Segmented RPO to deliver experienced and QFA qualified finance professionals

This seven month Segmented RPO project came at a time of great movement within the Irish banking and financial services landscape due to two banks pulling out of the market.

The client, who works with another outsourced recruitment provider for their entry-level, customer service type roles, wanted to partner with a team that possesses heritage and technical expertise in finance to hire a team of 20 qualified and experienced Mortgage Associates, at a quick turnaround.

With Morgan McKinley’s strong reputation for successful recruitment delivery in financial services, this project was a clear demo of what we do best…

Our client is a traditional Big Four Irish bank and one of the largest financial services groups in Ireland today.

With two competitors pulling out of Ireland’s banking market, it brought about a sudden influx of new potential customers, and the client was building up their headcount to accommodate for greater demand.

For this specific Segmented RPO project, they needed to quickly hire multiple qualified professionals into their mortgage teams in order to maintain their level of exceptional service to all customers nationwide.

Even with their large and well-established Talent Acquisition department, they knew that the specifications for these roles would require some external support: A team of 20 QFA qualified professionals with at least three years of experience within financial services, all on a permanent basis.

Our team, acting on behalf of the client, got to work. They delved into the well-stocked finance segment of our strong candidate network via Morgan McKinley’s internal database, as well as using LinkedIn and various relevant job boards.

With remote working on offer, we knew we could target a broader range of talent than for on-site roles. One primary demographic the team looked at was people re-entering the workforce; those who were looking for a strong work-from-home balance that these roles could offer.

Very soon, interviews were booked and conducted, and the flow remained constant. In weekly reporting sessions, we provided regular progress updates and presented feedback from any rejections (this was vital, as you’ll see if you carry on reading…). Things were ok, but we knew they could be much better.

After experiencing the length of their interview process and from hearing the candidates’ feedback, we stepped in - if they kept things as they were, they would not meet their hiring deadline. We asked to take over everything from their TA team, and they agreed.

The interview process was too long, and their compensation packages weren’t as attractive as some of their competitors. The insights we had gathered allowed us to make actionable suggestions on how they could speed up their hiring and increase their attraction.

A process was put in place by our team whereby hiring managers had to respond to a yes/no to an interview within 24 hours, and then had to provide feedback no more than 24 hours after the interview had taken place. Efficiency: Improved.

After the original team of 20 had been successfully hired, the client was so happy with the quality of talent that they asked us to find an additional 15. And then once those 15 were placed, they requested we find them another 10. From 0 to 65 new hires in six months.

With a team triple the size of original plans, the client was able to sufficiently and compliantly serve the needs of their mortgage customers, delivering the top-tier level of service that is expected from one of the nation’s most historic banks.

Due to the quality of the candidates found by the Morgan McKinley Talent Solutions team, and by knowing the cultural fit they were looking for, the 65 new hires had real longevity and kept attrition rates low within the division.

In summary, we not only over delivered on the Segmented RPO project itself, but also had enough of an influence to change their perspective of hiring processes, and increased their efficiency forever by doing so.

Some key stats from the project:

• 4,330 people contacted
• 180 CVs sent
• 3:1 CV send to interview
• 131 interviews
• 2:1 interview to hire