The Challenge

When a large call centre moved into a green field site in Swindon in December 1998 they had to hit the ground running. Their national supplier provided the first 50 staff, but additional help was needed in recruiting up to another 50 each week to provide the required headcount.

When Wise Employment approached the Company, they already had a preferred supplier list. However, the determination and commitment of our Temporaries Consultant persuaded the Human Resources Manager to give us the opportunity to demonstrate our capability.

Initially we were asked to fill 25 assignments. We rose to this challenge so well in terms of response times, fill rate, quality of staff provided and sheer dedication to customer satisfaction, that we were formally appointed as a preferred supplier.

The Wise Solution

Although we had been successful with our initial recruitment campaign, we were keen to ensure that our performance, in terms of fill rate, quality of staff and attrition, would not deteriorate in the face of high volume requirements. To this end, we implemented a number of initiatives:

- We appointed a dedicated Recruitment Co-Coordinator to assist our Temporaries Controller in recruiting and selecting staff for the contract
- We utilised Linked Advertising to maximise on the curiosity factor generated by a new employer in the town and to profile ourselves as the agency of choice for any candidates wishing to work for the Company
- We designed a Telephone Assessment Questionnaire to assist us in selecting effectively from advertisement response and in confirming the abilities of those candidates currently on our database
- We implemented a software based Personality Questionnaire designed specifically for Customer Service Staff
- We arranged for our Temporaries Controller to attend part of the Company’s Induction Training Course, to enhance her understanding of the roles being recruited for and to facilitate effective Briefing Meetings for Temporaries
- We compiled a Briefing Document with information for temporaries relating to the Company’s profile, policies, procedures, job descriptions, pay rates and benefits
- We introduced regular site visits, to provide easy access to both Team Leaders and our temporary workforce
- We set up exit interviews, to monitor reasons for attrition and ensured that feedback was provided to Management to address any issues arising
- We instigated monthly quality review meetings, to monitor agreed quality criteria, identify areas for improvement, discuss new service initiatives and ensure that we were kept up to date with any changes likely to affect staff requirements

The Outcome

Growth was phenomenal over the next two years, until there was in excess of 900 permanent and contract staff working across two sites in the Swindon area.

Wise Employment was selected as one of just three preferred suppliers to the site and regularly provided up to 170 temporaries per week (with a healthy conversion rate to permanent payroll). We were told that this made us their most effective Preferred Supplier.

Wise Employment continued striving for performance improvement as we developed our partnership arrangement.

We were finally selected to provide a Master Vendor Service, with on site representation, in order to streamline communications, reduce administration, improve productivity, increase control and deliver maximum cost effectiveness.