This award recognises effective approaches to selection, recruitment and
retention of employees. The judge has looked for successful approaches to
developing and motivating staff and for innovative ways of attracting the right applicants to the
organisation. New methods of recruitment, measuring and assessing capability
and performance, career management, succession planning and competency testing
have all been relevant to this category. The judge has also looked for evidence
of competitive advantage gained.
Category Judge
Peter Reilly is an associate director of the Institute of Employment
Studies, responsible for HR research and consultancy. He leads the Institute’s
reward and performance management work programme, and is a major contributor to
its HR planning and resourcing work. Prior to joining IES, Reilly had a 16-year
career with Shell Oil, where he held various HR posts in the UK and abroad
GAP
Recruitment and training team
About the company
Gap Inc is an international retailer offering clothing, accessories and
personal care products for men, women, children and babies. It has 165,000
staff working in 4,200 stores in the UK, US, Canada, France, Japan and Germany
The challenge
To develop and execute a recruitment tool that reflects the Gap brand and
store requirements, and links the customer brand to the employee brand
What the company did
– Replaced competency-based interviews with shop-floor assessments
– Introduced awareness exercises to test candidates’ appreciation of the
retail environment
– Self-motivation exercise to assess personal drive and passion for retail
– Communication test to find the best role for the staff member
– Tests to find natural ability and passion for selling
Benefits and achievements
– Retention increased from 32 per cent to 80 per cent
– Productivity increased to between 25 and 180 per cent above the store
average
– 60 per cent of managers recruited from sales associates in 2001
Peter Reilly says: "The company has developed an innovative approach to
sales associate recruitment. It is striking in the way that it uses its own
experienced sales associates to assess candidates’ aptitude for retail work and
suitability for the GAP environment. It has led to better retention and
productivity among the recruiters and the recruited."
The team
No. in team 23 in HR team, 6 in recruitment and training team
Staff responsible for 5,600
Steve Finlan Vice-president HR Europe
Vanessa Evans Recruitment and training manager
Sarah Larner Recruitment officer
Yvette Winteringham Recruitment officer
Tina Earnshaw Training officer
Karen Moseley Training officer
Merseyside Fire Service
HR department
About the company
Merseyside Fire Service has 26 fire stations in a geographical area that
stretches from the boundaries of Cheshire to Southport and St Helens. More than
1.4 million people live within this area
The challenge
To meet Home Office targets for the recruitment of ethnic minority and
female firefighters into the UK Fire Service
What the company did
– Analysed other recruitment campaigns to devise appropriate strategy
– Appointed community firefighters to build contacts in local ethnic
communities
– Created a working party of firefighters, ethnic minorities and female
employees
– Held awareness days to give people an idea of the entry standards required
– Advertised through agency who specialise in attracting women and ethnic
minorities
Benefits and achievements
– A course of 20 new trainees started in April 2002, of which there were
three females and six from minority groups. This represents a 100 per cent
increase in workforce representation of both groups
– Four further females and one ethnic minority male were due to take their
place on the second trainee course in August
Peter Reilly says: "This is an imaginative attempt to improve the
diversity of the Fire Service’s workforce. Especially noteworthy, has been the
links it has made with the community and the pre-recruitment training programme
offered to academically disadvantaged groups. Its targeted advertising brought
in a sub-stantial number of applicants and led to their best ever recruitment
outcomes."
The team
No. in team 39 in HR team, 7 in recruitment team
Staff responsible for 1,700
Paul Gallagher Head of People Services
Nick Mernock Personnel manager
Colin Murphy Recruit course manager
Karen Holmes Clerical officer
Tony Williams Equal opportunities officer
Richard Farrall Personnel officer
Carl Jones Clerk
Ventura
HR recruitment
About the company
Ventura provides outsourced customer contact centre solutions for firms like
O2, Woolwich Building Society, Amerada, Kingfisher Group, Northern Rock and
Freeserve. It has more than 30 years’ experience and is based in Leeds and
Rotherham
The challenge
To raise awareness of Ventura and create a positive image of the contact
centre industry in the region, and widen the catchment area. Also, to break
down the transport barrier to recruitment and improve staff retention
What the company did
– Formed cross-functional team with PR, operations, marketing and the print
and fulfilment team
– Established links with local community action group and employment
services
– Direct mail campaign to 60,000 households
– Sponsored local transport initiatives
– Introduced transport service for staff, mirroring key shift patterns
Benefits and achievements
– 464 employees recruited within two months
– Average recruitment costs of £178 per head
– 40 per cent increase in replies from people covered by the transport initiative
– Filled 3,500 jobs regionally
Peter Reilly says: "Recruitment and retention is always difficult in
the contact centre business. Ventura approached its problems in a very focused
way. Through community links, direct mailing and a promotional video, the
company accessed a wide population in a successful recruitment campaign.
Addressing transport problems has helped both recruitment and retention."
The team
No. in team 42 in HR team, 3 in recruitment and training team
Staff responsible for 3,510
Jo Sweeting Recruitment manager
Yvonne Murphy Recruitment team leader
Emma Audsley Recruitment administrator
Bob Johnson Recruitment administrator
Anne Logden Recruitment administrator
Claire Medlam Recruitment administrator
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