Scaling at Pace: A Case Study in Expert Permanent Hiring to Bolster Change Capability

A global Insurance company recently came to Sanderson needing to address their change management delivery and capability.

They were looking to build a permanent Enterprise Change team in a short space of time, so the Sanderson team quickly stepped in to help source, screen and deliver multiple roles in this space. Working as a strategic partner, our team delivered at pace and in a way that would set this client up for the future, and the project saw success highlights such as:

• Over 5500 candidates approached
• Creation of a bespoke cognitive assessment process
• 196hrs of hiring manager time saved
• 100% offer acceptance rates

Read on to discover how.   

The Challenge

The client had recently appointed a new Head of Enterprise Change, and they made some key observations such as the need for the company to bring in more experienced staff to support their change capabilities and delivery.

A proposal was then put together for a more effective change delivery framework which would reduce contractor cost and build a permanent internal change team. This structure came under four pillars: Portfolio Management, Change Management, Project Management and Business Analysis.

With only a handful of permanent Business Analysis and Project Managers and no Change Managers within Enterprise Change, the client needed to resource the team with the right disciplines in a short space of time.

Introducing Sanderson as a Resourcing Partner

Upon realising they needed to scale at pace, the client needed the help of a talent resourcing partner and so invited three recruitment companies to present a solution that would:

• Take responsibility for the end-to-end hiring process
• Elevate the client as an employer of choice
• Provide access to specialist talent in the insurance sector
• Save hiring managers time

During this process, it was clear for the client who would be their recruitment partner of choice.

“Sanderson was our first choice, we were drawn to their ways of working and instinctively knew it was the right path. It wasn’t just a good communication discussion, they stood out because they offered a sense of partnership but also a sense of transparency, agility and flexibility. Right from the get-go, it was their partnership approach that won the show.”

An Agile and Flexible Solution

The solution wasn’t just a “one-size-fits-all”. Led by Sanderson Insurance Practice Lead Denise Morris, we took the time to listen and work in partnership with the client. Here’s some of the key factors that stood out for them during the process:

Commitment

“They did all the heavy lifting for us”.

Sanderson hit the ground running with weekly meetings and created a dedicated reporting cycle in an interactive approach to screening, interviewing and shortlisting candidates in a short space of time.

“What worked was that we iterated our way to getting the best candidates, and that happened so fast, for the first round of screening they were coming to us with recommendations. It didn’t feel like a numbers game, Sanderson presented individuals who were quality candidates”.

With confidence in the top candidates, Sanderson offered advice and consultation in the final stages and presented the strongest CVs. This was then supported by a bespoke cognitive assessment process that was specific and unique for these types of change and transformation hires.

Flexibility

The client’s team really felt like they had a voice throughout and were heard when things needed to change. Sanderson were quick to respond to the evolving needs of the programme.

“As the recruitment process progressed, we had a much clearer vision and criteria for the type of candidates we wanted to interview. We knew what we needed, as did Sanderson, they helped to fine tune that process, they came on that journey with us.

While the scope of our requirements had evolved, our new recruits have surpassed expectations. They quality of candidates has been commented on by people outside of our team in their first 1-2 months of working here”.

A Strategic Partnership

The client reflected on the partnership and how Sanderson took their time to understand not just their strategic goals, but also their culture:

“I think one of the biggest things was the effort the team put into understanding us, what we were looking for and what we were building out. They understood the nature of the projects that we would be likely to drive and equally the projects we weren’t going to drive.

It was great to see the camaraderie being built by the new cohort of recruits. As they joined at the same time, there was a real sense of being in it together and we have worked to cement this attitude by organising workshops with the existing teams. The Sanderson team played a strategic role in helping us to construct our team charter”.

An Extension of the Team, Enabling BAU for Talent Acquisition

The client’s Talent Acquisition Lead expressed how Talent Acquisition worked seamlessly with both the Enterprise Change team, the team at Sanderson and together they delivered the work “as a triad”. Everyone had their role to play, and it freed up time for the TA team to work on the day-to-day support for the rest of the business.

“It was the effectiveness of Sanderson and the way they worked to ensure that I could carry on with my BAU job for the other parts of the business I support. I pretty much handed it over to Sanderson and trusted them to expedite this. And that’s exactly what happened. I was only really needed for facilitating admin or interviews. There was no disruption to the rest of Talent Acquisition, it was all in hand.”

Summary and reflections

A Project RPO Success

The solution we delivered here is called a Project RPO. This is a flexible recruitment solution that offers many of the benefits of outsourcing recruitment to a resourcing partner, but without the long-term commitment. You can find out more about Project RPO here.

Here’s what we delivered in numbers: 

Find out more about our RPO solution and get in touch with the team here if you’d like to have a conversation.