Our Manchester United RPO: Inside the business of football

Our Manchester United RPO: Inside the business of football

by | Jun 17, 2021

Our Manchester United RPO: Inside the business of football

Find out how our Manchester United RPO enables one of the world’s most iconic brands to be the best both on and off the pitch.

Beyond its superstar players lies a vast network of talented people who navigate the complexity of the Manchester United business model and the sheer scale of its operations to enable the club to continue delivering the true magic of the beautiful game and reaching millions of people around the globe…

manchester united RPO

The challenge

Making this happen requires a talent partner so intrinsically linked that it blurs the lines between ‘them and us’ creating one united team. Their mantra is to attract, develop and retain a best-in-class workforce that sits behind the scenes and sets the club apart from its competition.

Manchester United’s retained talent partner, RP01 – the Morson Group’s recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) delivery arm – needed to focus on developing the club’s employer brand, creating streamlined candidate journeys, evolving ED&I agendas and developing behavioural frameworks, all whilst delivering the plethora of diverse skills that the business requires.

The Club also needed a partner who could support them through and intense period of change as they adapt to a new helix model of reporting and new operating models.

The solution

RP01 recruit for the full suite of roles available at Manchester United, from sports science roles and player care roles  that unique to football, to the Sponsor Servicing team that activate global partnerships. We also recruit for operational roles that enable successful matchday and tour experiences, core head office roles, commercial development, strategy and many more. The team cover recruitment at every level from interns right through to executive level hires.

“You’ll struggle to find someone who doesn’t know the club’s name, yet what is a blessing can often be a barrier to those who don’t realise the huge infrastructure around the team. You don’t need to be an avid football fan to work at Manchester United; it’s our mission to recruit the best talent for the role. However, you can’t help but support the team, just as you would with any business you work for!

 

We’ve recruited physios, software programmers, coaches, partnership leads, social media specialists, goalkeeping scouts, football analysts, fundraising executives and groundsmen. We’ve even recruited two seat fixers to maintain the 75,000 seats within Old Trafford.

 

Understanding the nuances of every role has been critical to our success. From day one, our mission was to build mutually beneficial relationships across the entire business, not just with HR business partners and hiring managers, to understand how this unique puzzle pieces together. Hiring managers now come to us with every role, which is testament to the trust and autonomy of our relationships and having spent the time to get under the skin of the football industry.” 

Being fully integrated into the People function allows us to understand the Club’s needs and tailor RP01’s service to meet these. We provide additional candidate attraction tools to access the widest possible range of potential applicants. Introducing video interviews at the initial stage of the process allows for efficient shortlisting to find the best candidates and bring their CVS’s to life.

To ensure that we are providing an excellent service, we also regularly seek feedback from hiring managers via surveys to ensure that we continuously improving our service. Our Head of Candidate experience is focused on optimising the end-to-end hiring process for candidates, introducing digital products, enhanced communications, feedback surveys and an enhanced induction process. This ensured a positive and fair experience for each and every candidate regardless of the outcome.

We have also introduced Manchester United to our Morson Screening service, which has enabled a streamlined and integrated hiring and screening service, providing consistency for both hiring managers and pending employees.

Results

RP01 have a direct fill rate of over 90%, but more than that we have created a strong relationship whereby Manchester United trust RP01 with highly confidential projects. RP01 are encouraging and promoting hiring managers to keep workforce diversity at the forefront of everything that they do, empowering them to think about the validity of the requirements they have and challenging the ‘this is the way we’ve always done it’ mentality. We would not be able to have this impact if we hadn’t built a trusting and equal partnership with the brand.

Sarah McGuire, head of talent development and resourcing at Manchester United, added:

We’ve been focused as a team to build relationships and centralise the talent function within the club, all whilst demonstrating our expertise and credentials by delivering a consistently excellent service that helped engage those within the club who didn’t necessarily understand the role of our partnership at the outset. RPO1 live and breathe the club’s brand and are our colleagues.

This RPO has enabled us to work on developing a first-class recruitment service at the club, which also allows us to focus on the complete talent journey. Having tasked the RPO1 team to quickly fill a backlog of roles, combat costly agency fees and deliver value for money from day one, we’re now focused on adding layers to our partnership and building on this great foundation by developing the club’s employer brand.

