And the winner is............

We are delighted to announce that Changeworknow’s applicant tracking and talent engagement system is an award winner in the 2013 In-House Recruitment Awards.

At the awards dinner in London last week ASK Italian were announced as overall winners in the category “Best Candidate Experience”. This award is in recognition of the outstanding candidate journey and experience that Ask Italian provide for their applicants. The results include:

• Honest and immediate candidate feedback has resulted in an increase in quality of              applicants
• Increase in quality of hires has led to 16% drop in labour turnover resulting in significant overall cost savings
• Reduction in cost per hire saving £20,000 a year
• Excellent feedback from internal managers with comments such as “we are consistently seeing great people who have the ASK personality, passion and energy”

The award also recognises Changeworknow’s commitment to the candidate journey and experience. A fundamental philosophy of the Changeworknow approach is providing an outstanding candidate experience and we are delighted that we have been able to support ASK Italian with their award winning candidate experience.

Lisa Proctor, Chief Marketing Officer explains: “This is a fantastic achievement. We have worked with ASK Italian for 18 months and this award is in recognition of the great results that are being achieved. Attracting, engaging, selecting and securing people who are “stuffed full of the ASK factor” is critical so that the business can deliver their unique service proposition and business strategy. With many applicants being potential customers it is paramount that the whole candidate experience is first class regardless of the outcome for the candidate. ASK Italian have achieved this”

We are delighted that our work with Ask Italian has been recognised in these industry awards and well done to everyone involved!

ASK Italian's Steve Homes, MD and Jane Bonbernard, HR Director with the award at the dinner.

Center Parcs Implement a New Applicant Tracking System Powered by Changeworknow

We are delighted to announce another new client implementation this month. Center Parcs has launched a brand new applicant tracking solution powered by Changeworknow. Delivering excellent customer service to guests is an integral part of the Center Parcs experience and this means ensuring that people are recruited with the right skills and attitude. With a high profile new village opening in 2014 it was essential to put in place a robust and reputable system to support the recruitment for Woburn and Changeworknow were selected because of their expertise in helping organisations provide an excellent and consistent candidate experience that engages candidates with the brand and values of the organisation.

 

Center Parcs needed to replace their existing ATS system with something more modern, agile and fit for purpose. With over 95% occupancy rate there is a constant need to recruit to ensure that villages are fully staffed with employees having the right skills to deliver excellent customer service. Their volume recruitment will be efficiently handled through the use of extensive screening questionnaires to reduce the quantity but increase the quality and “fit” of applicants supported by Changeworknow’s modern and extremely flexible award winning applicant tracking solution.

 

Lisa Proctor, Sales and Marketing Director of Changeworknow explains: “The Center Parcs implementation is an example of a trend we are seeing in the market where organisations have been using an ATS for a few years which is no longer fit for purpose. Changeworknow’s solution is one of the most flexible and modern solutions on the market and has the ability and flexibility to change as businesses change. Center Parcs will quickly reap the rewards of implementing a solution that gives full visibility of all recruitment activity whilst focusing on a first rate candidate experience from the moment of application through to hire. We are looking forward to a long term partnership with the organisation”.

 

To see the new solution in action please visit http://www.centerparcscareers.co.uk/

 

Metro Bank Launch Applicant Tracking Solution provided by Changeworknow

We are delighted to announe that Metro Bank, Britain’s first new High Street bank in over 100 years has launched an applicant tracking solution developed by Changeworknow. With a unique and customer focused approach to banking Metro are revolutionising the high street by offering simpler and more convenient banking for its growing customer base. With a bold new store opening strategy Metro is introducing a best of breed recruitment technology solution to provide a fantastic candidate experience which is aligned with the brand and values of the organisation.

The solution will help to identify applicants who have a passion for customer service, who can surprise and delight the customers and provide unparalleled service, all essential attributes for working in Store at Metro Bank.

Lisa Proctor, Sales and Marketing Director of Changeworknow explains “Metro Bank are a fast growing high street brand and were looking for a solution that would be flexible enough to support a fast growing company. Brand is vitally important to the organisation so choosing a system that would enable the business to fully reflect the brand throughout the whole online recruitment process was an essential factor in selecting Changeworknow. The new technology will focus on giving a first rate experience for everyone applying. By choosing Changeworknow as a partner they are getting a solution that is totally fit for purpose”.

