Cogito Latest Leadership Hiring Project

The Brief

Our client is one of the UK’s best-known fire safety and security solutions providers for businesses and organisations nationwide, protecting their customers with essential systems, equipment and services. They approached Cogito to undertake an Executive Search and Assessment for a General Manager position in Scotland.

Our client emphasised to Cogito that it was likely to be a challenging assignment, as specific industry and leadership experience was required. They were keen for us to understand the importance of the role for their business, which, as a result, required a combination of detailed operational and industry knowledge.  Cogito was ready to face the challenges of such a niche search.

What We Did   

Our experts created bespoke research, insights, reporting and pricing model based on our client’s needs. We identified the talent they wanted to hire and gathered people and competitor data to shape their decision-making. Due to the nature of the role, the briefing session was highly detailed to understand how the candidate would fit into our client’s company culture. Cogito always aim to obtain a clear identification of our client’s ideal candidate. This involves a willingness to have many conversations with key stakeholders until we are confident in our search. This project was no exception!

Cogito conducted a multi-tiered search covering building services, facilities management and fire and security companies. This included General Managers, Managing Directors and Business Development Directors. It was essential that the clients confidentiality was respected during this initial outreach and assessment process. As a result, a competency-based screening of interested candidates followed this to create a qualified list of three individuals.

Cogito’s strategy was to adopt a three-phase approach:

Phase 1: Engage

Cogito utilised a wide range of data sources and research methodology. We expertly identified the talent our client wanted to hire and provided various candidate and market insights to enable them to take the project forward without incurring future placement fees.

Phase 2: Identify

Blending our research and headhunt expertise, we confidentially identified and approached prospective candidates to understand their appetite for a career move. We also identified their suitability versus role pre-requisites and financial package detail.

Phase 3: Assess

Our experienced senior-level interviewers conducted face-to-face interviews with candidates of most significant interest to our client’s leaders. We produced detailed interview reports, including competency-based scoring, to support our client’s evaluation of candidates in a Candidate Shortlist Report.

 The Outcome

The Candidate Shortlist Report was presented to our client. Insights relating to package, location, propensity to move and experience in a feedback session with our client in which the longlisted individuals were benchmarked and refined were also presented. Our report identified the following key insights:

  • There was a limited community of relevant candidates in the local region for this assignment with very little diversity and a relatively level market for total reward.
  • If candidates wanted to earn more, they would have to consider a role with a broader geographical remit and significant travel.
  • In general, Operations Managers / Directors didn’t demonstrate the business and commercial growth experience that was required for the opportunity offered by our client.
  • Our insights gave a positive review of the bonus structure compared to our client’s competitors and other industries.
  • Our research also aligned the salary expectations to the role and a positive brand reputation. This provided valuable insight that our client can develop further for future attraction campaigns.

The individuals of most significant interest were interviewed by Cogito senior recruiters against a set of competency questions that had been agreed with our client.

Two of the three shortlisted candidates presented to our client were not considering changing roles at the start of this process. However, through detailed insights, Cogito sought to excite them about this new opportunity.

Cogito Offer A Value For Money Search Process

Our dedicated Leadership Hiring and Intelligence team provides an innovative and insight-led search process, allowing us to find the best senior candidates for your role. Our expertise span any sector on an international scale, from senior roles to those hard-to-find skill-niche roles. We support our clients in making more informed decisions about senior positions, pay and candidates, improving return on investment from senior hiring and benchmarking projects. Our services are ideal for businesses that do not gain value from headhunter retainers and do not want to incur a cancellation fee when the headhunter fails to deliver.

An Alternative Approach To Headhunt

Adopting a flexible approach, our expert iHeadhunt team will allow you to engage directly with senior leaders and specialists based on your capability, goals and budget. We provide a front-end search with the option to continue with the shortlist or to continue our assessment. We don’t charge placement fees. Instead, we use the strength of our mapping and insights to provide a refined candidate list, eliminating the worry of rising headhunt search fees.

