A new
graduate recruitment scheme forms the cornerstone of Halifax’s attempts to
improve its corporate branding.
The
bank’s rebranding followed research which showed that graduates had a poor
image of the company, describing it as dull, old and in decline.
Changes
in corporate advertising earlier in the year were mirrored in recruitment
advertising and on the graduate website. Halifax used real graduates to explain
what it was like to work there.
“In
the new graduate scheme we really focused on people in an open way, using
tongue in cheek anecdotes to show we were real people with a sense of humour,”
said group graduate recruitment manager, Martyn Steele.
Steele,
who was speaking at the IQPC Performance Management for Recruitment conference,
revealed that the re-branded recruitment scheme led to one in five applicants
receiving an offer, with a 5 per cent ethnic minority intake and a 70 per cent
success rate for female applicants.