DEI case study: access a valuable pool of talent often overlooked.
Financial services company secures customer service talent while expanding its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy
industry/client
one of the largest privately owned asset managers in the worldgoals
After a shift to remote working arrangements, the company saw an opportunity to improve workforce diversity and talent retention among its Client Services team, but did not have the internal expertise to move initiatives forward.solution
By partnering with the Randstad Academy for Talent (RAFT), the company leverages sourcing, screening and interviewing expertise to attract and hire individuals with disabilities who need remote working environments. Being employed consultants with Randstad Sourceright, talent benefits from personal and professional development training and a dedicated mentor to support their success in the role.key results
As a result of the diversity hiring initiative, RAFT filled all open roles with qualified and diverse talent, exceeding its original target by 20%. The RAFT recruitment process ensures candidates have a strong understanding of the role and are well prepared for interviews, resulting in a successful offer rate. Without impacting the client’s permanent headcount, the Client Services team is now staffed with highly engaged talented individuals who face barriers to employment.
improve workforce DEI and reduce turnover
This leading financial services organization relies on its Client Services team to support fund management and pension operations. Like many other organizations in today’s tight, post-pandemic talent market, the company faced low retention for these in-demand roles. At the same time, the company wanted to enhance its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts by hiring experienced individuals who typically face barriers to employment.
It saw an opportunity to expand its talent pool by hiring an often overlooked group: individuals with disabilities who require remote work as a reasonable accommodation.
While this idea would help fill those much-needed Client Services positions and provide opportunities to those who may otherwise struggle to find meaningful work, it needed a talent partner that had the expertise to put this initiative into action.
direct access to pre-screened, pre-trained, right-fit talent
The company partnered with Randstad Sourceright, working with the Randstad Academy for Talent (RAFT). RAFT specializes in helping organizations attract, screen and hire people who typically face barriers to employment, such as people with disabilities, neurodiverse individuals, marginalized groups, ex-forces, people with dependents and lower socio-economic status. It also offers these individuals the training and development they need to be successful in their interviews and in their new roles.
In the RAFT model, talent works as employed consultants with Randstad Sourceright, giving the financial services organization the opportunity to embrace DEI initiatives through their non-permanent hiring. And, after 12 months, the organization has the opportunity to embed the skilled talent into its permanent workforce.
The RAFT team conducts the attraction, screening and assessment processes for the financial services leader. Through active partnerships with multiple charities and non-profit organizations, RAFT focuses its search on candidates who need to work remotely as a reasonable accommodation and who completed an in-depth transferable skills assessment to ensure individuals are a right fit. Ongoing workshops and support throughout the screening and interviewing process build loyalty and set the candidates up for long-term success.
As a result, the company not only benefits from improved access to diverse talent, without having to add headcount immediately, but can also be confident that candidates are well prepared for the job when hired, and more likely to stay because they feel valued and a sense of belonging.
To further accommodate talent, the company offers both part-time and full-time work hours and training. Including a mix of shift patterns alleviates pressure in the roles and makes them more accessible and attractive to candidates.
Upon conducting the screenings and assessments to ensure competency and cultural fit with the client, RAFT provides the company’s hiring managers with the candidates it recommends, along with their assessment scores and detailed notes. Once hired, RAFT manages onboarding, people management, remuneration and HR support to ensure a positive candidate and client experience.
fill in-demand roles with diverse talent
The company’s initiative to enhance its DEI strategy and improve retention for Client Services roles has proven to be a successful one. In the first phase of the program, the company filled all its open roles with diverse talent, surpassing its recruitment goal by 20%.
Reflecting on the success of the program, the company’s director of Talent Acquisition said:
“RAFT have provided us with a fantastic tailored solution to our recruitment challenge. They delivered an extremely high caliber of individuals from challenging health backgrounds that needed to work from home.”
"We had an amazing success rate, significantly higher than our previous experience. We are confident that this solution will make a really positive change to how we hire in the future providing us with a diverse and talented workforce.”