made further enhancements for 2022. We removed the assessment of strengths (two years of data confirmed that they had no impact on differentiating candidates) and withdrew the group exercise. The ability to adequately assess the behaviours across the remaining exercises resulted in a shorter day for candidates and additional cost savings for the MOD.
Over the three-year programme, we sifted over 1,300 applicants and rigorously assessed more than 280 candidates at assessment centres, leading to the successful appointment of c.90 graduates within the commercial function.
All candidates, regardless of outcome, receive written feedback on their performance and recommendations for their future growth – demonstrating the MOD’s commitment to this being as much a development experience as it is a recruitment process.
Moving to a modern, virtual assessment process with improved communications has enabled the MOD to continue to compete as a world-class employer in an increasingly challenging recruitment market.
The new generation of applicants expect the candidate experience to be relevant, tech-enabled and efficient. The virtual process has allowed the MOD to meet these expectations and offer an intuitive online experience that continues to be inclusive, engaging, fair and objective. And with the platform having already been configured, it can quickly be repurposed for any future recruitment drives – enabling a much shorter lead-in time to assessments.
Building foundations – the Early Careers campaign.
A leading UK engineering company were launching their new purpose and principles objectives and required assistance in running their Early Careers campaign. This initiative would be the company’s first unified approach for recruiting graduates, undergraduates and apprentices.
Our solution: We delivered market research and target audience profiling, the messaging framework, the conceptual design of the campaign and the production of four early careers videos, plus a photographic and social media campaign. This was supported by multi-channel media planning and buying – job boards, search, radio – and campaign tracking and monthly reporting.
The results: Our solution was recognised within the industry as an exceptional campaign:
Winner: Best student marketing campaign at Target Jobs National Graduate Recruitment Awards
Winner: Best Recruitment Campaign at S1 Jobs Awards
Winner: Most Effective Recruitment Marketing Campaign at the Recruiter Awards
Winner: Best Talent Attraction Strategy Award at the Tiara Awards
Shortlisted: RADS Award for Early Careers Attraction Strategy.
Securing the next generation of tech and engineering talent.
Due to changing candidate preferences and increasing competition for talent, the priority was to optimise the candidate journey to ensure access to the best young and emerging talent. Part of this assignment was a review of the company’s current assessment providers, measuring against the market to ensure best-in-class, including:
Automation of the process – including digital assessments, interviewing capabilities and candidate management
Fair and equitable process
Integration with SuccessFactors
Agility and flexibility to adapt to changing business needs and external market conditions
500 hires for 2022/23 campaign across graduates and apprentices, with this expected to increase to circa 800 in 2023/24.
Our solution: We provided RPO support to leverage the expertise of our Tech Advisory function. This included the appointment of a Tech Advisory SME who completed an assessment of existing assessment providers (eight in total) and then presented a shortlist to the company. We then coordinated demonstrations with the shortlisted providers and managed negotiations with the final two.
The results: We are now working with the selected assessment provider and the company to implement the platform. Enhancements to the candidate journey include:
Branded interactive homepage, which enables candidates to access videos from early careers employers, chatbot for FAQs, realistic job preview, overview of assessment process, handy hints and tips and much more
Digital assessments including AI scoring
Virtual assessment centres
Ongoing candidate communications to keep them engaged throughout the process.
Bridging the skills gap.
Growth within project management had created an initial requirement for 12 project managers with a further 60 required over the following two years, including project schedulers and control engineers. Delivering this need would mean overcoming multiple challenges such as an ongoing skills shortage, intense competition for talent, persistent wage inflation, the difficulties of attracting talent to work in remote locations and enhanced security clearance processing.
Our solution: We provided RPO support to complete a comprehensive analysis of the market and provide insights into candidate availability, hotspots, transferrable skills, competition for talent and renumeration packages.
This enabled us to influence key decision-makers to consider a solution that delivered:
A bespoke academy programme in partnership with the company and their training provider
An intelligence-led marketing strategy that enabled us to diversify the talent pool in partnership with subsidiaries including CTP
A 14-month programme which blends practical experience within formal (remote) learning.
The results:
100% of candidates transferred to a permanent contract with the customer
The academy was expanded into other areas including project schedulers (two cohorts of 12 and 14), and project control engineers (one cohort of 12)
Winner of APM Development Programme of the year award.
A leading insurance company was undergoing significant transformational change, moving from a traditional business with legacy infrastructure and a highly complex operating environment, to a fast-moving, digitally led, global business able to respond to increasing competition and a rapidly evolving marketplace. The organisation was also in the process of overhauling its leadership structure and culture to become more future-focused, commercial, agile and inclusive.
The client was looking to understand why employees were leaving the business, how they perceived the business’ culture, environment, leaders and DEIB practices, and the reasons behind persistent ‘regretted losses’. They wanted to then use these insights to engage with employees at the beginning of their notice period and encourage them to remain with the company if there was a feasible resolution or development opportunity available.
Right Management worked with the organisation to design an exit interview that would produce rich data and insights into the business’ key areas of strength, and those in need of improvement.
By providing guaranteed anonymity and a safe and secure environment when conducting conversations with exiting employees, our expert coaches were able to have open and honest discussions that shed light on why employees were leaving, how they truly felt about the business and where they felt the organisation could improve. Qualitative, quantitative and verbatim information was recorded for later analysis.
At the end of each quarter, Right Management analysed the data and segmented responses by gender, function, employment status and employee level, to identify trends within the workforce.
These insights, along with complimentary analytics and recommended remedial actions were then fed back to the client, enabling the business to make more informed decisions around the investment of their learning and development budget and identify possible solutions to organisational challenges.
As a result, the company has been able to monitor progress over time and scientifically gauge whether the practices being implemented have had a positive impact on their workforce.
Right Management has conducted more than 100 interviews over a three-year period. Employees overwhelmingly welcomed the opportunity to share their feedback. Our high-touchpoint process meant 75% of individuals exiting the business felt comfortable having an interview with us.
The knowledge they provided gave HR stakeholders the necessary evidence to build a business case for creating improved leadership, management and career development strategies. The client’s HR leaders have since executed several important initiatives focused on improving the culture, leadership and career development opportunities within the organisation.
By having Right Management manage these exit interviews, in our capacity as a third-party provider offering a confidential and private space, the client was able to uncover in-depth information relating to incidents of bullying and discrimination. They used these insights to immediately investigate and address these issues in a compassionate and sensitive way, (only where individuals had given their permission to share).