For further information on how Cogito can support your business, visit Leadership Hiring – Cogito (cogitotalent.com)

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Written by:

Marc Drew

Managing Director

With over 20 years providing HR and Talent consultancy solutions, Marc combines leading Cogito with active involvement in client programmes, ensuring that all levels of Cogito participate in his vision of blending the expertise of our people with research & data analytics to help businesses create people strategies to deliver long lasting success.

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Cogito Wins The Case For Empowering Leadership Team At Top Law Firm

The Brief

The latest client for Cogito is an award-winning law firm recognised by The Times for its medical negligence work and as one of the best personal injury solicitors in the UK. They approached our team to undertake two potential projects to support their HR strategy.

Our client was keen for Cogito to host a half-day workshop aimed at second-tier leadership teams, equipping them with the skills required to attract potential employees and retain their existing ones. With around twenty attendees, the workshop formed part of their Leadership Development Programme. They also sought a deeper understanding of the recruitment market in 2022 and advice on attracting and retaining high-calibre candidates and employees.

Cogito was ready to take on the case!

The Power to Empower

In today’s competitive market, companies need to consider more than just financial incentives for potential candidates. Some look for flexible and remote work options, while others value incentives such as health and wellness resources. Employers are now exploring alternative strategies to understand key motivators and job seeker behaviours, creating a positive work environment that attracts and retains talent.

For our client, Cogito sought to empower the leadership team with tools and strategies to future-proof their business.

Preparation Is Key

Our experts conducted extensive research into hiring trends in the legal sector, comparing the pre-pandemic workplace (2019) with the post-pandemic landscape (2022). We gathered data from LinkedIn posts, Labour Market reports, surveys, and blogs. While our data was current at the time, we emphasised to our client that market conditions evolve rapidly.

What We Discovered

The post-pandemic world has introduced several factors affecting the labour market. Candidates now drive the market, demanding higher salaries, wellbeing initiatives, and flexible working.

Key Findings:

  • The cost of employing fee-earning lawyers increased significantly in 2021, leading top law firms to conduct two pay reviews within the year.
  • A shortage of talent in permanent vacancies, as experienced lawyers favour locum positions due to remote work flexibility and competitive salaries.
  • Most candidates changing jobs receive a 10%-15% salary increase.
  • Many firms reinvest a significant percentage of profits into staff development and training.
  • Candidates are particularly interested in billable hour expectations and parental leave policies.
  • Corporate social responsibility is a key factor, with many candidates valuing a firm’s charitable contributions.
  • Diversity and inclusion efforts play a crucial role in retention—associates dissatisfied with D&I initiatives are more likely to leave.
  • Law firms are improving employee benefits, including hybrid work environments, wellness programmes, and learning initiatives.
  • Top motivators for workers in 2022: higher salaries, improved work-life balance, and greater job fulfilment.
  • Many lawyers left the profession post-pandemic, seeking a more balanced lifestyle or career changes outside the legal sector.
  • The newer generation of lawyers is attracted to flexible working, career development opportunities, and advanced technology.

Key Strategies for Attracting and Retaining Talent

While some law firms have increased salaries and bonuses, this alone is not enough to compete in the post-pandemic recruitment market. Firms must embrace evolving expectations and market trends.

Recommendations:

  • Prioritise wellbeing: Implement health-focused initiatives such as gym memberships, wellness subscriptions, and walking meetings.
  • Emphasise flexibility: Consider hybrid or remote work models to attract and retain talent.
  • Foster a strong company culture: Employees want to feel valued and heard. Leadership should inspire, motivate, and encourage open communication.
  • Offer competitive commission structures: Providing transparent and fair incentives improves retention.
  • Support learning and development: Investing in training and career progression appeals to top talent.

The Workshop

Delivered by Learning and Development professional Sarah-Jane Hart, our findings were presented to the client’s leadership team, along with actionable strategies for attracting and retaining top talent. While salary and benefits remain key motivators, we highlighted the growing importance of non-financial incentives, including:

  • Career growth and development opportunities.
  • Work-life balance initiatives.
  • Employee engagement strategies.
  • Open and regular communication.
  • Building a strong sense of community and company culture.
  • Addressing burnout proactively.
  • Encouraging employee feedback and demonstrating appreciation.
  • Commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Our interactive session encouraged leaders to apply these insights to their business and create a practical, actionable plan to evolve their talent strategy.

