Category: Talent Advisory

Early Careers Recruitment: Hiring for True Potential

Posted on by akessler

By Joe Mongon, Head of Recruitment Delivery, EMEA

School’s out for the summer, but in the world of our RPO partnerships this is the time of year where we focus on early careers recruitment, in anticipation of entering apprentice, undergraduate and graduate markets in the autumn. Right now, we’re talking with clients both established and prospective about their needs in this area and, as ever, the focus on using EC programs to correct or balance diversity of workforce and (future) leadership remains a priority.

Most organisations will not necessarily view themselves as having a “diversity crisis” of the kind described in a recent article highlighting research into consulting and finance hiring in the City of London. However, many will benefit from accepting its key takeaway that, “employers are more likely to hire black candidates if they rely on anonymised, ‘skills-based’ assessments in the hiring process”.

In my experience, employers have long moved on from the most “traditional methods”. It’s certainly been a decade or more since I’ve heard of an early careers program requiring a cover letter or making space on an application form for candidates to list all the University societies of which they were definitely the President.

But my experience is not universal. I’m not a graduate looking to start my career, and I’m lucky enough to work in a recruitment business with an award-winning assessment consultancy arm, partnering with clients who take hiring for true potential seriously. That doesn’t mean there’s not more work for us to do within these partnerships—even for those who’ve taken positive steps in this area. Each year brings a new implementation cycle, and new opportunities to improve. 

Here are some solutions we’ve developed, launched or refined in our early careers RPO partnerships:

Assessing for Skills & Strengths in Early Careers Recruitment

Over time, many employers have reduced focus on abilities in favour of strengths- or behaviour-based testing, which is considered more conducive to measuring potential. Organisationally we broadly agree, but, where appropriate, we continue to recommend reasoning tests covering verbal, numerical and cognitive ability.  

The key here is not to use them in isolation as a blunt tool. Benchmark or cut off scores should be set only within the parameters of adverse impact analysis using anonymised candidate diversity data, and ability tests should be followed up with strengths or behavioural assessments. The link RPO expertise can create between recruitment technology, recruiters, and business psychologists is critical in this space.

Recruiting for Role Fit to Enhance Diversity

Predicting workplace performance and potential through behavioural assessment is often seen by early careers talent acquisition leaders as a smarter approach to hiring. Experiential tests, backed by data and research, producing personal interview guides for final stage assessment often leads to better outcomes and maintains diversity in the process. 

This approach highlights candidate suitability against role fit over culture fit, the latter being a potential barrier to creating a more diverse workforce (the concept of aligning new recruits with a prevailing culture or mindset being an obvious denial of the need for organisational change).

Focusing on Culture Add Rather than Culture Fit

I am not yet aware of any early careers programs where assessment is now 100% anonymised. Whether online via video, as part of a wider virtual assessment experience, or in a traditional face-to-face meeting, an interview is going to happen before a hire is made. Removing anonymity can introduce bias, and we promote two key mitigations.

Firstly, design and deliver structured interviews which are competency-based and/or focused on culture add (what the candidate can contribute to your organisation’s culture) over culture fit. Our teams often partner with hiring managers on best practice in this area, even facilitating or assessing directly where needed. This helps maintain consistency and relevance, avoiding questions on personal interests or previous experience—instead asking specific questions on working styles and preferences. 

Secondly, put candidate experience first and learn from feedback to provide support and guidance, setting the stage for success. By hearing the candidates’ voice, and measuring their experience across, we’ve been able to improve outcomes for employers.

We’re looking forward to seeing how these solutions progress, and what improvements they bring as we take early careers RPO from now to next, supporting the diverse workforces of the future—identifying and unlocking true potential wherever it exists.

Learn more assessment best practices in our ebook, Candidate Assessment: Bringing in Better with Passion, Purpose and Mindset.

[On-Demand] Hire Quality vs Speed: Finding the Perfect Balance

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[On-Demand] Hire Quality vs Speed: Finding the Perfect Balance

 

We have all seen the stats. It’s a candidates’ market. The demands from hiring managers are acute – they need great hires and they need them now.

But when you need volume hires fast, how do you guarantee quality of candidate? How do you ensure your process is fit for purpose? What could you cut back and what is essential?

Talent acquisition professionals and hiring managers are facing unprecedented pressures and they need to understand which industry innovations they could you use to meet their hiring objectives.