Metro Bank are one of the latest fast growing organisations to implement Changeworknow’s award winning approach and solution. They join Jamie Oliver Group, Gordon Ramsay Holdings and Ask Italian who have all launched a system in the past year.  To see the new solution in action please visit https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/Careers/

The Value-able Organisation: Breakfast Event January 2013

Changeworknow are delighted to announce that we are co-hosting and speaking at a breakfast event specifically for HR professionals who are passionate about bringing values to life. A key element of this event will be looking at how organisations are successfully incorporating values into the recruitment process with a particular emphasis on how technology can help with this.  

The event features  four speakers sharing inspirational stories and examples about values and their incorporation into HR processes.  

A sneak preview of the speaker line up:

• Keri Jones, Resourcing Manager ASK Italian: Case Study: Recruiting People with the ASK factor
• Lesley Nash, CEO, Changeworknow, Using technology to recruit in line with values
• Jessican Mann, Global VP for Communications, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Case Study: Communication Strategies to engage employees with the values
• Alan Sears, Director, Vybrant, Beyond Engagement: how todays' companies use values to drive the new world of work

When:                 Friday 25th January 2013
Time: 8.30 to 11.30am
Where:              The Museum of Brands, Notting Hill, London

For more information or to find out how to book a place please contact marketing@changeworknow.co.uk

Creiff Hydro selects Changeworknow's Applicant Tracking Solution

We are delighted to announce that Scotland’s leading leisure resort Crieff Hydro Hotel has selected Changeworknow to provide a cloud recruitment solution for their leading four star facility in Perthshire, Scotland. With over 200 bedrooms, 50 self catering properties and extensive leisure and conference facilities the hotel is constantly looking for talented individuals.

With the recent focus on the development of a people strategy together with a culture change programme Changeworknow have been brought in to provide technology that provides an excellent and consistent experience and that engages applicants with the Crieff Hydro brand and values. Equally important is an applicant tracking system that will reduce the administration time of the HR team through streamlining the whole process.
 
Lisa Proctor, Sales and Marketing Director of Changeworknow comments, “Crieff Hydro have selected Changeworknow for their expertise in providing online recruitment solutions within the hospitality sector. Our unique award winning approach will ensure that candidates get a four star experience which reflects the brand through a highly interactive application process”
 
The new system will go live early in the summer.

Changeworknow partners with The Dune Group

We are delighted to welcome a new client to our growing portofilio of UK brands. Today we start work to develop a first class online recruitment solution specifically tailored to the needs of The Dune Group.  With over 200 outlets they will be the latest organisation to benefit from one of the most innovative cloud based recruitment systems on the market.  Exciting times and another good news Friday in the Changeworknow office!

Jamie Oliver Group Selects Changeworknow's Applicant Tracking Solution

Changeworknow’s reputation as the partner of choice for entrepreneurial, fast growing brands continues to gather speed with the announcement that the Jamie Oliver Group has chosen the award winning company to provide a recruitment management system for its growing business.

The Jamie Oliver Group of restaurants has some ambitious growth plans for its variety of Restaurant Brands and is attracting significant volumes of interested applicants who want to work for the passionate and accessible founder.

 

With a stable of brands ranging from Jamie’s Italian, to Union Jacks and Fifteen, along with a cookery school venture the organisation was looking for a partner with the expertise to provide on online recruitment system that could differentiate the individual brand personalities and give candidates a brand specific, meaningful and relevant online experience.

Head of Client Services, Sharon Wilson, who is responsible for the implementation says “In entrepreneurial organisations the recruitment teams are usually small and rushed off their feet as growth overtakes them.  Our solution is ideal for Jamies’ as it will provide good quality criteria based questionnaires to sift and reduce volume while giving candidates a genuine and honest experience, which is really important to the business”

The award winning online recruitment system, from Changeworknow uses some of the most modern design in the industry and is becoming well known for the ease with which is can scale up and flex for fast growing organisations. To see the solution in practice please click here.

Changeworknow grows market share in Cloud Based Recruitment with Ryman and Boux Avenue

Changeworknow is delighted to announce that two new high street brands have chosen to implement its award winning cloud based applicant tracking solution.