Struggling to Attract and Retain Employees? Get in Touch with Cogito!

Effective talent attraction and retention strategies can significantly impact your business growth. Cogito can help you implement the right approach to succeed. Act now and get in touch!

Visit Learning and Development – Cogito or contact emmanaumann@cogitotalent.com to learn more.

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Written by:

Marc Drew

Managing Director

With over 20 years providing HR and Talent consultancy solutions, Marc combines leading Cogito with active involvement in client programmes, ensuring that all levels of Cogito participate in his vision of blending the expertise of our people with research & data analytics to help businesses create people strategies to deliver long lasting success.

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Leading Footwear Retailer enlists the help of Cogito People Insights

Russell & Bromley are a leading British footwear and handbag retailer that operate 43 stores and two concessions in the UK. Synonymous with expert craftsmanship and fashion-led design, they are a growing business looking to review their current position of remuneration packages within the South London retail employment market for Head Office roles. Russell & Bromley consider themselves to be the market leader in terms of employee benefits, so our latest case study looks at the work carried out by the Cogito People Insights team to obtain a more detailed understanding of its offering and how it compares with the competition.

Russell & Bromley recognised that they needed to review their pay to help with benchmarking and future recruitment. While they have already done this internally, they wanted a partner to provide external data.

They enlisted the help of Cogito People Insights to increase their confidence in what they had already discovered, ensuring that they would be competitive within the market; this would ultimately reduce the likelihood of a current employee being tempted away by a competitor offering a higher salary or a potential candidate rejecting the job due to poor pay.

Through a combination of desk-based and telephone research methods, Cogito People Insights sought to deliver a comprehensive research project for Russell & Bromley concerning the salaries, benefits, and other elements of remuneration across the specified target roles and location.

Our Solution

Russell & Bromley were keen to understand professionals’ salaries within other businesses, so we started our research with 107 in-depth telephone calls to potential candidates whose profiles closely matched the skills required for job roles they offer. Through this research, we obtained valuable information about their current working situation (salary, bonuses, employee benefits, pensions, staff discounts, flexible working, etc.) and their expectations of taking on a different role. We complemented this with desk-based research on LinkedIn, ONS, and Glassdoor.

Our research identified the following key findings:

  • The percentage of potential candidates who received an annual bonus and the level of importance of the bonus to these candidates.
  • How many people receive healthcare as a benefit.
  • How important pensions are to candidates.
  • Candidate preferences for hybrid working.

Subsequently, all data was presented to Russell & Bromley on interactive dashboards.

Thank you to Ruari, and his team at Cogito People Insights for the full review of our people salary benchmarking and benefits research. We have been very impressed with the data gathered and the in-depth analysis provided. Not only has this been produced on customisable dashboards, but the insights data presented to us provide us with total confidence. They will transform how we approach our salary reviews across the business.

Lee Smith

Retail and HR Director, Russell & Bromley

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Written by:

Ruari Fangman

Manager

Ruari Fangman is a seasoned expert in talent strategy and talent related insights, currently serving as the Director of Insights at Cogito.

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Salary Benchmarking Project for a Management Consulting Business

Cogito’s latest client is a business and digital transformation consultancy that specialises in building great relationships, while designing and delivering some of the world’s largest and most complex transformations. 

The Project Brief

Our client engaged Cogito for a comprehensive salary benchmarking initiative, to conduct an in-depth analysis of remuneration packages for consulting and operational roles in the UK, US, and Ireland. The aim of this review was twofold:  

  • to establish an external benchmark to support the upcoming performance reviews in January by gaining a detailed understanding of their offerings in comparison to competitors in the business consulting sector, including job titles, roles, salaries, and rewards, and 
  • to provide data to help them design their internal salary banding structure. 

