Financial Services
Transforming a talent acquisition process without adding headcount.
Rapid growth had made hiring slower and more expensive, but evidence showed that additional recruiters would not solve the underlying constraints.
Global alternative asset manager
- Time to hire
- Fourteen weeks to under eight
- Agency dependency
- Reduced to 20%
- Offer declines
- Reduced to 10%
- Additional recruiters
- None
Challenge
A global alternative asset manager had doubled headcount in two years. Time to hire had increased from six weeks to fourteen, agency spend had tripled and the proposed remedy was to add two recruiters.
The organisation needed to understand whether team capacity was the real issue or whether delays elsewhere in the hiring process were driving the problem.
Approach
We analysed funnel conversion, time in each stage, source mix, cost per hire and offer decline reasons, supported by interviews with hiring managers, recruiters, recent hires and candidates who had declined.
Two constraints accounted for most of the delay. Second-stage interview panels were difficult to convene, lacked consistent decision makers and did not provide reliable feedback. Offers also required multiple approvals without clear ownership or contingency cover.
The changes were operational rather than structural: fixed interview capacity with a defined and diverse panel, a named offer approver with contingency cover, and a consistent interview framework so decisions were not repeatedly revisited.
Outcome
- Time to hire returned to under eight weeks without adding permanent headcount to the talent team.
- Agency dependency reduced to twenty per cent as direct sourcing became viable at the improved pace, materially lowering cost per hire.
- Offer declines reduced to ten per cent as feedback and hiring decisions became faster and the candidate experience improved.
- The proportion of diverse hires increased to an equal male and female split as candidates responded positively to the redesigned experience.
Partnership over transaction
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