This Personnel Today webinar, in association with recruitment process outsourcer PeopleScout, will look at how talent acquisition professionals and HR generalists can keep their hiring managers on-side, maintaining speed and agility without damaging quality of hire.

Personnel Today Rob Moss is joined by a panel of professionals with a wealth of experience in this area, including Mark Wright, customer services operations manager at VirginMediaO2 and Paula Simmons, director of employer brand and communications strategy at TMP Worldwide, together with Andrew Weston, solutions director at PeopleScout, and Kate Law, membership and learning director at the Call Centre Management Association.

The webinar covers:

  • What the main drivers are for the candidates’ market
  • What these mean for employers
  • How to avoid risking quality when trying to recruit fast
  • Strategies to maintain ED&I targets when talent pools are limited.

 

Hiring Great Customer Service Staff is Tough: Take a Cue from the Consumer Experience

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By Robert Peasnell, Head of Growth, EMEA

With consumer experience heralded as the prime battleground for businesses, it’s not all about technology. According to PwC, 74% of European consumers want more human interaction in the future, but only 46% agree that the employees they interact with understand their needs.

And the stakes for customer-facing staff keep rising.

With 71% of customers paying more attention to corporate values in 2022 than they did in 2021, 89% of customer experience (CX) professionals confirm that their contact centre agents are expected to be better versed on their brand’s stance on social issues compared to a year ago.

Plus, there’s a real focus on personalised, non-scripted engagements. Boston Consulting Group research shows that NPS scores are 20% higher for businesses that deliver a high level of personalisation, compared to those that don’t.

Candidates Want a Consumer-Like Experience

These trends are mirrored in candidate expectations of your recruitment process.

Take these stat—80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services, and 65% find a positive experience with a brand to be more influential than great advertising.

Snap.

Plus, 79% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends or family. Negative reviews can have a significant impact on consumer behaviour, making 92% of consumers less likely to use a business.

Same in recruitment.

So, if we check what consumers want from a great digital experience, it’s likely to mirror candidate aspirations.

The key contributors are – the Three S’s – Speed (94%), Seamlessness (92%) and a Sense of Control (92%). Combine that with an individualised experience (83%) and you’ll have a winning strategy.

Is it time to review your candidate experience through a consumer lens?

Quality of Hire: The Gap from Good to Great is Bigger Than it First Appears

Posted on by akessler

By Vanessa Hawes, Senior Employer Brand & Communications Strategist

So, a company has accidentally hired the wrong person or made a rushed hire due to business needs. Does quality of hire matter in the long run?

Yes. Bad hires are expensive for a whole host of reasons. They are likely to generate less revenue than good employees, or even cost an organisation money due to their errors or complacency. Plus, it’s contagious since they impact the productivity and morale of the employees around them.

Further, the employer may have to invest over the odds in additional training or performance management. If and when the employee does leave, the employer will likely need to invest more in finding an urgent replacement. It’s clear that hiring the wrong people can cost a company a lot of money.

Quality-of-Hire Boosts the Bottom Line

Getting great people rather than good people into an organisation is not just nice to have—it has a profound impact on business performance. Great employees are valuable in themselves, but they also drive wider team performance, inspire others and make recruiting other great people easier.

McKinsey completed a study of more than 600,000 researchers, entertainers, politicians, and athletes, and found that high performers were 400% more productive than average performers. In highly complex occupations such as software development, high performers were found to be an astounding 800% more productive.

Roles described as having low complexity, such as a packing job at a large distributor—unfortunately, the kind of work that for many organisations does not merit special focus in terms of recruitment—demonstrate a productivity gap of 50% between average performers and high performers. The impact on productivity increases as the complexity of the role grows, with an extraordinary jump between high and very high complexity roles.

Clearly, employers would do well to actively recognise and retain top employees, especially when the cost of replacing them is so great.

Quality-of-Hire: What to Look for

Organisations looking to drive the best results and value from employees would be wise to consider the economies of scale that come from an improved selection process for low complexity roles as well as reaping the benefits from hiring the most able candidates for highly complex jobs.

So, what does this mean in reality? A great hire will be highly motivated, and they go above and beyond to do their work. Poor performers go through the motions, are not proactive and may encourage colleagues to adjust to these lower standards. After all, if everyone is being paid the same, why go the extra mile?

As such, using an assessment process that is able to identify (and ideally excite) great candidates at all levels of the organisation is well worth the investment.