What We Did 

To provide our client with the most relevant and up-to-date remuneration data, we conducted a thorough analysis of role-specific data and insights. By examining trends at skill, sector, geography, and company levels, we were able to offer more targeted information than generic salary survey reports. 

We collected data from a range of desk-based sources, including the ONS, paid benchmarking platforms with payroll and job advert data, and open sources. This enabled us to provide our client with a comprehensive remuneration benchmark across various roles. Through this process, we were able to establish: 

 

  • Current/Desired Salary and Benefits Packages: Average current and desired salaries for professionals in each field, with location considerations. 
  • Bonuses and Premium Payments: Identification of bonus frequency and importance for professionals, considering their seniority. 
  • Remuneration and Organisation Analysis: In-depth research on characteristics and activities, discerning key drivers to base salary and total package. 
  • Optimal Flexible Working Situations/Home Working: Understanding candidates’ preferences for flexible and home working options. 

What We Discovered

Our research yielded vital insights, including: 

  • Percentage of bonuses aligning with the market median and their significance to candidates. 
  • Quantity of base salaries surpassing external benchmarked medians. 
  • Prevalence of healthcare and the importance of pensions to candidates. 
  • Candidate preferences for hybrid working, specifically in Ireland. “The housing shortage has also led to increased pressure on organisations to provide flexible work, with 41% reporting a high demand for hybrid/remote working.” 

We presented detailed information on averages, salary distributions, and market positioning breakdowns. The data was presented in real-time charts with customised filters. But that’s not all – we go beyond just presenting hard data. We go beyond just presenting numbers. Our team provided in-depth consultation and feedback, highlighting unique trends and providing valuable context around the data, allowing for a more complete understanding of the information presented. 

What Next?

Our team can collaborate with yours to unlock the full potential of the data presented.

As we move forward with the salary benchmarking project, we can use the data to drive actionable results. Here are some examples of next steps:  

  • Conduct a gap analysis. 
  • Develop a reward strategy.  
  • Evaluate job descriptions. 
  • Devise a career path program. 

Overall, the salary benchmarking project presents an opportunity to improve the competitiveness of the organisation and increase employee satisfaction and engagement. By leveraging the data provided, we can take tangible steps towards achieving these goals. 

Gain Advantage Over Your Competitors!

Cogito assists businesses in improving and gaining a competitive edge by providing market trend insights, identifying gaps, and uncovering opportunities. Regular benchmarking empowers companies to adapt their people plans, staying current and gaining a competitive edge. 

Explore our demo or reach out to us for more information and give your business a competitive advantage! 

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Written by:

Marc Drew

Managing Director

With over 20 years providing HR and Talent consultancy solutions, Marc combines leading Cogito with active involvement in client programmes, ensuring that all levels of Cogito participate in his vision of blending the expertise of our people with research & data analytics to help businesses create people strategies to deliver long lasting success.

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Cogito Are Outstanding In Their Field For Employee Engagement Survey Project With Mole Valley Farmers

This case study looks at  our latest project with Mole Valley Farmers. Over the years, they have acquired many different brands, which has led to a need for more understanding of how all employees feel. They were keen to find out what their employees thought about working for them and their level of attractiveness as an employer. Part of this research was the development of an employee engagement survey.

 

Our Down-To-Earth Client 

Cogito’s latest client,  Mole Valley Farmers, was established in 1960 by a small group of farmers in South Molton, North Devon, who created an agricultural buying group. The success of this early enterprise has resulted in the Mole Valley Farmers  family of companies becoming a leading agricultural supply business spanning the length of Britain. 

Read more about Mole Valley Farmers here. 

The Project Brief

Mole Valley Farmers approached Cogito to develop a unique, attractive and authentic Employer Value Proposition (EVP) through robust research. Having never rolled out an employee engagement survey before, Mole Valley Farmers were keen to obtain the thoughts of all employees, from those out in the mills or working in stores through to drivers and those working in head office. With such a diverse mix of skills across multiple locations, it was essential for Mole Valley Farmers to understand their perception of them as an employer.

 

Why Use Cogito?  

