Solution: Technology

Building a Tech-Enabled Internal Mobility Platform for a Government Agency

Posted on by jpatel
Building a Tech-Enabled Internal Mobility Platform for a Government Agency

Government Talent Solutions

Building a Tech-Enabled Internal Mobility Platform for a Government Agency

This government agency in Australia partnered with PeopleScout to develop and launch a technology platform that facilitates internal mobility for government workers.

Employees manage their profiles showcasing employee demographics, education, work history, skills and competencies 
Employees manage their profiles showcasing employee demographics, education, work history, skills and competencies 
AI technology matches candidates to open opportunities across the government and provides alerts to candidates on open job opportunities
AI technology matches candidates to open opportunities across the government and provides alerts to candidates on open job opportunities
Employee engagement increased, while the use of expensive contingent labor resources went down 
Employee engagement increased, while the use of expensive contingent labor resources went down 

Situation  

As a result of COVID-19, the client was operating with a lean workforce and limited resources. They required a solution that allowed them to leverage the skills and competencies of their existing workforce so they could save the time, cost and resources it takes to access the external candidate market. 

They partnered with PeopleScout to develop and launch a platform which facilitates internal mobility for workers who are potentially impacted by the economic downturn due to COVID-19 or looking to move within their department or other government agencies. This allowed the client to engage their workforce through enhanced workforce mobility, skills development and career opportunities within the department and across the government. 

Solution

PeopleScout created an internal mobility platform using our proprietary talent technology, Affinix®, to give the client insight into the scope and experience of their internal talent. By utilizing candidate profiles, hiring managers are not only able to see employee demographics, education and work history, but also specific skills and competencies.  

When an employee creates their profile, they have the opportunity to rate their own competencies and leaders within the organization can rate and leave comments about their performance as well. This gives recruiters a strong sense of what other positions may be a good fit for internal employees, based on hard and soft skills—such as strong cross-functional collaboration abilities. 

PeopleScout’s Affinix Internal Mobility platform gives the client a holistic view of candidates, and when a requisition is posted within the platform, Affinix automatically looks for employees who may be a good fit and proactively recommends candidates based on their profile. 

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Australian government agency
  • INDUSTRY
    Government & Public Sector
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Affinix
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PeopleReady: Increasing Reach, Candidate Engagement, Conversion and Automation

Posted on by jpatel
PeopleReady: Increasing Reach, Candidate Engagement, Conversion and Automation

Talent Acquisition Technology

PeopleReady: Increasing Reach, Candidate Engagement, Conversion and Automation

PeopleReady, one of the top industrial staffing agencies in North America, required a digital recruitment solution powered by PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology, Affinix®, to attract and engage candidates.

Direct sourcing solutions with increased reach via SEO 
Direct sourcing solutions with increased reach via SEO 
100 % automated application, selection and onboarding process
Mobile-first, easy application complying with all North American state and province laws
Mobile-first, easy application complying with all North American state and province laws

Situation 

PeopleReady, a TrueBlue company (NYSE: TBI), specializes in quick and reliable on-demand labor and highly skilled workers. PeopleReady supports a wide range of industries, including construction, manufacturing and logistics, retail and hospitality. Leveraging its game changing JobStack staffing app and presence in more than 600 markets throughout North America, PeopleReady served approximately 83,000 businesses and put approximately 226,000 people to work in 2022.

PeopleReady has invested heavily in innovative, mobile-first work scheduling and dispatching technologies but lacked a digital online sourcing solution to attract and engage candidates. 

PeopleReady selected PeopleScout’s Affinix® recruitment technology platform to replace its existing solution. Affinix enhances the online candidate experience and increases conversion rates by solving the following challenges:  

  • Simplify the previously complicated job posting process by distributing job openings to multiple sourcing channels immediately by creating just one post in Affinix  
  • Implement direct sourcing to channels such as Indeed, Google for Jobs and niche platforms 
  • Improve email integration with assessment vendors that previously had high drop off rates 

Solution 

  • An engaging, mobile-optimized apply experience that guides candidates through application, online selection, employment form completion, WOTC, W4 and I9 processes via a safe, remote process 
  • Direct integration with four external vendors to ensure the entire application process can be completed within the browser, with no interruptions from external emails or links 
  • Highly localized job recommendations 