Diversity in the Workplace: A Time to Value Your Colleagues of All Faiths

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By Sian Blurton, Client Relationship Director, EMEA

I was lucky enough to spend the past 4.5 years of my career in Dubai. During this time, I embraced a different culture, immersed myself in understanding and educating myself around the Islamic faith and its celebrations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my Muslim colleagues and their families for the kindness shown to me during my time as an expat.

Our different faiths had the outcome inclusivity for all.

A generosity of spirit is displayed during Ramadan in the Muslim world. I had the honour and pleasure to work on food bank distribution for those less fortunate, and witnessed my Muslim colleagues and friends give money and gifts to those less fortunate.  

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is not about disappointment or deprivation. It is a form of discipline, and the opportunity to achieve clarity and a deeper connection with one’s faith.

Ramadan is a time of reflection. Some may choose to use the month to start anew. Some make resolutions to be kinder. Ramadan is all about being the best YOU possible. something I know I have learnt from.

In addition, I highly recommend attending the amazing Iftar, the meal in which Muslims break their fast at sunset, with friends.

To all my Muslim friends and colleagues across the world, when Ramadan commences tomorrow on 2 April, I will be thinking of you, remembering all you taught me about Ramadan, and thanking you for the love and kindness you have shown. We all should take time to reflect, be humble and be the best versions of ourselves that we can be.

As-salamu alaykum – RAMADAN KAREEM

Winning the New Talent Game

Posted on by akessler

By Joe Mongon, Head of Recruitment Delivery, EMEA

The workforce that won’t come back is not purely a U.S. phenomenon. In the UK, vacancies are 50% above pre-pandemic levels while the number of people of working-age who are neither in work nor seeking employment is 400,000 higher. Shortages of people and skills will continue to challenge employers, and their capacity through 2022. Plus, the cost of living crisis compounds this through wage pressures.

For job seekers this is often good news. There are more roles available, with higher salaries and greater flexibility (especially in relation to remote working), plus there’s an emphasis on training, upskilling and creating a great working culture. Candidates can sit back and take their pick—after all, they are the ones in demand. What employers need is more job seekers—and it’s entirely possible that they can proactively increase that supply.

Talent Acquisition Has New Rules

McKinsey calls this the “New Talent Game.” Employers are now competing not just with each other, but with the wider array of work experiences on offer—not to mention locations. I’m based in Bristol, and for half a decade all my people were too. Now I am nabbing talent from other regions of the UK. Plus, people are increasingly making the (often temporary) decision not to work at all—to, as George Michael would have worn it, CHOOSE LIFE.

How do you win in that context? Organisations must redefine their attraction and recruitment strategies and build an employer value proposition (EVP) that takes employees’ whole lives into account and makes work a more positive choice. What is clear is those candidates are only coming back on their terms: workplace flexibility, adequate compensation and reasonable expectations about performance.

Winning with RPO on Your Side

As a leading, global talent partner for a diverse range of businesses, PeopleScout’s RPO solutions have long been designed to amplify employer brands with a recruitment approach that focuses on an enhanced candidate experience. The missing talent can be won by placing the employee experience at the heart of your talent strategy, and I’m proud to say in Q1 2022 we are re-delivering hundreds of employees each month into the consumer and retail sectors for our client partners in the UK, with fulfilment trending positively each month.

It hasn’t been easy – but we are playing the New Talent Game to win.

Post-Pandemic Workforce: Think ‘Great Reflection’, Rather Than ‘Great Resignation’

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By Robert Peasnell, Head of Growth, EMEA

We all love a pithy phrase. But whilst the ‘great resignation’ neatly captures what all employers are experiencing currently—1.3 million vacancies in the UK, 33% of employees allegedly planning to look for a new job in 2022 and 26% having already called recruiters or shared their CVs online—it explains the symptom, not the cause.

At PeopleScout, we’re seeing a fundamental shift happening in how people are reflecting on their lives and work as the COVID-19 pandemic endures into 2022. Conversations with employees across all ages and sectors indicate that people have developed a new sense of awareness and worth for themselves and the world around them. This is prompting them to demand more personal value and purpose from both life and work. 

Changing Employee Expectations

In one study, 65% of participants said the pandemic had made them rethink the place that work should have in their life, and 56% said it made them want to contribute more to society. 

Smart employers will acknowledge this truth and respond with a more human and purpose-driven employment offers.

Today’s REC/KPMG report on UK jobs, highlights the ongoing pressure on salaries with wage inflation at it’s highest for mover 20 plus years. However, rather than just paying staff more, employers need to develop a more human employer value proposition (EVP).