 

Football is king, which naturally garners the club’s priority focus and investment, but we’re now broadening our scope and taking our employer brand out to market by focusing on elevating candidate experiences, digitising the recruitment journey, proactively taking steps to continue diversifying our workforce, and building future-focussed pipelines of early talent at grass roots level. We’re adding value throughout the entire talent journey by working with hiring managers to attract the right people for long-term careers with the club and sharing the stories of our exceptional talent that sit behind the scenes.

We’ve been supporting organisations, like Manchester United, for more than 50 years in sourcing the very best talent, overcoming their recruitment challenges and capitalising on new opportunities with innovative talent solutions.

If you would like to find out more about our RPO solution provided by RP01 and how we can help your organisation transform through talent, get in touch with our RP01 director Sam Price, at sam.price@morson.com or visit www.rpo-one.com

J Murphy and Sons: the power of having full visibility of the contractor workforce

J Murphy and Sons: the power of having full visibility of the contractor workforce

by | May 14, 2021

J Murphy and Sons: the power of having full visibility of the contractor workforce

“Our relationship with Morson is a true partnership; we work in tandem together to overcome the recruitment challenges our business faces.”

“Morson show such willingness to understand our briefs, down to the finest detail, and advise us correctly on how to approach our varying recruitment needs. Since working together, we’ve welcomed higher quality candidates into our ranks, have a streamlined process and have made major time and cost savings.” – Ian Holcroft, procurement director for Murphy

Continually in need of the industry’s most skilled labour to support its own teams and meet sophisticated specifications for projects across rail, energy, natural resources and other sectors, J Murphy and Sons required greater control over its contractor workforce to achieve costs savings and improved governance. Having never had a dedicated contingent recruitment partner in place and regularly spending millions of pounds a year on hiring, it went out to tender to source an expert that could create a more efficient strategy.

Process overhaul

Overseen by its procurement team and supported by the rest of the business, a selection of recruitment providers were invited to tender for a two-year contract with Murphy. Specifically, Murphy was looking to interface with a technical specialist who truly understood the objectives and particular skillsets required for each of its available roles.

With extensive experience in engineering, construction, rail, highways, and other technical industries, Morson Talent acts at a strategic level to understand a business’ overarching objectives so that it can deliver suitable skillsets from a talent perspective. Doing so avoids rogue spend, and by providing a dedicated point of contact, clients achieve increased control in the hiring process and improved visibility from their recruitment partner. Demonstrating this, and having access to the industry’s best candidates, Morson was appointed to the role as a managed service provider (MSP).

 

Tangible success

Over the last two years, the partnership has prospered to the extent Morson’s recruitment provision has contributed to Murphy’s delivery, growth and success in the market.

Charlotte Mainwaring, client services manager for Morson Talent, who works as lead for the partnership with Murphy, said:

“The insights we provide to Murphy, especially around candidate attraction, go into shaping how they win work. We understand the most intricate details about their field and work proactively to mitigate the industry’s skills shortage by building a talent pipeline that aligns with Murphy’s bid pipeline, to ensure we’re agile and able to react quickly. This enables Murphy to see the true value in what we do – even when it’s experiencing peaks in demand, there is suitable, specialist talent available.

 

“We’ve worked hard to build close relations with Murphy’s hiring managers and today, our relationship runs through the veins of the company. Every hiring manager knows our dedicated team on a first name basis, and while I represent Morson, I feel very much part of Murphy’s team. I’m the connection between the client and Morson’s consultants who know the account inside out, and we all work together to achieve success.”

Ian Holcroft, procurement director for Murphy, said:

“Our relationship with Morson is a true partnership; we work in tandem together to overcome the recruitment challenges our business faces.

 

“Morson demonstrated from the start of the implementation phase how hands-on they are and since then, they have provided high quality people to suit our contingent needs. We’re connected with people at every level of Morson’s organisation – from company directors through to managers and the admin teams, meaning that no matter our question, it gets answered.