Our client was keen to improve the overall engagement and employer brand offering. They wanted to allow their employees to feel heard and help the leadership team understand what drives engagement within the organisation. Cogito was enlisted to complete the employee engagement survey whilst simultaneously incorporating employer brand questions.

Having never participated in an employee engagement surveys before, Mole Valley Farmers benefited from Cogito’s consultative approach. The bespoke nature of our surveys gave them confidence in asking and identifying the truths behind the questions as opposed to a more generic format. We could also support them along the way with a complete communication plan and analysis upon completion. We continued providing feedback and recommendations while conducting employer brand research.

Cogito Plough Forward

With our client’s considerations in mind, Cogito conducted a comprehensive research programme, providing end-to-end support, surveying all 2000 employees with a bespoke employee engagement survey incorporating key employer branding questions.

We assigned Cogito’s Marketing and Communications Specialist to produce a robust online and offline communications plan. It was important to Mole Valley Farmers that the employees understood why they were being asked to complete the survey. Before the survey landed with them, its purpose was communicated. Emails were distributed to all employees with unique survey links, following employer brand guidelines, so it felt very much like it came from Mole Valley Farmers and not an external supplier. The idea was to engage employees to achieve maximum participation equally across all brands, stores and job roles. Regular emails were distributed, and posters were displayed around the office with unique QR codes for convenient survey completion.

To ensure maximum participation, the number of questions was limited, and it was specified that the survey would be running for two weeks. Emphasis was placed on how long the survey would take to complete and that their feedback was appreciated and would contribute towards the company’s strategy. Regular progress updates were communicated to Mole Valley Farmers, so that they could continue to encourage more people to complete it.

 

 The Results Are In! 

Once the survey results were available, it was time to digest and analyse the information. A full display via dynamic dashboards was presented to key stakeholders, which allowed data to be filtered by location / age / gender / tenure. At this stage, we presented the data and provided recommendations on how to take this data forward to make impactful changes within the organisation. The benefit of this employment engagement survey is that the research will also form part of the employer branding research from both an internal and external perspective of Mole Valley Farmers as an employer.

Cogito then presented key metrics from the data in PDF reports that were available to cascade to the wider management team, again agreed with Mole Valley Farmers. They used our consultative approach to understand the best metrics to take forward to enable a regular review for improvement.

The final step was to support Mole Valley Farmers in cascading the key outcomes to the wider team featuring bite-size chunks of the survey so that they could discover the results of the survey and the intentions of the business going forward.

We advised on the regular occurrence of employee engagement surveys to both improve engagement and contribute towards the effective communication between employees and the leadership team. We will continue to collaborate with Mole Valley Farmers to ensure this data remains current, with periodic listening groups and annual survey completion.

Give Your Employees A Voice! Let Us Help You To Get The Best Out Of Your Engagement Activity 

 From measuring employee satisfaction to monitoring progress, we can provide you with research and insights to achieve your business goals. Find out more by visiting www.cogitotalent.com or contact us today.  

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Written by:

Marc Drew

Managing Director

With over 20 years providing HR and Talent consultancy solutions, Marc combines leading Cogito with active involvement in client programmes, ensuring that all levels of Cogito participate in his vision of blending the expertise of our people with research & data analytics to help businesses create people strategies to deliver long lasting success.

Connect on LinkedIn

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Recruitment Transformation Project – Westerleigh Case Study

Client Testimonial

“This piece of work was swiftly completed with an action plan, timeline, areas for possible investment and where a return on investment would yield benefit to the business and its longer-term strategy.

A short-term partnership ensured where progress was made with short term wins in operational recruitment alongside the placement of a Resourcing Partner who could then internally drive our agenda forward.

Cogito took the time to understand the business, engage with stakeholders and ultimately acts like an extension of your own team.”

 Business Leader in Crematorium Industry

Westerleigh are one of the UK’s leading business within the crematorium industry, successfully developing and operating crematoria and cemeteries, overseeing a UK-wide coverage of over close to 40 sites nationwide and managing over 40,000 funerals a year.