The era of the employment contract, in which a worker provided services purely in exchange for monetary compensation, is over. Employees want organisations to recognise their value and provide value back to them on a human level. Monetary compensation is important for surviving, but deeper relationships, a strong sense of community and purpose-driven work are essential to thriving. 

This is the value that employees expect their employers to provide.  

Is your EVP based on legacy conditions and thinking? Or does it deliver the personal value and sense of purpose demanded by a post-pandemic workforce? 

HMRC: Creating a New Virtual Assessment Center for Greater Diversity

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HMRC: Creating a New Virtual Assessment Center for Greater Diversity

HMRC: Creating a New Virtual Assessment Center for Greater Diversity

Every year, His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) hires 40 lawyers in an annual campaign. Ahead of their annual hiring effort, they turned to PeopleScout to help them modernize their assessment center to secure more qualified talent.

56 Qualified Candidates Found for 40 Vacancies
40 % of Offers Made Were to Candidates Who Identified as an Ethnic Minority
33 % of Offers Made Were to Candidates Who Identified as Being from a Lower Socioeconomic Background

Situation

The HMRC team was concerned that their current assessment center was no longer a good predictor of performance in the role. They had also received feedback from a number of candidates who said they’d experienced functionality and formatting limitations while completing the written exercise. 

The HMRC wanted PeopleScout to evaluate their assessment strategy to ensure they were evaluating for the right traits, to improve the candidate experience, and to reduce potential hidden bias within the process since diversity was a critical goal for their recruitment program.

Solution

Reassessing the Assessment Center

Our tech team and assessments experts had several sessions with the HMRC team. The HMRC team was able to share the skill and behavior requirements for the legal roles. Each skill and behavior was weighted to ensure the online assessment was tailored to their specific needs. This collaborative approach gave the HMRC team opportunities to provide direct input into the direction of the assessment center and develop trust in the outcomes as well as PeopleScout.

The new assessment center consisted of a behavioral test which also assessed for verbal and cognitive aptitude. This combination gave HMRC the opportunity to evaluate a broader skillset to better judge a candidate’s fit for the role. The new assessment was accompanied by tweaks to the technology platform which created a smoother experience for candidates.

Our PeopleScout team trained HMRC’s internal teams on administering the new assessment center as well as a new video interviewing tool. In addition to the training session, each interview panel member received a detailed guide to minimize the likelihood of any disruption for the candidate.

Creating an Excellent Candidate Experience

We designed and delivered a webinar to engage candidates and educate them about the new virtual assessment center. This gave them the opportunity to ask questions and feel confident going into the testing stage.

A PeopleScout assessor was present during all virtual assessments to support the HMRC team with their assessment expertise and ensure a consistent experience for all candidates.

Results

Of the applications received, 62% were passed to HMRC for sifting and to complete the assessment center. Just under half passed and completed a virtual interview with HMRC. Ultimately, 56 qualified candidates were identified against 40 vacancies, giving HMRC a talent pool to draw upon for future openings.

Great strides were made against HMRC’s diversity recruitment efforts. Of the offers made:

  • 7% of candidates identified as having a disability
  • 60% of candidates identified as female
  • 40% of candidates identified as minority ethnic
  • 33% of candidates identified as being from a lower socio-economic background

Feedback from candidates was positive with many saying they felt the new platform was easier to navigate.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
  • INDUSTRY
    Government & Public Sector
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory
  • ABOUT HMRC
    His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is a department of the UK Government responsible for administration of taxes, national insurance contributions, the national minimum wage and more.
Let’s Connect

Legal Ombudsman: Reducing the Time Investment from Hiring Managers by 80%

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Reducing the Time Investment From Hiring Managers by 80% for the Legal Ombudsman

Reducing the Time Investment From Hiring Managers by 80% for the Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman were finding it difficult to attract the volume and quality of candidates for legal investigators in a highly competitive candidate market. Plus, a time intensive recruitment process meant their hiring managers were spending hundreds of hours on recruiting rather than their daily work tasks. They turned to PeopleScout for expert candidate management, employer branding and talent attraction help.

80 % Reduction in Time Investment by Hiring Managers
87 % Satisfaction Rate Amongst Surveyed Candidates
5 Stars from Hiring Managers

Scope & Scale

The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is a regulatory organization that holds the UK’s legal profession to the highest standards by resolving consumers complaints about legal services providers. The organization was growing and turned to PeopleScout for a candidate attraction campaign and partial-cycle recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) to fill approximately 40 complaints investigator roles.