 

“Morson show such willingness to understand our briefs, down to the finest detail, and advise us correctly on how to approach our varying recruitment needs. Since working together, we’ve welcomed higher quality candidates into our ranks, have a streamlined process and have made major time and cost savings.”

 

Murphy’s future needs

Originally appointing Morson on a two-year contract, Murphy has recently extended its partnership to further leverage the success of the strategic relationship, generate continued cost savings and seek ongoing support concerning future regulatory hurdles.

Continuing its work with Morson will enable Murphy to retain the critical levels of operational knowledge Morson has developed over the last two years and will minimise disruption to its now improved recruitment processes. Morson will continue to work as a collaborative partner, managing risk and providing full visibility throughout the contingency supply while continuing to build on this flourishing relationship.

 

​If you would like to find out more about our MSP solution and how we can help your organisation cost save, continuously improve, and transform through talent, get in touch with Morson MSP director, David Lynchehaun at david.lynchehaun@morson.com
j murphy and sons logo

MORSON SERVICE HIGHLIGHTS

  • Increased control in the hiring process
  • Extensive experience in engineering, construction, rail, highways
  • Agile talent pipelines which align with Murphy’s bid pipeline
  • Close, strategic relationship with hiring managers
  • Continued cost savings

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Atlas Elektronik UK: Transforming recruitment, inspiring strategic decisions

Atlas Elektronik UK: Transforming recruitment, inspiring strategic decisions

by | May 12, 2021

Atlas Elektronik UK: Transforming recruitment, inspiring strategic decisions

“From the moment Morson won the tender, you could tell their implementation plan was unlike anything else. The team was brilliant in terms of engaging our entire business with its strategy, while its processes were slick, agile and professional.” – Lisa Bowyer, Head of HR at AEUK

Until they partnered with Morson, Atlas Elektronik UK (AEUK) worked with up to 40 different local recruitment agencies. The defence and maritime high-technology enterprise was in regular need of niche skillsets to add to its ever-expanding workforce. Recruitment was key to its ongoing success, but the complex system in place needed improving.

Our appointment as a single supplier has supported AEUK with recruitment cost savings, supplied candidates with the expertise and the cultural compatibility to thrive, and provided an agile system that could quickly and effectively adapt and continue in the face of a pandemic. The partnership has transformed the recruitment process, but also inspired countless strategic decisions to further grow the business.

 

A new approach

As the company was embarking on an ambitious growth strategy, AEUK was in need of support from a single supplier in order to cut costs and increase efficiency. The tender process began to find a preferred supplier who could find suitable candidates with excellent culture fit.

Morson’s appointment would provide a more streamlined service and a strong, consistent relationship with AEUK, ensuring that future recruits were aligned to the business’ objectives, values and long-term ambitions.

With extensive knowledge of the maritime and defence industries forged over many years of working with clients in the field, we have established an enviable candidate network for the sector, enabling us to tap into the best talent available.

Able to resource extremely niche and otherwise difficult to fill roles around the UK, our knowledge of the market, its developments and trends also ensured we could help futureproof AEUK. Using various technology platforms, we set about implementing and expediting the recruitment processes with speed and agility.

Our innovative candidate attraction process, implemented using the Morson Digital Studio, utilises bespoke microsites, employer value proposition and branding development. This sees AEUK positioned as an employer of choice in its sector, making it first choice for suitable talent.

 

Working in partnership

From the very onset of the partnership, AEUK was supplied a dedicated Account Manager who works on site, in Dorset, acting as an in-house hiring manager but with the requisite duties of an external supplier.

Systems have been implemented that automate several elements of the process; AEUK simply approves a role requirement before handing the entire process to us. AEUK’s Account Manager briefs relevant, specialist teams about the role and niche skillsets required, after which we feedback with suitable candidates.

We have developed a true picture of the business, meaning the entire hiring process has become more efficient and tailored to AEUK’s needs. For example, a bespoke ATS system has been put in place to manage the entire recruitment journey from CV submission through to interview, negotiation and onboarding. Acting as a one-stop-shop for AEUK’s entire recruitment process and talent strategy.

Additionally, we are in contact with, and act as lead contact for, several second-tier suppliers. We issue briefs directly to them for particular roles that fall outside of our candidate database. While previously these companies couldn’t offer AEUK the sizeable, scalable recruitment service it required, their offerings have still proven valuable and can now be much more easily integrated into the recruitment process with us acting as the main contact.