While they have exemplified their status as a business leader within the crematorium industry, the business remain determined in implementing organisational growth and had ambitious plans in supporting this. A fundamental process of the growth plans was to hire new talent into the business,  Westerleigh recognised the importance of hiring high quality talent who would support the development of the business, this is something that is often a struggle considering the line of work they are in and the limited amount of talent they at times face.

 

 Better Recruitment = Better Talent = Business Growth

To our client’s credit, there was a clear increasing desire to adopt an approach of hiring talent who would add value to the business rather than just fill a role – this derives from previous struggles in which the business have had in their recruitment. Westerleigh’s recruitment processes were something that needed attention – they had no recruitment function in place, meaning that they were often dependent on recruitment agencies who were inconsistent in their delivery, therefore they were not receiving value for money in their recruitment spend. The lack of consistency within the process often meant there was a lack of communication and engagement between agency, hiring managers and candidates, which ultimately resulted in quite a poor experience through the process for both the candidates and hiring managers – to the point that it would at times feel like a burden for hiring managers. A further cause of concern was the lack of framework to ensure a consistent assessment or selection of candidates – this is problematic as it often meant hiring would sometimes come down to gut feel rather than objective assessment. In addition, this also refused Westerleigh the opportunity to assess and their own recruitment model, thus preventing them benchmark a level of candidate to support future recruitment.

 

How we established what needed to be done

Westerleigh engaged with Cogito to support them with the transformation of their recruitment model. This initially involved an employer brand competitor audit through the use of our unique audit tools. Using this, we helped the business understand how their employer brand compares to their competitors. This process of competitive landscaping enables Westerleigh to consider where they are now, as well as have evidenced guidance on what they need to improve on to become a more interesting proposition to potential talent. This process also included a Resourcing review, of which we analysed a range of characteristics within the business, this included:

  1. Ownership – who is responsible for recruitment within the business and the importance of identifying one.
  2. HR Support – reflection of the business HR model and how far this enables recruitment.
  3. Technology – what technology is in place to support recruitment.
  4. Attraction – recognition of how well know Westerleigh is as a business and implementing attraction strategies.
  5. Quality – assessing the quality of hire within the organisation.
  6. Candidate Experience – understanding the candidate’s journey throughout a recruitment process, communicating the importance of this and identifying ways this can be improved.

From this, we presented  a detailed action plan to the Westerleigh Board which detailed  what was required, and how we could support them, to build a best practice  recruitment solution.

 

Putting recommendations into practice

We then executed the action plan over a three-month period in which we took ownership for the delivery of each workstream whilst also supporting Westerleigh in the recruitment of 15 roles

Our talent consultants  supported our client in establishing core standards and principles aligned to the company values which will be the ‘anchor’ for all recruitment activity and processes going forward. We also defined the internal and external recruitment service and supported Westerleigh with the creation of the recruitment stages and detailed process flow.

To further empower Westerleigh in the future, our delivery teamengaged with a mix of applicants who we identified to be potentially suitable for their roles and underwent an extensive process of screening and assessing candidates to understand their suitability for the role.

Our combination of delivery and change consultancy meant that we could test the new ways of working whilst executing the plan.

 

Instant Results

Our team successfully oversaw the delivery of this project; this involved the transformation of Westerleigh’s recruitment model, as well as the successful hiring of 15 roles within the business, including an internal recruiter to support future recruitment.

Our engagement with Westerleigh has enabled them to have a full understanding of where they currently stand in comparison to their competitors, but also identify how they can improve their proposition to ensure that they are the most attractive business within what at times is a highly competitive industry in terms of attracting talent. This research has empowered Westerleigh to be able to implement longer term initiatives which would lead to improving quality of hire and marketing, meaning that they should no longer have to spend to get outsourced recruitment agencies to recruit for professionals. In addition, Westerleigh now have an established benchmark ‘what good looks like’ for operational site roles – providing clarity on essential qualities to look for which will support future recruitment.

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Written by:

Marc Drew

Managing Director

With over 20 years providing HR and Talent consultancy solutions, Marc combines leading Cogito with active involvement in client programmes, ensuring that all levels of Cogito participate in his vision of blending the expertise of our people with research & data analytics to help businesses create people strategies to deliver long lasting success.