Results

TARGET LAUNCH ACHIEVED

Solution launched within 15 weeks, on time and under budget

RECEIVED MAJORITY OF MOBILE APPLICATIONS

80% of candidates apply via a mobile device

INCREASED CONVERSION RATES

15% increase in conversion rates within the first two weeks of go-live

“The PeopleScout team allowed us to design a candidate flow that met the needs of our business. The team was quick to pivot and solution as areas of opportunity were identified for improving the candidate experience. Launching a solution with operational reporting allowed us to immediately monitor candidate flow to allow for quick adjustments of sourcing strategy. Very positive partnership with the entire implementation and technology teams.” 

Tina Radosti, VP Talent Acquisition, PeopleReady 

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    PeopleReady
  • INDUSTRY
    Business Services
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Affinix
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    1 million candidates for staffing and short-term labor positions
  • ABOUT PEOPLEREADY
    PeopleReady, a TrueBlue company (NYSE: TBI), specializes in quick and reliable on-demand labor and highly skilled workers. PeopleReady supports a wide range of industries, including construction, manufacturing and logistics, retail and hospitality. Leveraging its game changing JobStack staffing app and presence in more than 600 markets throughout North America, PeopleReady served approximately 83,000 businesses and put approximately 226,000 people to work in 2022.
Let’s Connect

McKesson: High-Volume Veteran-Focused Hiring Solution

Posted on by jpatel
McKesson: High-Volume Veteran-Focused Hiring Solution

Life Sciences RPO

McKesson: High-Volume Veteran-Focused Hiring Solution

As one of the world’s largest life sciences and healthcare companies, McKesson required a high-volume hiring solution to fill positions across multiple departments. PeopleScout delivered an RPO solution with a special emphasis on boosting diversity and the client’s veteran hiring initiatives.

10 + Year Partnership
95 % of All Requisitions Have Diverse Candidates
8 % Over 8% Veteran Hiring Achieved, Up from 3.3%

McKesson has engaged with PeopleScout for 10 years. Over the course of our partnership, PeopleScout has managed hiring for a variety of positions including professional, managerial, sales, finance and administrative roles. PeopleScout’s engagement includes a specific focus on hiring veterans in all positions to support McKesson’s goal to become known as a top employer for veterans and military spouses.

Solution

VETERAN TALENT COMMUNITY

PeopleScout created a Veteran Talent Community which provides McKesson with access to thousands of active and passive veteran job candidates and opens the door to additional job opportunities for veterans.

IMPROVED WEB DESIGN

PeopleScout helped to administer a customized McKesson veteran careers webpage to attract and process veteran candidates.

RECRUITMENT MARKETING

Veteran-targeted marketing and sourcing strategies were developed including improving relationships with more than 800 military organizations, posting jobs on veteran job boards and social media marketing.

ONGOING TRAINING

PeopleScout provides ongoing training and education for members of the recruiting team to ensure military resumes are matched with civilian job requirements.

SCREENING PROCESSES

A veteran priority screening process was created to identify and prioritize veteran candidates.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

PeopleScout hired a Navy veteran to lead the D&I initiative on the recruiting team.

Results

HIRING SUPPORT

In 2019, PeopleScout managed more than 3,000 hires across North America.

DIVERSITY IMPROVEMENT

PeopleScout provides a diverse slate of candidates on 95% of all requisitions.

INCREASED VETERAN HIRING

Veteran hiring improved from 3.3% to 8.6%.

STRONGER EMPLOYER BRAND

Targeted veteran recruitment and marketing strengthens McKesson’s veteran employment brand, resulting in McKesson being recognized as a leader in veteran hiring by national media outlets.

McKesson’s Veteran Talent Community, veteran landing page and recruitment marketing strategy are supported by PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology, Affinix.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    McKesson Corporation
  • INDUSTRY
    Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory, Affinix
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    3,000
  • ABOUT MCKESSON
    McKesson Corporation is a diversified life sciences and healthcare services leader dedicated to advancing health outcomes for patients everywhere. The organizaiton partners with biopharma companies, care providers, pharmacies, manufacturers, governments and others to deliver insights, products and services to help make quality care more accessible and affordable.
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Transport for Wales: Growing the Workforce of a Newly-Created Organization

Posted on by akessler
Transport for Wales: Growing the Workforce of a Newly-Created Organization

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

Supporting the launch of Transport for Wales with recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) for specialist engineering, transportation, project management and support roles.

