Openreach: Recruiting for Hard-to-Fill Roles at Scale

Openreach approached us to help recruit for hard-to-fill trainee engineer positions. Our postal code-by-postal code attraction and simplified recruitment process enabled Openreach to fill all roles and to increase applications from diverse candidates.

Scope and Scale

Openreach approached us to support them with the delivery of 413 trainee engineer hires for hotspot locations in Southern England. These were roles in hard-to-fill locations, where Openreach’s traditional approach hadn’t been able to generate sufficient applications.

Situation

Openreach recruits 3,500 trainee engineers on an annual basis, with a large proportion of hires made in areas with strong candidate pipelines. However, hiring in Southern England and London proved challenging. So, they were looking for a targeted attraction campaign, along with an efficient recruitment process, to help them complete 413 hires in these areas in three months.

Solution

SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS

• Microsite hub
• Bespoke, postal code-tailored attraction program
• Simplified application process
• All roles filled with increased diversity interest

MICROSITE HUB

We worked with Openreach to scope and build a microsite to act as the hub for trainee engineer hiring. 

TAILORING BY POSTAL CODE

Deploying a bespoke attraction program by specific postal codes allowed us to be highly targeted in driving candidate pipelines. All attraction materials drove candidates to the microsite. 

LIGHT-TOUCH PROCESS

In addition, we developed a light-touch simplified recruitment process, which included video interviews and a one-page online application. 

Results

FILLED IN THREE MONTHS

From sign-off to implementation, the service was set up, configured and ready to go live in six weeks – and all 413 roles were filled within three months. 

DIVERSITY BOOST 

Nearly 70 percent of applications in London postal codes were from diverse candidates, with this translating to a 53 percent offer rate. 

TRANSFORMATIONAL

Openreach has said that collaborating with us has been “transformational,” and we’re now working with them on 150 additional hires.