Fully embedded in the business, the AEUK Account Manager goes well beyond their formal scope, taking on several duties that typically only come with being a full-time employee. For example, setting up interview rooms, ensuring relevant paperwork is made available to HR and greeting people on arrival for interview.

Throughout the pandemic, with AEUK continuing to operate as manufacturers of key defence outputs and investment to ensure facilities were COVID-19 secure, it was business as usual. We implemented remote interview technologies and online hiring practices, which achieved the same levels of efficiency as the previous, face to face processes.

 

Delivering results

Lisa Bowyer, Head of HR at AEUK said:

“From the moment Morson won the tender, you could tell their implementation plan was unlike anything else.”

 

“The team was brilliant in terms of engaging our entire business with its strategy, while its processes were slick, agile and professional. Within a matter of weeks, they had got to know our business, how we worked and knew exactly what we needed from our recruitment in the short-term and long-term to achieve our goals.

Moving forwards, they will become a key strategic partner of ours, involved in the decision making about our next steps. That’s where we’re going, together.”

The strategic partnership has significantly reduced time to hire and by working with a single supplier, AEUK has slashed the administrative burden of recruitment. More than that, however, we support AEUK to provide the best candidate experience possible, arming them with a proposition that has seen them build up a team that’s the best in the industry.

 

​If you would like to find out more about our MSP solution and how we can help your organisation cost save, continuously improve, and transform through talent, get in touch with Morson MSP director, David Lynchehaun at david.lynchehaun@morson.com

MORSON SERVICE HIGHLIGHTS

  • Significantly reduced time to hire
  • Slashed the administrative burden of recruitment
  • Bespoke ATS system

  • Innovative candidate attraction process, providing the best candidate experience to build team that’s the best in the industry
  • Lead contact for several second-tier suppliers

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Costain: Smart recruitment for smart infrastructure

Costain: Smart recruitment for smart infrastructure

by | Apr 27, 2021

Costain: Smart recruitment for smart infrastructure

Costain, the smart infrastructure solutions company, has used the Morson Group as its talent partner for well over a decade, benefitting from our extensive candidate reach and proven business improvement processes.

“The quality of their people is paramount, and they leave no stone unturned. We require specific engineering disciplines and operational skills, which are always delivered. Morson is transparent in its reporting, always open and honest about its results, which have been consistently strong in our time working together.

Morson is viewed as part of Costain, because the team is driven to go above and beyond their remit, supporting us to achieve our own objectives.”

– Richard Howell, head of supply chain at Costain

Costain, the smart infrastructure solutions company, has used the Morson Group as its talent partner for well over a decade, benefitting from our extensive candidate reach and proven business improvement processes.

 

A dedicated division

Having developed a dedicated, 20+ strong Costain recruitment team at the start of our relationship, we have been able to truly align with the business’ disciplines, implementing a four-step process which ensures the firm can meet its objectives to budget, and on time, for every project.

As part of our vacancy approval service, we delve into Costain’s future, flexible workforce needs, then talent pool candidates ahead of the approval process, to deliver a more efficient talent solution. For new requirements, we work with Costain’s discipline leads to understand all elements of the roles available, ensuring contractors are delivered with the right experience, qualifications and skills.

Equality and diversity are the foundations of our candidate attraction and recruitment processes. We support Costain to write job adverts that are inclusive and encouraging of all qualified candidates to apply so that no implied barriers exist. During the hiring process, we provide a 3:1 or better CV to interview ratio.

We act to time-bound performance targets to ensure a consistent candidate and hiring manager journey throughout, while our onboarding and time capture programme is digitally optimised. Through our contractor care team and online timesheet solution, we provide all Costain hiring managers and contractors with a dedicated point of contact whilst retaining a fully auditable log of compliance and hours.

 

Covid considerations

In March 2020, Costain temporarily paused some of its operations at the very start of the Coronavirus pandemic. We adapted our delivery rapidly but effectively in order to ensure it could continue operations, keeping its contractor workforce updated on process and policy changes as they emerged.