92 % of Candidate Rated the Experience as Excellent
Grew Workforce from 9 employees to 140 During the Initial Engagement
Grew Workforce from 9 employees to 140 During the Initial Engagement
2 Languages, English and Welsh

Situation

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.

As a newly-created organisation, Transport for Wales had no recruitment expertise or talent technology to support their ambitious resourcing plans for roles at all levels, from apprentices and graduates to Directors with every level in between.

TfW selected PeopleScout as their sole RPO partner to build their workforce from just nine employees to over 140 and growing, most of which are permanent with some temporary staff and contractors. Another key requirement was to work in both English and Welsh.

Solution

A Unique Service Model

To establish the Transport for Wales recruitment strategy, we placed a senior recruiter on site with expertise and industry experience who could consult and provide solutions to market challenges and engage with hiring communities and other key stakeholders. The immediate challenge was to identify and hire for key senior positions, starting with the Directors. We then worked with these leaders to build their teams from the top down in order to deliver on their goals.

Best-In-Class Candidate Experience

Our off-site recruiting team provided full-cycle RPO, from sourcing to onboarding services, to ensure that candidates received a best-in-class experience right through to their first day and beyond.

Attracting a Wider Talent Pool

As an RPO provider with a creative flair, we were able to help TfW move away from a more traditional marketing style to something which attracted diverse talent. As leaders in employer brand and candidate experience, this extended into a go-to-market broadcasting strategy that encompassed social media, community management and talent pooling. It also maximized the TfW employer brand story and reduced pressure on budgets.

Results

  • 95% offer fulfilment across all levels of roles
  • Rapid identification and hiring of crucial roles
  • 92% of candidates rated their hiring experience as excellent
  • 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.

Recruitment Leader, Transport for Wales

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Transport for Wales (TfW)
  • INDUSTRY
    Public Transportation
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Affinix
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    100+ roles across specialist engineering, transportation, project management and admin support
  • ABOUT TfW
    Founded in 2016, Transport for Wales (TfW) was set up by the Welsh Government to make sustainable travel a reality in Wales. Their multimodal, integrated transport network aims to increase the number of journeys on public transport by 40% by 2040.
Let’s Connect

The Future of Graduate Recruitment is Digital

Posted on by akessler

The graduate recruitment process has grown increasingly digital in the past few years, but the entire process for 2020 was held online due to the pandemic. However, the virus didn’t create this change; it simply sped up a process that was already happening.

As a graduate resourcing consultant, 2020 is my fourth graduate recruitment cycle. I currently work on the Lendlease team at PeopleScout, supporting our client by sourcing bright minded graduates who will help to shape and deliver the future of the construction and property industry.

And, despite the uncertainty in the world right now, I am confident that this move to digital graduate recruitment will stick.

Graduate Roles are Still Important

Graduates are the future of every business. Lendlease has a two-year graduate program, and the people hired for those roles use that program to grow their skills and experience before moving on to other roles within the business. We have even seen some of those graduate hires grow to become senior leaders at Lendlease.

Furthermore, it is critically important to continue recruiting for graduate roles during this uncertain time. Graduates futureproof the business by bringing in diverse, new talent with different perspectives, new ideas and an understanding of current trends. By actively filling these roles, we are preparing for the future beyond COVID-19.

But, the Process Needs to Change

Normally, the planning for a graduate recruitment cycle begins in the previous year. For 2020, we started planning in November and December of 2019. We prepare through January and February, and then the campaign goes live in March. In previous years, we would attend career fairs, flying to different universities and presenting information about Lendlease in person. Throughout the next few months, candidates would apply and interview online, and finally attend an in-person assessment center.

But, in 2020, we needed to adapt rapidly. We stuck with our normal timeframes, but moved the entire process online – career fairs and assessment centers included. Earlier this year, I attended one of the virtual career fairs.

The fair was run by a university, and nearly 1,500 students registered. We advertised on social media to get students excited to speak with Lendlease. On the day of the fair, about 300 students visited the digital booth – making it one of the most popular. I was able to present to larger groups of students at once – something that isn’t possible at a traditional booth. Students also came with questions, which I was able to answer and talk with them about one-on-one.

