120+ permanent roles successfully placed within a five-month period
Flexible recruitment process adapted to ongoing role priorities and the impact of COVID-19 requirements
In December 2019, Orchard HRO was approached by an innovative and forward-thinking Australian manufacturer who was needing to add new production shifts and rapidly increase its permanent workforce.
The company had grown its production function rapidly and had become reliant on a casual workforce that was proving to be ineffective and unreliable. To increase the overall skill level and reduce employee turnover, they took the decision to staff the production function with a permanent workforce and they engaged Orchard HRO to deliver recruitment service as a project.
In January 2020, Orchard HRO worked with the Manufacturing Director and Human Resources team to design a comprehensive selection process that allowed the management team to select each week from a group of “offer ready” candidates.
The overall goal was for managers to hire 8-10 candidates each week from the group of 12 candidates being presented. The timetable was controlled and adjusted based on their capacity for interviewing, onboarding and training new starters.
Innovative candidate sourcing techniques were used to find quality candidates including local employment services, chamber of commerce, university job boards, social media and the Working for Victoria program in addition to traditional online advertising. This enabled a flexible way of finding appropriate candidates as specific role requirements and priorities changed organically over the course of the program.
Candidates were assessed by Orchard via structured telephone screening, 1:1 interviews, online behavioural assessments, background checks and a pre-employment medical. Screening methods used included an Assessment Centre model including manual dexterity testing, and then an entirely online platform (eg Zoom and MS Teams) when the coronavirus pandemic precluded face to face assessments.
We also assisted the client’s management team in moving from face to face to online interviewing practice as the program proceeded.
Over the months of February 2020 to June 2020, the company hired over 120 permanent staff and they have been delighted with the quality of candidates and the efficiency, flexibility and adaptability of the service from Orchard HRO.
If you would like further information on our approach to Recruitment Project engagements, we would be happy to provide the contact details of a referee from our client.