The Challenge: A relationship of Trust

When The Prince’s Trust approached Digby Morgan to fill management positions in its HR team, the charity had never engaged an agency before

Steve Wiggins, HR director

Steve Wiggins, HR director

The Challenge
When the youth charity The Prince’s Trust approached HR recruiter Digby Morgan to help fill six management roles in its HR team, the challenge for the consultancy was twopronged: finding passionate HR professionals who would work for a lower salary than that paid in the private sector and building a longterm relationship with an organisation that wanted more than a transactional relationship.

The charity provides financial and practical support to young people in need to move into education, training or starting up their own business, and has around 730 employees. In 2008 the HR team filled 85 vacancies. The HR roles that had to be filled included head of learning & development; learning & development manager; HR manager; and a senior head of HR. Until Steve Wiggins, HR director at The Prince’s Trust, approached Digby Morgan, The Trust didn’t have a particular relationship with any recruitment agency. Not only did the type of HR managers have to have technical expertise, Wiggins said, but they had to be incredibly passionate about the cause. At the same time, compensation for the reduction in salary would be recognised in the better work/life balance offered by the charity.

Clearly, understanding The Trust’s business and culture was vital, Wiggins told Recruiter: “Getting good candidates to fulfil these criteria, where many of their contemporaries are earning far more in similar roles, was going to be tricky.”

The consultants at Digby Morgan spent a lot of time getting to know the type of HR manager we were looking for
STEVE WIGGINS

The Solution
Digby Morgan director Matthew Chester led the team to become personally involved in “getting under the skin” of the charity. “In HR recruitment specifically, 70% of the work is in matching personalities with the culture/employer brand of the organisation. If you can get that right, it will save so much time and money down the line,” he told Recruiter.

And in no organisation would the need to match personalities with the culture be more necessary than at The Prince’s Trust. “We needed to get close to the cultural model of The Prince’s Trust. The Trust allowed us to do just that — to dig beneath the surface and get closer. Unfortunately, some clients don’t let suppliers to do that,” Chester said.

Matthew Chester, director

Matthew Chester, director

By helping young people with CV writing and interviewing skills in their own time, Digby Morgan staff discovered the passion of engaging with the business of the charity as a whole. “It’s much more than corporate social responsibility,” said Chester. “Our staff find the volunteering rewarding. It also makes the sell to candidates extremely compelling. And because of the relationship between the two companies, which is built individually, our consultants really want to find the top-notch candidates for The Trust.

“Candidates were found based mainly on personality and cultural fit,” he continued. “Sure, they had to have the technical expertise but we didn’t go for stereotypical candidates or pigeon-hole them from a certain sector. We know our candidates inside out and so consultants were able to recognise which ones would have the cultural fit for The Prince’s Trust.”

Wiggins was impressed with the firm’s approach — the long-term approach he had hoped for from a partner agency. “The consultants at Digby Morgan spent a lot of time — and still are — getting to know the type of HR manager we were looking for, ensuring the candidates they found would have the right cultural fit.

This in-depth knowledge led to Digby Morgan staff being able to pass on their passion to the candidates. Early on during the process, the consultants undertook voluntary work to help them understand what The Prince’s Trust was really about, which was — and still is — highly valued.”

Chester elaborated: “In fact, we feel that we are seen as an HR extension of The Trust, which all helps in finding the best person who can ‘grow’ into working at The Trust. And the testament to that is that the first person we placed three years ago is still there in her HR role.”

If another HR vacancy comes up, Wiggins would use Digby Morgan again. “If someone left suddenly, they could find us a new HR manager within a week,” he asserted.

lessons learned

  • Create a level playing field Clients and suppliers should be positioned on the same table, not one on the top table. Regard them as individuals rather than the client
  • Develop cultural understanding Get under the skin of your client’s brand, especially in terms of culture, so you can truly match candidates’ values to the company
  • Be involved Involvement in the client’s company adds to engagement. This is translated into a stronger commitment and passion by consultants to get the job done
  • Reduce attrition Fitting the right candidates to a firm’s culture quickly not only saves time and money but reduces attrition, as the correct cultural match will lead to the employee staying longer


Would you like to be involved in The Challenge? Contact Vanessa Townsend at [email protected]

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