HRO Today Global Autumn 2014 - 11

Cover Story
for branch networks, as well as contact centres and
central operations. The first step was around scale
and transparency. Firbank says at the beginning of the
engagement, Barclays didn't have knowledge or reporting
on the basics: how many applications they had, how
many people they needed to hire, how many interviews
were typically conducted, how much it would cost ...
and the list goes on. With a blank slate, Firbank and her
team at Alexander Mann Solutions worked together to
create a resourcing process in the hopes that it would one
day become market leading. Being in a customer-facing
industry was a big driver.
" We touch so many customers and potential customers
through the bank, " she says. " We needed to build the
process as slick and fast as possible, and do it with quality. "
Alexander Mann Solutions and Barclays built traditional
resourcing practices around interviewing, resume
reviewing, role playing, assessments-a solid backbone
structure to build skills for hiring managers that could be
leveraged for years.
The process they implemented six years ago is very
different than the one they have in place today, but what
remains the same are the continually impressive results.
Between 2008 and 2014, Barclays and Alexander Mann
Solutions have:
* Touched more than 1,000,000 candidates
* Made close to 30,000 hires of which 20,000 were external
* Increased internal mobility from 17 per cent to 51 per cent
* Increased direct hiring from 58 per cent to 93 per cent
* Reduced time to offer by more than 15 days
* Delivered cost savings in excess of £5 million
" It's been an incredible journey from an innovation
perspective, " says Maria Clayton, head of client services
for Alexander Mann Solutions. " We've automated the
process while maintaining and improving our candidate
experience and hiring manager experience. "
Firbank agrees. " We've built that (process) together as the
business has changed and our needs have changed, " she
says. " (The engagement is) constantly evolving and that is
why it works for us. "
" I asked Alexander Mann
Solutions to come on
that risky journey. I don't
think many partners
would do that, but we
have a solution we are
proud of. We've pushed
the market around HR
to become an enabler
instead of a doer. "
-Susan Firbank,
Director of Resourcing,
Barclays
Keys to Success
Firbank and Clayton point to a few best practices that
have led to such a strong and successful engagement.
Teamwork. Firbank was driven to create synchronicity
between Barclays' employees and her Alexander Mann
Solutions partners. In fact, it was a personal goal to create
blurred lines between the two, and build the team as one.
" Having two separate teams doesn't work for the end
user. When you come to Barclays, you wouldn't know if
it was a Barclays' employee or Alexander Mann Solutions
AUTUMN 2014 | www.hroglobal.com
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HRO Today Global Autumn 2014

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