RAD Awards 2023 shortlist: Innovation of the Year

With just a few more weeks until we celebrate the RAD Awards in January 2023, we continue our profiles of shortlisted campaigns. Here we look at the campaigns shortlisted for Innovation of the Year, sponsored by ZipRecruiter.

Civil Service Fast Stream Influencer Campaign – tmp.worldwide

The Civil Service wanted to open up its Fast Stream programme to under-represented audiences, showing that CSFS is accessible to all graduates regardless of background, and to increase the representation of applicants from specific diversity groups to better reflect UK communities. To do this it would need to remove any perceived barriers and be innovative in its attraction campaign.

CSFS pursued an influencer-led social media campaign complemented by targeted university outreach. The ‘You, Unlimited’ platform featured real fast-streamers showing that CSFS offers something for everyone and the wide scope of work candidates could be involved in. Working with third parties, it identified student influencer Vee Kativhu as the lead influencer to spread the message to diverse audiences. Twelve nano-influencers were also engaged for their targeted followings.

Vee’s video attracted more than 18,000 views in less than 48 hours, and over four weeks the influencers had a combined reach of 351,304 and 2,436 engagements. The campaign attracted a diverse mix of candidates, with ethnicity up 1.8% from 2021; applicants from a lower socio-economic background up 1.4%; disability up 2.6% and LGBTQ+ up 2.2%.

The EY Internship of the Future – Cappfinity

EY realised that the key to unlocking future innovation lay in a new approach to entry-level recruitment. The company has seen a 94.5% growth in tech consulting roles, needs to fill 20% more graduate vacancies and improve gender diversity. Applications had dropped by 35% following Covid.

The EY Internship of the Future was designed as the first virtual reality programme for interns, offering something unlike anything else in the market. The intern follows a five-week journey using their own headset, from an initial client meeting with an explanation of the challenge, culminating in a ‘pitch’ to senior EY stakeholders, having learnt, planned, and prepared their solution in a purpose-built VR setting. Interns can also explore the virtual EY world, including a VR learning cinema where they can play games and a ‘wellbeing island’ for meditation and reflection. The way this was presented was designed to communicate EY’s culture in a fun and inclusive way that resonated with early talent but also showcased the firm’s values.

All interns completed the entire five-week programme, and 92% said their understanding of EY improved. The offering has improved diversity, with 68.4% of interns female. Many interns reported better understanding of client projects and business needs and 83% felt their communication skills had improved. Perception improved of EY for more than nine in 10, and 83% would describe the company as ‘tech-centric’. There are now plans to expand the VR internship with school leavers.

EY Neuro-Diverse Centre of Excellence – EY

Consulting firm EY launched its UK NeuroDiverse Centre of Excellence (NCoE) in January 2022, mirroring its hiring model in the US. Feedback from the hiring process showed that designing interview stages and testing for neurodivergent individuals is not enough. There were issues with job adverts and email communications; the process required a lengthy application; there was minimal transparency, and a static set of communications.

A new approach asked candidates to ‘choose their own adventure’, using advanced automation via a new CRM system. Applicants select their preferred method of communication (eg. video, audio) and each touch point is presented in this style. Automation allows EY to amplify the human element so the hiring team can spend more time with individuals in the process. In addition, there is a five-day ‘superweek’ where candidates learn about the company and EY can understand their skills.

Through the NCoE, EY has reduced the onus on the candidate to request reasonable adjustments during the process. Offering a choice of communications styles also means EY can receive feedback in real time on what neurodivergent candidates prefer. Candidates have commented positively, such as “the colours are really helpful for me”, and the fact that “this process and being in the NCoE is a bit different and we celebrate diversity”.

Hologic Recruitment Optimisation – SMRS

Hologic is a leading innovator in women’s health, and wanted to take a more scientific approach to how it hired people. It wanted to understand how different recruiters performed, move away from the use of ‘vanity’ metrics, hire more efficiently and effectively, and become a more strategic, evidence-driven partner to the business.

The challenge was that the company’s data was scattered, unusable and limited. It needed a tool that would combine data from a range of sources, then clean, merge and model it. SMRS set about creating a role-scoring model and suite of insight dashboards that would give Hologic the answers it needed on questions such as: how competitive is the market? What is Hologic known for? Which recruiter is an expert on what? What is the supply of candidates for each role? Data comes from the HR system, applicant tracking system, external benchmarking data and market figures on open roles.

Hologic now has an interactive online tool that provides a summary matrix of all roles and their difficulty, a deep dive into specific roles and their historical stats, scorecards on different recruiters and real-time summaries of live roles. The result is that Hologic’s recruitment team can create more accurate resourcing plans and better manage workloads, focusing on candidate experience and reducing hiring times.

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