The virtual fair I attended was held using Zoom video technology, along with the help of a third-party provider to ensure everything ran smoothly on the day of the event. Each employer had a unique booth and logo, so students could easily identify them and talk with employer representatives. Many graduates registered to come talk with us, allowing us to target hundreds of students in just three hours without having to travel.

Best Practices to Make the Transition Smooth

For the process to be successful, consider the types of technology you use. For virtual career fairs, the university may already have a preferred platform. However, you will still need to consider virtual interviews and virtual assessments. At PeopleScout, we use Affinix™, our proprietary talent technology. With Affinix, we can schedule and conduct virtual interviews – live or recorded – on a candidate’s own time.

Likewise, it is important to focus on communication. Graduates want to hear from you. Something as simple as a message to check in can be powerful. Communicating with candidates, even if it means admitting you don’t have all the answers, builds trust in an uncertain time.

We Won’t Go Back

With the COVID-19 crisis, we are always facing new surprises. However, with graduate recruitment, the surprise was how well the process worked – even with changes taking place under a tight timeline. We had to adapt quickly, but we saw that the digital process works. Students responded well to online career fairs. We saved money by avoiding air travel and lodging. We communicated with and assessed candidates in ways that kept everyone safe.

Based on our experience, 2020 won’t be a one-off year in which graduate recruitment looks different than normal. It will be the first year where digital graduate recruitment is normal.

Cutting Time-to-Fill in Half with a Technology-Driven RPO Solution

Posted on by nfuqua
Cutting Time-to-Fill in Half with a Technology-Driven RPO Solution

Tech-Powered RPO

Cutting Time-to-Fill in Half with a Technology-Driven RPO Solution

A large, multi-brand media company in Australia engaged with PeopleScout to develop a tech-powered recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) solution designed to deliver seamless recruitment experiences and provide them with a competitive advantage.

50 % drop in time-to-fill
4 agency brands
EVP development and implementation
EVP development and implementation

Scope and Scale

For the client, candidate care is key, so the model was designed to ensure engaging communication strategies along with consistent employer value proposition (EVP) messaging. All of this had to be underpinned by technology, allowing the recruiters to access sourcing tools, to easily and efficiently move candidates through the process and to manage multiple requisitions at one time. Ultimately, the goals was to find better quality candidates, faster, across the four agencies that made up the media group.

Situation

By implementing a centralized talent acquisition model, aligned to the different brands in the group, the senior leadership team now has access to reporting that gives them a clear picture of where their requirements are, any bottlenecks or challenges and this, in turn, helps with business planning. Prior to the introduction of an RPO, time-to-fill averaged between 42 and 60 days which placed a significant amount of additional pressure on teams and business units with the potential to generate a domino effect of increased vacancies.

Solution

  • Full, end-to-end talent acquisition services
  • Strategic sourcing across every brand and business unit
  • Executive search for senior roles
  • EVP development and implementation
  • Hiring manager training
  • Third-party supplier management
  • Executive reporting
  • Talent community development
  • Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) design and implementation
  • Contract generation for graduates and all solution hires

The deployment of PeopleScout’s complete sourcing and talent management solution in conjunction with our RPO team made an immediate impact on the time-to-fill metric. With advanced sourcing capabilities, powerful automation, a streamlined onboarding solution, detailed reporting insights and CRM capabilities, the solution generated productivity gains that allowed for an improved candidate experience, the optimization of marketing strategies and more effective talent pooling.

Results

Time-to-fill dropped from 60 days to an average of 27 days.

Integrating an experienced recruitment team with media and digital marketing expertise allowed for a smooth transition for the RPO team and the client and established a conversion benchmark above 82% of roles briefed versus placements.

PeopleScout is also focused on process improvement and to target goals around improved staff retention and candidate quality through the introduction of cognitive and behavioural testing, video interviews, a reference checking technology platform and a suite of new technology tools, including artificial intelligence.

Client Feedback

“Since partnering with PeopleScout we’ve seen consistent improvement in the marketing of our brand to potential employees, increased productivity through process improvement and the introduction of new tools and technology as well as a reduction in vacant roles. We regularly receive feedback from candidates that their experience of the job interview process is the best they’ve ever experienced period.”