Ryman, the nation’s high street stationary specialist and famous for its customer service, and Boux Avenue a sparkling new lingerie brand that is a growing force both on line and in the high street have selected Changeworknow for the brand enhancing candidate experience the online process provides, and for the leading edge technology of the ATS. The systems will support both organisations in their goal to continue to provide the best possible customer experience by recruiting the best possible people.

 
Sharon Wilson, Head of Client Services says, “It’s important for both organisations that their online recruitment system can not only help them to hire great candidates but also to begin to establish and build on their employer brand.  Changeworknow’s candidate centric approach and ability to brand the system and overall experience in line with client’s requirements will be fundamental in achieving this”.
 

With an unrivalled reputation for leading edge technology, flexibility, scalability and understanding customer needs Changeworknow are providing both businesses with an online solution that will revolutionise the recruitment experience.

The new new online recruitment systems can be  seen at www.ryman.co.uk/careers and www.bouxavenue.com/about/careers

Wagamama selects Changeworknow for a positive online recruitment experience

Wagamama the fast growing restaurant with an attitude for positive eating and living has selected Changeworknow, the online recruitment specialists as its ATS partner to guarantee that candidates receive a positive and brand engaging recruitment experience.

Selected for its outstanding track record in providing a great candidate experience and a highly efficient and user friendly applicant tracking system Changeworknow’s solution will enable Wagamama to provide a first class experience for  all candidates throughout the process and hire talented people who are passionate about their jobs.

Chris Raaff, Recruitment Manager at Wagamama explains: “With such growth plans for the business we were looking for a recruitment partner to support us on our journey and provide a candidate management system that can be adapted around the very specific needs of our business. Key for us is the ability to creatively provide an online process that is engaging and clearly communicates Wagamama values throughout the recruitment experience to potential employees. Changeworknow are providing innovative technology that is going to transform the recruitment process for us and ensure our candidates are left with a positive impression of wagamama, regardless of the outcome of their application.”

Changeworknow’s new cloud based on line resourcing and talent platform incorporates some of the most innovative functionality of any solution on the market today and is already providing substantial benefits for both recruiters and candidates. Wagamama are the latest organisation to benefit from this offering and in doing so join Changeworknow’s growing portfolio of high street brands.

To see the new system in action please visit www.wagamamajobs.co.uk 

Innovative hotel brand launches innovative recruitment technology

Mint Hotel, the dynamic and innovative city hotel brand are the latest organisation to adopt Changeworknow’s award winning  cloud based applicant tracking system. Having worked with Changeworknow since 2007 and achieved great results to date the organisation, formerly known as City Inn, decided to migrate to the new technology platform that Changeworknow launched last year. The new solution which incorporates the new hotel branding and look and feel will bring greater benefits to both users and candidates.

Mint Hotel is a company that is committed to innovation so has readily embraced the innovative new approach with built in capability such as social media integration and an enhanced candidate experience. The new system will continue to support the hotel as it continues its expansion both in the UK and internationally.

To see the system in action click here

New season and new clients

The summer has been a busy time at Changeworknow. The majority of the HR community may well have been taking a well earned sunshine break but the team here have been hard at work delivering solutions for new clients.

In July we launched a solution for the UK arm of the global pharmaceutical company Daiichi-Sankyo. Our highly agile project process meant that the system was delivered in just eight days from start to finish! This was the record for delivering a new system, the previous being held by PizzaExpress at 4 weeks.

In August we launched an online recruitment solution for the luxury online fashion retailer, NET-A-PORTER. With a strapline "fashion at your fingertips" the NET-A-PORTER recruitment team now have "recruitment at their fingertips". And the exciting aspect of this project is the global element with our award winning technology now being used in USA.

And more exciting news. We have added yet another high street brand to our ever expanding client portfolio. Changeworknow are partnering with Wagamamas to support them with their extensive growth plans and we will be launching the new system in the Autumn. Particularly exciting as this is a favourite brand of one or two or our people so you can rest assured that we will be visiting our local Wagamama's to celebrate the launch in due course!

