Sourcing #theAteam
Project Overview
Progressive Recruitment Specialists (PRSL), a well-established regional recruitment consultancy, partnered with Ascensos – the world’s leading independent customer management provider, to fill 27 call centre agent positions within a timeline of 8 weeks commencing at the end of March 2023. Using its tried and tested Mass Recruitment Methodology, its extensive online website – www.jobstt.com, and its social media channels, PRSL orchestrated and supported the entire process, including sourcing and screening candidates, conducting multiple levels of interviews, performing background checks and the final hiring.
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Understanding The Client’s Business
Ascensos prides itself on interpersonal skills, technical experience, and teamwork, which are mirrored in its hiring requirements – the ‘soft skills’ are very important. They believe that all customers deserve an exceptional customer experience and believe that #theAteam to support this is born local and grown global. Innovation is a driving force at Ascensos, and the newly recruited call centre agents directly influence the customer service provided by Ascensos, hence affecting the company’s client retention and acquisition strategy. Therefore, all new hires needed to be culturally aligned with this customer service Ethos and hit the ground running as part of the #theAteam.
How We Planned To Achieve It
Our dedicated team, comprising two Recruitment Consultants, a Sales Marketing Support Associate, and our Operations Director, adapted our robust Mass Recruitment strategy. Using our JobsTT.com platform and referrals, we engaged with over 500 interested candidates who were then taken through the various hurdle recruitment steps. We were mindful of the time difference, as the stakeholders were located in various time zones, and by meticulously planning and coordinating, we established meeting timings that respected everyone’s working hours.
Our Recruitment Strategy in Action
We implemented our comprehensive Mass Recruitment strategy that incorporated an in-depth review of resumes, targeted assessments, a three-tier interview process, thorough background checks, reference checks, and a robust programme management instrument shared amongst all parties.
Our focus was to ensure that we identified individuals who not only met the technical requirements but also shared Ascensos’ values and ethos. The metrics and steps in the recruitment funnel are illustrated in Fig 1.
Fig 1
Challenges and Problem Solving
Despite the seamless project execution, time-zone differences posed some initial challenges, especially during coordination for meetings that involved stakeholders from different time zones from TT, Scotland to Romania. This issue was addressed by confirming meeting timings with each attendee based on their respective time zones. This minor hiccup didn’t stall the recruitment process, thanks to PRSL’s effective coordination.
The recruitment process incorporated a detailed English competency assessment, technical/situational interview questions, and role-play scenarios. These steps were designed to evaluate the candidates’ competencies in line with Ascensos’ requirements.
Additionally, due to tight deadlines, PRSL consistently maintained a backup pool of candidates to manage potential dropouts.
Decision Process and Product Impact
A combined effort by Ascensos and PRSL led to the decision on the most suitable recruitment tools and techniques. A job description was provided for the role, and various channels, including JobsTT and social media platforms, were used to attract candidates. Every application was scrutinized in order to shortlist the right candidates.
The selected candidates were expected to significantly impact Ascensos’ business by bolstering their customer service delivery, which is a critical factor in Ascensos’ business model.
We had a unique list of requirements when we approached Progressive to support with our recruitment program. As an international business looking to set up an Office in Trinidad, Pasha Hussain and Carolyn de la Rosa were instantly aware of the great opportunity ahead. We were able to forge a strong partnership and they gave us sound advice, support and guidance throughout the development and ultimately the delivery phase of our project. Once the framework was in place, Wadikee Buckmire, Tricia Coutou and the team stepped in, and worked seamlessly with our own inhouse recruitment team and our local Partner in Trinidad to select the right candidates. This was far from a run of the mill recruitment drive but as a result of the above we managed to bring in an exceptional team to start our new venture in Port of Spain. – Richard King (Program Manager, Ascensos)
Conclusion
The project was successfully executed and 27 Agents were on-boarded in May 2023 – ON TIME within 8 weeks, with minimal dropouts and re-work required. And as we publish this Case Study, Wave 2 is about to be completed at the end of August 2023 with a further 20 new hires. Only upwards and onwards.
This was due in the main to the great synergy between PRSL and Ascensos, their understanding of the required roles, and effective problem-solving strategies. The case study shows the importance of aligning talent acquisition strategies with business goals and adopting best practices to overcome challenges and meet objectives.
