We were excited to work with London and Country Mortgages, one of the UK’s leading fee free mortgage brokers in their search for Protection Advisers to join their team based in Newcastle. L&C were experiencing a period of growth and therefore were in need of additional professionals to support them with their increased workload.
L&C Adviser roles were previously constructed with both Mortgage and Protection coverage, a strategic decision was taken to split these two product areas to enhance customer service. Existing employees were given the option to become exclusively either a Protection Adviser or a Mortgage Adviser, with the latter being selected by the majority of the workforce, this left L&C needing to fill a sizable void of Protection Advisers within the business.
Previous recruitment suppliers offered a traditional transactional recruitment service, however our solution of; a higher level of account management, an alternative and fluid candidate attraction strategy and greater market insights, saw L&C quickly engaged us to support them in their recruitment for these key roles.
Our Solution
Before any candidate activity was undertaken we wanted to gain a thorough understanding of the role, company, background and project goals. Our team spent a day with L&C stakeholders including Business Leaders, Operational Heads, Hiring Managers and HR, followed by subsequent virtual meetings to get a deeper understanding of role specifics.
A communications and meetings plan was agreed to ensure high touch account management could be delivered, with project meetings held twice per week in which our team focused upon information sharing concerning candidate flow, candidate feedback, recruiting stats and market insights.
We began by sourcing and screening candidates who matched the prerequisite experience that L&C specified. Focusing primarily upon talent mapping we were able to identify, approach and engage with passive candidates; most who had no knowledge of L&C; this feedback helped to explain the low level of direct applicants to the L&C careers site. As such our initial strategy was reviewed, amended and complemented by a range of candidate tailored L&C branded social media and job board promotions which used candidate insights to shape the content.
Our team of experienced recruiters conducted telephone interviews with all candidates who expressed interest in the opportunity. This forum enabled us to discuss the role in more detail, gain an understanding of their motivators and assess whether the individual would be suitable for the Protection Adviser role. These telephone interviews also presented a platform for us to raise awareness and improve the perception of L&C as an employer of choice.
Individuals who met the role and person specification criteria were invited to L&C’s Newcastle Offices to attend an Assessment Centre, comprising of a group task, role play and one-to-one interview with a hiring manager. We worked closely with L&C to create a pre-assessment centre handbook and communications plan to increase candidate engagement and preparedness, including the provision of support at the Newcastle assessment centres.
Project Stats
• Candidates Approached: 1422
• Telephone Interviews Completed: 188
• Assessment Centre Attendees: 72
• Starters: 14
This project presented both L&C and ourselves with initial challenges, specifically the low awareness of L&C in the local candidate market and low level of direct applicants. Despite these challenges we delivered a highly successful project with the required output.
A major factor in our success was our ability to investigate the initial strategy and consider why this was not yielding the result that we were looking for. Many companies could have been set a particular course of action; however L&C demonstrated a willingness to use our insight, expertise and recommendations to change the strategy.
Implementing a new approach allowed us to reach out to a larger pool of talent, this gave L&C access to a wider, and better, range of candidates for the live positions than they have ever experienced and build a candidate pipeline to support future recruitment projects. Our market insights highlighted candidate feedback, perception and a range of remuneration data which business and hr leaders incorporated into wider internal projects.
Client Feedback
“After a prolonged period of absence from the external recruitment market we were keen to re-invigorate our recruitment process and look at different approaches to attract and retain the best possible candidates for our Mortgage and Protection Adviser vacancies. In our search for a suitable recruitment partner we were impressed by Cogito’s market data driven approach coupled with their management’s and team’s customer focussed behaviours to deliver a service beyond our expectations. Working as a true partner, they have helped influence and shape our approach to recruitment that, once the COVID-19 situation improves, we are hopeful to roll out across the whole of our business. This would be truly transformational.”
Andrew Thomas – HR Director