Sainsbury’s Launch New Online Recruitment and Talent Acquisition System

Sainsbury’s has launched a new online recruitment and talent acquisition solution for all vacancies within the Store Support Centre. Working with online recruitment solutions experts Changeworknow the online system is Changeworknow’s brand new award winning platform launched at the back end of 2010.

The new system features the latest and most advanced technologies on the market and will enable Sainsbury’s not only to drive down agency costs but create greater efficiencies in the recruitment process with features such as tag clouding, activity prioritisation cues and extensive use of tooltip for a much improved recruiter and manager experience.

The system also incorporates a bespoke situational and judgement assessment for all store support roles as well as third party psychometric testing integration within the recruitment process.

Lisa Proctor, Sales and Marketing Director, explains “This new system has been designed to give recruiters and managers significantly more efficiencies in how applicants are managed and communicated with. The system interface is highly intuitive and challenges all the existing paradigms of how a traditional applicant tracking system should be used. The extensive talent pooling capability will ensure that Sainsbury’s provide a great service to all applicants that show potential for future roles which will eventually drive down any reliance on agencies”.

Recruiting the right people gains customer approval for Waterstones Booksellers

We were thrilled to see that Waterstones currently tops the leader board on the Mary Portas Secret Shopper List of ‘The Best Shops in Britain’. Based on an aggregate score of comments left by real customers it’s clear to see that employees at Waterstones really know how to deliver brand enhancing customer service.

How do they do it? Their starting point is to recruit and select the best people and they pay close attention to something often overlooked in recruitment: fit for the job ie will candidates love doing what the job requires of them. For Waterstones that means living their hugely customer service oriented values.

With help from Changeworknow, their online recruitment process has been custom designed to help candidates assess themselves against the important skills needed to do the job AND those all important behaviours or motivations.

Anyone may be able to operate a cash register; but not everyone does it with a genuine smile, a passion for the product and a sense of satisfaction that the customer has got what they want.

By having on online process that highlights those candidates who are a good fit against skills AND motivations, the quality of hires has really improved and it’s the customer’s who are benefitting and going out of their way to vote them number one!

Now that’s got to be good for business.

Zizzi's selects Changeworknow to put Passion into Online Recruitment

Zizzi, the restaurant chain known for hiring people that ‘love what they do’ has selected online recruitment specialists Changeworknow to launch an online recruitment process that will help it to bring people in to the business that have a love for food, service and customers.

Selected for their passion and commitment to providing a great candidate experience and a highly efficient and user friendly applicant tracking system Changeworknow’s solution will enable Zizzi to provide a high touch approach to all candidates throughout the process and hire talented people who are passionate about their jobs. The first phase of the implementation is for management recruitment with team member planned to launch in the new year.

Changeworknow’s new on line resourcing and talent platform incorporates some of the most innovative functionality of any solution on the market today and is already providing substantial benefits for both recruiters and candidates. Zizzi’s are the latest organisation to benefit from this offering and in doing so join Changeworknow’s growing portfolio of blue chip clients.

To see the new system in action please click here

PizzaExpress yourself!

Everyone at Changeworknow is delighted to be working with PizzaExpress as they launch their new restaurant in Richmond. We began a partnership with them in July to develop an online recruitment system and so far the key highlights include:

• Delivering the system from start to finish in just 4 weeks
• 500 applications in the first week alone
• Just over 1000 applications received for this one restaurant including applications from fire eaters, jugglers and ballerinas (this must be down to the creative and quirky attraction strategy in place!)
• Restaurant fully staffed and opened last week
  

We like to support our clients here at Changeworknow so last week we ordered pizza take away for our company meeting - PizzaExpress of course (although we will have a dilemma next week when Zizzi go live with their online recruitment system!)

The next step will be management recruitment online. However before that some of us here in the office are really hoping for a visit to the new restaurant to be "flirted with" and to see what all the hype is about. Watch this space!

High Street Agencies - their new role

Lesley Nash, MD, contributes to an article in this months ONREC magazine. She discusses how the role of the high street recruitment agencies is changing in today's recruitment landscape.

http://tiny.cc/j7cfw

Barratt Homes build dream workforce

Recent press coverage about Barratt Homes discovering the ideal time to build their dream workforce http://tiny.cc/52lnj