The Recruitment Challenge:
Due to unprecedented events, Stafford Borough Council having a large backlog of new food vendors, that needed to be audited, to ensure the processes used met with standard environmental health criteria.

This required a highly efficient food hygiene and environmental health professional to take on the role of assessing the vendors, to ensure pressure on the council was alleviated and the workload was reduced.

With the backlog having a strict completion time of 6 months; the position needed to be filled urgently to ensure the cases were finished in time.

Alongside this, due to the size and location of the council, there were additional limitations when finding a candidate to fill the role. This included lower payment thresholds in comparison to neighbouring authorities making the role potentially appear less attractive to a candidate.

The Solution:
A long-standing relationship between g2 Recruitment and the client was key to the success of this placement and provided reassurances when searching for the successful candidate.

Through utilising a candidate rich database and having expert knowledge and experience of the local area, the consultant was able to determine who was available.

The consultant possessed expert communication which ensured them a greater understanding of the role, allowing them to filter out candidates who they believed would be suitable.

Initially the client had reservations about the candidate placement due to the chosen candidate being a recent graduate. However, they were reassured that the previously discussed in-house training provided would complement the candidate’s skill set and ensure a successful work placement whilst also presenting a well-timed opportunity.

The Result
Through the success of the initial 6-month work period, a permanent role was offered to the candidate.

The processes used benefitted the client as they were able to assess the candidate thoroughly and determine whether they were fit for future projects whilst also being cost-effective.

The success of this placement ensured Alex and g2’s highly regarded reputation continued when collaborating with the council.

Alongside this, the consultant generated a pipeline of future work through their innovative thinking and smart decision-making skills. Through the adoption of the specified processes g2 Recruitment install, the consultant ensured success when placing for the specified food safety role.

 What the client said:

“I have worked with g2 Recruitment for the past 3 years. I have found the company easy to work with and have had no problems. g2 have always been approachable and understands the needs of my service area and has been able to find exemplary candidates. I would not think twice about using g2 in the future.”

– Regulatory Manager – Stafford Council

The Challenge
Support the development, build and fulfilment of a tri council IT support shared services, with the goal of successfully delivering a considerable Digital Transformation and Automation/Robotics portfolio.

With multiple complex projects and over 2,500 users across numerous offices, this was a considerable undertaking.

Consultancy Option
Capita provide an IT support team with an overarching project management team off site. Weekly site visits, monthly deliverables and complete ownership of the programme would complete the work over 24 months, although going on to host the shared services platform thereafter.

Recruitment Option
Using the existing IT leadership team, build out and directly manage a shared services department with 35 50 contractors onsite to deliver round the clock, hands on support services for the 24 month programme . This team would then slim down to create BAU IT shared services department, with many of the contractors becoming permanent employees.

Recruitment or Consultancy?
As the host of the Shared Service, Brent Borough Council decided to go for the recruitment option through g2. Due to the considerable difference in cost, they could not see enough extra value in the Capita proposal. The ability to directly manage the contractors throughout, and the added benefit to the users of
having an onsite team made the difference.

By pooling the budget from Lewisham and Southwark Borough Councils, the LGA funding was made to go further and used with
greater control. The existing leadership team also benefited from the experience that they gained from running a programme of
this scale.

The end result saw the successful delivery of the Payroll and IT Support Service Automation programme , but also allowed them to take on further projects, such as a 2,500 user laptop rollout, with a well drilled, slimmed down and familiar team that continued to add value beyond the initial project completion. The vast majority of the existing support team are contractors turned employees, meaning all the knowledge gained from completing the project stayed in house, rather than as a case study for a consultancy.

The Recruitment Challenge
Canterbury City Council (CCC) Housing Services team had just lost several experienced and skilled staff due to a reshuffle, so when the g2 Government Recruitment team picked up the vacancies, it was clear the solution needed to focus on these key issues:

• Experience with a specific IT system (Locata) essential
• Huge backlog of cases causing limited interview slots
•  Increased competition for candidates due to proximity

With other agencies providing inadequate Housing Options Officers (HOO’s) and having candidates drop out at the last minute, it was critical that g2 managed the process meticulously.

The Solution:
After a detailed job specification on the phone, our consultant got to work by:

• Reaching out to it’s personal network, built up over 18 years to get a shortlist of expert Locata HOO’s
• Advertising the role on g2’s huge database and multiple job boards
• Spending the weekend calling candidates to get a short list of 25, expert Locata HOO’s

With such an in-depth search, g2 Recruitment provided 3 candidates that were experts with Locata, fully remote workers and offered the ideal solution.

As experts in the sector, we were able to conduct first stage interviews, presented DBS checked candidates and only proposed people that could start immediately.

The Result
g2 quickly placed 1 HOO based in Scotland, the first remote worker in the Housing Team for CCC. Thanks to our sector knowledge, exhaustive approach and good quality candidate relationships, we were able to gain the commitment of candidates that had previously been approached for the role but had turned it down.

g2 then provided three more HOO’s in the following week which allowed CCC to assess 20 more cases a day and get on top of their backlog. This was achieved through exclusive referrals, further expanding their network and finding previously unknown contractors from all over the country.

The Scotland based HOO had an immediate impact and is still deployed to this day with two others from the initial recruitment drive.