Situation

The organization was struggling to get engagement with their target audience and attract the volume and caliber of investigator candidates they needed. The market was highly competitive, with multiple organizations recruiting for similar roles. This put the LeO behind their hiring target by approximately 20%.

In addition, the recruitment process required the LeO team to invest significant time—400 operational hours per campaign—which was taking them away from their important work supporting consumers.

Solution

PeopleScout’s in-house creative agency built a recruitment marketing campaign and followed this by sifting candidates, scheduling assessment days and supporting an assessment center.

Attracting the Right Candidates

Our team started by doing a deep dive into the roles and existing employees who were successful as legal investigators. This helped us understand the kinds of candidates we should target and their needs and motivations. Armed with this information, we developed messaging and content that resonated with key audiences and stood out in a highly competitive market. This was used in digital advertising through job boards, search engine ads and social media campaigns which pointed to a bespoke landing page.

Supporting a Streamlined Recruitment Process

With a focus on improving the candidate experience and creating efficiencies in the process, we built a bespoke application form which connected to the Legal Ombudsman’s existing application tracking system (ATS). Upon our suggestion, the LeO added a written exercise to the application process which helped them assess writing competency and assist with the sift process.

PeopleScout completed the first sift. In fact, the attraction campaign generated so many applicants that we extended the time allotted for sifting to accommodate them. We also advised the client to adjust the scoring after the first round of sifting, because candidate quality was so high.

Upon passing the sift, our RPO team scheduled candidates for a virtual interview with the Legal Ombudsman team. From there, candidates participated in a virtual assessment center. We supplied 15 trained assessors to support LeO interviewers in conducting a role play for 104 candidates. The role play mimicked the type of calls and inquiries investigators field in their daily work and gave both the organization and the candidate a sense of how they’d perform in the position. The assessors’ involvement let the LeO representatives engage more with candidates without having to worry about taking notes or keeping an eye on the clock.

“Every assessor I was partnered with was welcoming, easy to talk to and genuinely cared about the candidate experience.”

– LeO Hiring Manager

We handed back a cohort of candidates that were successful in the selection and assessment process and were ready for LeO to extend offers to. The offer and onboarding process was handled by the LeO HR team and supported by our recruitment delivery team.

Results

The client was so happy with the quality of the applicants they received that they increased the number of hires from 30 to 40. In the end, a total of 42 offers were accepted as a result of this campaign.

In feedback surveys, candidates gave a satisfaction rating of 87% for the recruitment process. Many said they enjoyed the assessment center, which can often be stressful for candidates.

“Different by actually enjoyable.”

“Very professional and informative. Enjoyable experience even though it was an assessment. Positive day with some very good staff.”

Legal Ombudsman staff gave the process 4.9 out of 5 stars. They particularly appreciated that the assessment was a true-to-life reflection of the skills required for the role. By streamlining and taking over parts of the recruitment process, we were able to reduce the number hours LeO staff were putting into recruiting by approximately 80%.

At a Glance

  • COMPANY
    Legal Ombudsman
  • INDUSTRY
    Government & Public Sector
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS
    Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Talent Advisory
  • ABOUT THE LEGAL OMBUDSMAN
    The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is a regulatory organization that holds the UK’s legal profession to the highest standards by resolving consumers complaints about legal services providers.
Let’s Connect

[On-Demand] Resourcing Revolution: How to Hire in a Candidate-Led Marketing

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[On-Demand] Resourcing Revolution: How to Hire in a Candidate-Led Marketing

Tables have turned. For the first time in decades, candidates rather than employers have the upper hand in controlling their fate.

Those involved in recruiting new staff, whether it’s the hiring manager or the professionals working in talent acquisition and HR, are facing candidates in the driving seat: prospective hires who are able to command more negotiating power when it comes to not only salary, but the entire package.

In the era of hybrid working, your next hire may also want to dictate where they work and when.

This Personnel Today webinar, in association with RPO specialist PeopleScout, will provide insights into how you can succeed in the current candidates’ market.

Editor Rob Moss is joined by deputy managing director of PeopleScout, Robert Peasnell, who shares a special market update, and Direct Line Group’s talent acquisition centre of excellence lead Craig Morgans, who will provide practical real-life advice from the resourcing frontline.