“Media agencies operate in a fast-paced, high-volume environment where resourcing needs constantly fluctuate and reactivity is key. In this context, PeopleScout’s scalable approach is a huge advantage as it allows us to quickly recruit staff when we win new clients and focus on longer-term strategic work when volume is lower. The PeopleScout team has quickly developed an intimate understanding of our industry and business challenges and are seamlessly embedded in each of our agencies, allowing them to sell our EVP to candidates.”

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Large Australian multi-brand media company
  • INDUSTRY
    Media Services
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory, Affinix
Let’s Connect

Virtual Volume Hiring for Front-Line Workers

Posted on by nfuqua
Virtual Volume Hiring for Front-Line Workers

Virtual Volume Hiring for Front-Line Workers

PeopleScout delivered high-volume contact center hires in just two months for this telecommunications provider with a virtual candidate experience.

16 different volume vacancy types
60 % managing over 60% of all external hiring
300 offers made in just 4 weeks

PeopleScout has been working with a large telecommunications company for more than seven years. The company supplies telephone, television and internet services to customers throughout the UK.

PeopleScout provides RPO services for volume hiring to the client’s front-line workers. In the highly competitive telecommunications industry, the client needs to ensure the company attracts the very best talent, particularly across their sales and technician functions. PeopleScout manages up to 16 different volume vacancy types or about 60% to 70% of all external hiring. This fast-paced market requires an agile partner who can respond to quickly changing requirements.

Situation

The client had recently decided to reduce the number of sub-contractors and outsourcers for front-line jobs. PeopleScout had been briefed to replace these workers with permanent employees.

As the UK started restrictions for COVID-19, some of the company’s outsourced overseas contact centers were threatened with the risk of closure due to lockdown in those countries. To maintain excellent service, the client created more than 550 new contact center jobs in the UK, to help keep customers connected during this critical time.

The task was to find 550 new starters within two months of the project launch, using a completely redesigned process while taking into account social distancing measures. Candidates would not be able to attend assessment centers and interviews onsite, contact center managers would not have the capacity to interview while maintaining stringent service levels and right to work/onboarding checks could not go ahead using a visual review of original documentation as normal.

Additionally, the client introduced a number of protocols to ensure its people remained as safe as possible while continuing to help answer customer calls and queries. This included providing remote working capabilities where possible and flexible working patterns.

Solution

An agile working group was formed and met twice daily to track project implementation and delivery progress. A new virtual hiring process was designed and implemented in less than two weeks. PeopleScout fast-tracked application and assessment by using video interviews, dramatically reducing processing time and allowing candidates to be selected within days and start within weeks.

To generate candidates, PeopleScout built a new page on the client’s careers site and created an enhanced attraction plan to drive applicants there. This included diverting existing candidates (whose roles had been cancelled) into the new process and creating two microsites to improve quality of applications and speed-up hiring – a hints-and-tips site and a site illustrating the overall application process.

Hiring capacity was ramped up, using PeopleScout’s global delivery centers to score nearly 5,000 video interviews and to support the onboarding of successful candidates without delay.

Results

  • Delivered 5,550 new applications
  • Conducted more than 1,800 online video interviews
  • Completed 400 final stage qualification calls
  • Made nearly 300 offers within four weeks
  • Created a hiring manager audit step with 95% of qualified candidates approved for hire

Process Improvement

Throughout this agile process, PeopleScout continually used data to understand where interventions could be made to improve the recruitment journey. We created two microsites to help prepare candidates for each step of the process.

The sites were created, signed-off and live within the first three weeks of go-live. They enabled candidates to find out more about key steps in the process such as getting access to an onboarding site which outlines what they need to do prior to starting, as well as what happens on day one.

“Due to the COVID-19 situation, we needed a new hiring process in an extremely short period of time. In less than two weeks, PeopleScout had candidates moving swiftly through the process. PeopleScout’s agility ensured candidates could start within one month of applying.

As the situation continued, we found that we needed additional onboarding support. PeopleScout created microsites to educate and move people through the process which, at the same time, reduced email traffic to our teams.

Most importantly, PeopleScout has helped us build a new level of trust with our hiring managers, enabling us to work in a far more efficient and safe way. The success of this project means that we now have a new way of recruiting to build on in the future.”