Connect on LinkedIn

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Global Leader In The Contact Lens Industry Can See Clearly Following Talent Mapping Project

This case study looks at our latest talent mapping project with a global leader in the contact lens industry. Having experienced significant business growth, they required insight into creating effective recruitment campaigns, and also wanted to free up their time and save money on traditional agency fees.

Our Vision-ary Client

Cogito’s latest client is a global leader in the contact lens industry. Through scientific and technological innovation, operational excellence and close working relationships with eye care professional customers, our client has helped improve the vision of millions and become a trusted leader in the contact lens industry.

The Project Brief

At the time of initial contact, our client was experiencing significant business growth. Whilst our client’s talent acquisition team had great success in 2022 in direct hiring, they realised that to support further business plans, they require insight to create effective recruitment campaigns and to stay ahead of the competition to become the employer of choice. They also wanted to free up their time and save on traditional recruitment agency fees.

Our (Contact Lens) Solution

Our client approached Cogito to provide a two-stage solution.

Stage One: Skills Research

Skills research offers businesses valuable insights for achieving diverse, business-driven goals, including effective benchmarking through analysis of external research. Cogito sought to obtain an insight of the employment market to identify talent hot spots within a 50km radius to our client’s locations. This data was based on four key divisions within their organisation.

Before any research began, Cogito’s Talent Acquisition team conducted a discovery call with our client to compile the required information about the business structure, job titles, role remits and competitors, with opportunities to share other insights into the business and the ideal skills required.

Cogito’s research team also collated relevant open-source data points, utilising subscribed platforms and other published salary surveys and data from industry bodies. These data points were combined and weighted towards the most trustworthy and relevant sources.

Through desk-based research, we:

  • Provided a heatmap of talent hotspots within the suggested 50km radius of our client’s centres.
  • Gained unparalleled insight into a specific location’s supply and demand due to the level and granularity of data.
  • Gathered labour market and salary data from many trusted sources to provide a real-time picture of the talent market in the identified skill hot spots.
  • Obtained a competitor overview of prominent employers in the area, detailing how our client compared.
  • Talent Pool Demographics.
  • Average reward data for varying experience levels.
  • Benchmarked our client against a location’s gender averages for specific skills and job titles so that realistic expectations regarding diversity can be set.

Stage Two: Talent Mapping

Our client was finding niche roles hard to fill and attract talent through talent mapping within the identified talent hot spots.

We identified both active and passive candidates who matched their job and person specifications within their target competitors. Our approach identified more and better-quality candidates than advertisements or recruitment database searches.

Market Map and Report

The Market Map Report provided our client with details of interested candidates and those not interested in the position and the reasons why. This enabled our client to consider all aspects of the market and explore any amendments to the role, opportunity or package to ensure the best talent is secured.

In addition to the candidate information, we provided our client with a Talent Insights Report, which included trends in motivators, pay and needs/wants of the mapped talent and highlighted how our client could develop and enhance the role proposition.

We helped our client to:

  • Make more informed decisions about the role proposition, marketing and pay.
  • Take ownership of candidate engagement when ready, ensuring authentic promotion of the business and the role.
  • Gain an improved return on investment as our model was focused on the areas in which our client required support.
  • Learn more about labour markets to enhance their people strategies.
  • Evaluate potential candidates against their key criteria and the wider market.
  • Increase brand awareness through positive conversations.
  • Improve the candidate experience.

Take A Proactive Approach In Sourcing, Engaging And Hiring Talent

From measuring employee satisfaction to monitoring progress, we can provide you with research and insights to achieve your business goals. Find out more by visiting www.cogitotalent.com or contact us today.

Post Thumbnail Pic
Written by:

Marc Drew

Managing Director

With over 20 years providing HR and Talent consultancy solutions, Marc combines leading Cogito with active involvement in client programmes, ensuring that all levels of Cogito participate in his vision of blending the expertise of our people with research & data analytics to help businesses create people strategies to deliver long lasting success.

Connect on LinkedIn

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