We worked on TfL’s entry-level talent employer brand and attraction activity to recruit a higher proportion of female and BAME applicants.
TfL values the importance of diversity and inclusion. Being representative of London is something their success is measured on, and the same standards apply to their apprenticeship and graduate schemes.
These schemes had proven successful in the volume of applications received but weren’t reaching talent from all walks of life – TfL needed a diverse pipeline that truly represented modern London. It was time to rethink their entire student attraction activity.
SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS
- CREATED A NEW DIVERSITY-CENTRED EMPLOYMENT BRAND.
- DEVISED NEW OUTREACH PROGRAMMES TO APPEAL TO WIDER DEMOGRAPHICS.
- REDESIGNED RECRUITMENT AND ASSESSMENT PROCESSES TO HELP FEMALE AND BAME CANDIDATES BETTER SHOW WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY’RE CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING.
SCOPE AND SCALE
London’s population is projected to reach 10.5 million by 2041, and naturally TfL play a major role in contributing to London’s growth. Supporting this growth means recruiting, retaining, and developing a next-generation workforce but also giving Londoners a chance to take part in the design of their city.
SITUATION
TfL needed to recruit 32 graduate roles, five placements, and 109 apprenticeships. Our primary objective was to champion these fantastic opportunities to a broader apprentice and graduate talent pool in order to increase female and BAME applicants. To achieve this, we needed to challenge stereotypes and overcome negative perceptions. That meant not only changing TfL’s attraction and assessment processes but overhauling their entry-level employer brand as well.
SOLUTION
A NEW BRAND TO MAKE BETTER CONNECTIONS
Together, we transformed the way TfL recruit diverse talent. Ensuring skilled people from all walks of life have a chance to shine in the application and assessment process, our creative team used their audience knowledge to build a dynamic unexpected youth brand, ‘The Next Move’, designed to better connect with female and BAME applicants. We then shaped
a comprehensive outreach programme and a completely new assessment process with the aim of helping these candidates show TfL who they are and what they’re truly made of.
ENABLING CANDIDATES TO SUCCEED IN ASSESSMENT CENTRES
From experience, we know that young people often need to build their confidence by filling gaps in their knowledge. To address this, we created ‘Route-into-Work’, a pre-employment programme for all candidates, that would help them succeed in assessment centres – and the results were astounding.
A MORE TARGETED APPROACH We also targeted universities with higher rates of female and BAME students, rather than promoting opportunities at all UK universities.
RESULTS
We achieved amazing results with the graduate recruitment campaign, comfortably filling all of the roles.
DOUBLE THE PERCENTAGE OF BAME GRADUATE HIRES
Most importantly we doubled the percentage
of BAME graduates from 27% to 54%, and we substantially grew the proportion of female hires from 18% to 29%.
GROWING FEMALE APPRENTICE HIRES BY 16%
Similarly strong results were achieved in the apprentice pool, as we dramatically grew the proportion of female hires from 20% to 36%,
The Route-into-Work programme delivered 9% of the apprenticeship hires (12 individuals), of which 33% were female and 67% were BAME.