Head of Resourcing, Telecommunications Company

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Large telecommunications company
  • INDUSTRY
    Telecommunications
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing
  • ANNUAL HIRES
    550 virtual call center professionals in two months
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A Comprehensive Recruiting Solution Saves 35% in Recruitment Costs

Posted on by nfuqua
A Comprehensive Recruiting Solution Saves 35% in Recruitment Costs

A Comprehensive Recruiting Solution Saves 35% in Recruitment Costs

A leading regional food company across the Asia-Pacific region partnered with PeopleScout to implement an RPO solution to reduce agency spend and improve recruitment outcomes.

35 % reduction in agency spend
$ 500,000 saved in recruitment costs
Implemented a new streamlined recruitment process underpinned by analytics
Implemented a new streamlined recruitment process underpinned by analytics

Scope and Scale

The client operates in a highly competitive market where the need for evolving technical specialization can expand quickly as a result of high demands and product innovation. PeopleScout has developed an unrivaled experience and knowledge of the organization and the talent acquisition skills needed within consumer goods and consumer goods manufacturing companies. To meet its workforce demands, the client engaged PeopleScout to implement a full-cycle RPO program for their head office and production sites.

Situation

The client requires a scalable RPO solution to optimize recruitment technology, reduce agency usage, centralize recruitment processes and increase the quality-of-hire by standardizing the recruitment and selection process. The solution combines highly skilled recruiters, innovative technology and sophisticated recruitment processes to source market leading talent across Australia and the wider APAC region.

Solution

EMBEDDED RECRUITMENT SUPPORT

The solution has been constantly evolving over time to become a fit-for-purpose recruitment model that can flex up and down to meet the growth needs of the company across both regions as determined by changes in seasons and mergers and acquisitions.

IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY

The optimization of the recruitment technology ensures all roles are approved through an online form. The end-to-end recruitment process is shifted online allowing for measurable analytics.

TAILORED RECRUITMENT FOR DRIVERS

PeopleScout designed a recruitment and assessment process for drivers with a simple one-click apply and a single onsite interview. Completed pre-employment paperwork meant that drivers only came in once to complete the selection process. Mobile drug and alcohol testing vans were made available at the end of their shifts for a period of three days—reducing administrative costs and time-to-hire. On the day of the interview, candidates also completed medical assessments, further reducing time-to-fill.

SOURCING FOR LEADERSHIP ROLES

PeopleScout was asked to recruit a number of senior leadership roles across the organization. In the past, these roles would have been filled by an executive recruitment agency. PeopleScout was able to reduce time-to-fill and create a significant cost savings.

Results

REDUCTION IN AGENCY SPEND

Since the start of our journey with the client we have reduced agency spend from 40% to less than 5%. This equates to a cost reduction of well in excess of half a million dollars.

INSIGHTS & EXPERTISE

The client values the transparent approach to sharing data and the regular insights underpinning process improvement provided by PeopleScout’s RPO team as well as their ability to quickly source and hire candidates for hard-to-fill positions.

ACQUISITION SUPPORT

The use of structured screening and assessment combined with hiring manager training and uplift in hiring manager capability has led to an increased quality of hire.

IMPROVED PERFORMANCE

PeopleScout has improved the client’s recruitment performance by merging people, process and technology to enhance the experience with the recruitment process for candidates, recruiters and hiring managers.

ALIGNMENT TO PEOPLE CAPABILITIES

The company people capabilities set the behaviors of how the company performs, grows, recruits and recognizes people. The talent acquisition team continues to work closely with key stakeholders to build success profiles and interview guides that embed these capabilities in the recruitment process, and the team coaches hiring managers on best practice interview techniques.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Food manufacturing company
  • INDUSTRY
    Consumer Goods
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Affinix
Let’s Connect

Hiring Solutions for Essential Employers with Jessie McGowan

Posted on by jpatel

As organizations around the globe confront the challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, even the most seasoned talent leaders find themselves in uncharted territory. We’re creating a mini-series with our experts here at PeopleScout about the issues that are most pressing during this uncertain time. 

This profile shares insights from PeopleScout Leader of Business Development in North America, Jessie McGowan. Jessie spends the majority of her time sharing our solution offerings with prospective clients, where she calls upon her years of experience leading a diverse portfolio of RPO client partners. 

Jessie shared her insights about hiring solutions for essential employers from her home in Charleston. 

A lot of people are feeling overwhelmed right now. What are you hearing from talent acquisition and HR leaders? In what ways and industries do those teams need support right now? 

There is a lot going on in all industries as we react to what’s happening in the world today with COVID-19. Mission critical industries like grocery, healthcare, logistics and other supply chain roles that hire drivers or selectors, manufacturing — specifically medical device — are seeing tremendous increases in their needs to find and hire qualified talent. And, unless they’re working with an RPO provider like PeopleScout that’s built to flex, they’re not going to have the adequate talent acquisition staff to meet the demands of the business.   

What are some easy ways essential employers can find that support? 

PeopleScout has a few offerings. One is Recruiter On-Demand (ROD) — where we provide a qualified recruiter to work as an extension of an organization’s team on an hourly basis. ROD can also be leveraged as a project approach, where an organization can have a provider support a certain function of their hiring process or a certain number of hires for a period of time. For instance, if you received 500,000 applications last week, how are you going to get through them? Unless you’ve already built a highly efficient automated process, a partner like PeopleScout can help improve that process for organizations. 

What do these solutions look like in practice? How are they implemented? 

Recruiter On-Demand can be deployed within about 24 hours. We have qualified recruiters with a wide range of domain experience like frontline or retail hiring, healthcare, manufacturing, drivers and IT. First, we assign the right fit recruiter and quote an hourly rate. Then, the organization provides our recruiter access to their applicant tracking system or system of record and an email address so that PeopleScout can become invisible to the candidate throughout the process.  

Our Recruiter On-Demand solution is simple and straight forward, and we work hard to keep it moving and efficient. Once we’ve landed on the business terms, we assign an engagement leader who will schedule what we call a “kickoff” with the client to document the process and discuss expectations. We’ve been doing this a long time, so we’ve built the process with the intention of keeping it really easy for talent acquisition leaders, and we’re able to launch it very quickly in a seamless manner. 

How do we use the solution in a way that keeps everyone, including employees and candidates, safe? 

That’s a great and timely question. Most of our recruiters worked from home even before the COVID-19 outbreak, so virtual work is part of the PeopleScout DNA. As a matter of fact, some of our most complex, high volume recruiting solutions are 98% virtual, where a very small subset of team members might sit together in a delivery center in Chicago, Charlotte or Toronto, for example.  

At PeopleScout, we have a lot of experience in building world-class virtual solutions that are designed to provide an exceptional candidate experience and deliver efficiency. We are able to advise talent leaders on utilization of digital interviewing tools such as texting or prerecorded voice or video. We also have our own proprietary tool, Affinix™ talent technology or we can advise a leader on what might be best for them and available in the market. We’re flexible and focused on getting talent acquisition leaders what they need to be able to deliver to their business and stakeholders, and we have a lot of experience, especially building a no-contact, virtual solution. We can source, qualify, schedule talent, offer positions, and even onboard new hires all virtually, over the phone or by utilizing technology. 

Can you talk a bit more about what a virtual solution looks like in practice? 

Our virtual interview management solution is designed to complement your existing hiring process and it can be set up in a matter of days. It would include process steps such as: 

  • Phone screening: includes on-demand and live options 
  • Video interviewing: includes on-demand and live options 
  • Scheduling tools: enables candidates to self-schedule available interview slots or be scheduled via recruiters’ assistance  
  • Results-based automated interview progression: allows you to define the criteria that determines whether to automatically advance candidates 
  • Feedback-driven advancement: creates settings based on recruiter rating and scoring criteria 

Interview notifications and updates can be pushed out to the candidate, so they understand at any given moment where they are in the interview process. And, hiring leaders can also see the progression of a candidate throughout the process. So, while at PeopleScout we’ve been supporting an essentially 100% virtual recruitment process for years now, we can appreciate that this is a new approach for many essential employers, and we can walk them through what to consider as they implement a virtual hiring solution. 

A lot of us are feeling a lot of stress and anxiety right now. What recommendations do you have for someone who is leading a talent acquisition team that feels like they’re in crisis? 

Sometimes it’s hard to see what the right plan might be when you’re dealing with the type of stress and anxiety that surrounds us these days. That’s where we can help. PeopleScout is highly consultative — by asking a few key questions, we can help a talent acquisition leader identify the right levers to pull to drive the result that they need. We’re happy to walk a potential partner through a quick diagnostic to see if we’re a fit and if we can be helpful. Sometimes, even if we’re not the right fit, just having the conversation can be helpful in getting down to the root of what talent leaders really need right now. And we’re happy to share our knowledge and be helpful, especially during these tough times. 

Are there any final thoughts you’d like to leave essential employers with today? 

The hope is that this is temporary. And that very quickly we’ll go back to solving more familiar talent acquisition challenges, like how to find more great people. But, at this time we’re poised to be flexible, and creative, to help solve the new problems we’re all dealing with today. 

The AA: Bot-Powered, Brand Boosting Innovation

Posted on by edyson
The AA: Bot-Powered, Brand Boosting Innovation

Chatbot for Talent Acquisition

The AA: Bot-Powered, Brand Boosting Innovation

The AA brought PeopleScout on board for a major redesign and rebuild of their careers site, including developing a cheeky chatbot to increase engagement and improve the candidate experience.

30,000 applications, up from 8,000—a 275% increase
60 % increase in career site traffic year-over-year
17 % reduction in bounce rate

The AA is often referred to as “Britain’s fourth Emergency Service.” But, being known for doing one thing very well is both a blessing and a roadblock when it comes to attracting brilliant candidates. We developed a new employer brand for the AA to help them overcome this challenge. The next step was a major redesign and rebuild of their careers site. With a totally new way to navigate and a recruitment industry first—a website-based chatbot—we helped them boost not only their employer brand, but their number of site visits and applications.

Situation

Say the AA and a lot of people can’t see beyond roadside recovery. Heading to the careers website, visitors are overwhelmed by choice or jump straight to the same old roles. Which means they miss out on the impressive variety of careers they offer (from customer advisers to digital professionals), and the AA loses the opportunity to engage with excellent candidates.

The AA brought PeopleScout on board for a major redesign and rebuild of their careers site. We were set a sizeable task, to attract and engage more visitors and increase applications – all underpinned with innovation.

Solution

Solution Highlights

  • Navigation Innovation
  • Bleeding-Edge Software
  • Booting Site Traffic
  • Huge Increase in applicants

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    The AA
  • INDUSTRY
    Roadside Recovery Services
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Talent Advisory
  • ABOUT THE AA
    The Automobile Association (The AA) has been supporting motorists in the United Kingdom since 1905. With over 14 million members, breakdown cover is always their number one priority, but The AA has branched out into finance, insurance, leisure and lifestyle services.
Let’s Connect

A RECRUITMENT INDUSTRY FIRST

When is a website not a website? When it’s chatbot-powered. We launched a reimagined careers site that could do justice to the new brand proposition, “Ready for ANYTHING?” At its heart is a totally new way to navigate and a recruitment industry first: a website-based chatbot.

BLEEDING-EDGE SOFTWARE

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 AA.

ENTERTAINING, INFORMING & ENGAGING

By asking questions, candidates can access all website information from within the chatbot—utterly tailored to their interest—and, if desired, full job listings. With expressive animations for (almost) any occasion and banter full of cheek and surprise, AAbot is packed with personality. He takes the employer’s tone of voice in a bold, playful new direction. And he shows that functional UX copy can entertain and build a brand, as well as inform.

Results

BOOSTING SITE TRAFFIC

Site visitors are now engaging with the wider AA story and roles. We’ve successfully boosted candidate interest, as site traffic has risen by 60 percent year-over-year, while the bounce rate has fallen by 17 percent.

HUGE INCREASE IN APPLICATIONS

Applications, meanwhile, have increased from 8,000 to more than 30,000, taking direct hire numbers from 55 percent to 95 percent of all applicants. And it’s just the start.

MULTI-CHANNEL APPEARANCES

AAbot is already a breakout star, appearing in digital ad banners and social media communications. You’ll already find him at the Wycombe Wanderers football stadium, emblazoned all over the AA offices and popping up on LinkedIn. And we have big plans to let AAbot loose across the end-to-end recruitment process.