In line with new legislation, we implemented a ‘Covid-19 Support Hub’ for Costain, arming its permanent team, as well as its contingent labour, with support as the world around them continued to change.

As well as offering advice on workplace safety audits, flexible workforce solutions and providing interim HR support, the hub also shared advice on maintaining physical and mental wellbeing through a seriously challenging period of time, and as sites became operational once more.

While Covid-19 enforced an alternative way of working throughout 2020 and into 2021, we are committed to achieving the same outstanding levels of service we have for Costain across our previous years working together.

 

An ongoing commitment

Throughout our partnership, our dedicated talent team has filled more than 2,000 contractor roles on schemes, our robust delivery has seen us achieve 98% of KPIs, and we’ve achieved significant cost savings via our commercial and strategic recruitment model.

Richard Howell, head of supply chain at Costain, said:

Having developed a dedicated, 20+ strong Costain recruitment team at the start of our relationship, we have been able to truly align with the business’ disciplines, implementing a four-step process which ensures the firm can meet its objectives to budget, and on time, for every project. Morson’s partnership is one of our more strategic relationships; it’s collaborative, integrated and highly effective. The team is client focused, has an in-depth understanding of the markets we’re involved in – and those we want to enter in the future – and how we operate, and can anticipate our needs and support them through to fruition.

 

“The quality of their people is paramount, and they leave no stone unturned. We require specific engineering disciplines and operational skills, which are always delivered. Morson is transparent in its reporting, always open and honest about its results, which have been consistently strong in our time working together.

 

“Morson is viewed as part of Costain, because the team is driven to go above and beyond their remit, supporting us to achieve our own objectives.”

​

​If you would like to find out more about our MSP solution and how we can help your organisation cost save, continuously improve, and transform through talent, get in touch with Morson director, David Lynchehaun at david.lynchehaun@morson.com

MORSON SERVICE HIGHLIGHTS

  • 20+ strong Costain recruitment team
  • Equality and diversity are the foundations of our candidate attraction and recruitment process
  • Time-bound performance targets
  • Genuine strategic relationship
  • 3:1 or better CV to interview ratio

READ NEXT…

Sir Robert McAlpine: Our strategic MSP partnership

Sir Robert McAlpine: Our strategic MSP partnership

by | Apr 15, 2021

Sir Robert McAlpine: Our strategic MSP partnership

​Over the last four years, we’ve been able to support Sir Robert McAlpine (SRM) to develop a fully integrated service model that has enabled them to have full control over the contingent workforce they rely upon across their sites. As Coronavirus hit the UK, we adapted our delivery to ensure the business could remain operational against a truly unforeseen challenge, bringing the value behind our strategic partnership into the spotlight.

Morson partnered with Sir Robert McAlpine in 2017 to develop a fully integrated service model, managing the complete supply chain to ensure SRM benefitted from the best available talent on the market.

By working closely alongside SRM as a true MSP resourcing partner, we were able to develop insight into its project pipeline, which we utilised to extract highly skilled talent from our network within the built environment to effectively set up relevant talent pools for upcoming ventures. These individuals were mobilised seamlessly, from introduction to appointment, within very short timeframes.

Our national infrastructure made us best placed to support SRM in this way, given its needs to quickly dispatch individuals to its sites up and down the country. Through our tailored services, we were able to deliver leading talent, financial control, quality and innovation unlike anything SRM had experienced previously.

However, in 2020, our focus shifted. When Covid-19 hit UK shores and began to threaten the productivity of construction sites across the country, our relationship with SRM went beyond contractual agreement; we worked in a true partnership approach to ensure it could achieve as close to business as usual levels of operation as possible and developed technology and solutions that prioritised the mental and physical health of the SRM team during the most challenging conditions many had ever encountered.

 

Construction and Coronavirus

In March of that year, SRM, like many other construction companies, had to demobilise large numbers of contractors extremely quickly due to disruptive changes in the environment. To help support clients facing this obstacle, we initially adapted our own business – rapidly but effectively – in order to ensure we could offer a continuity of service to clients. Despite 97 per cent of our internal workforce working from home, we were able to reimagine agreed strategies to focus on creating solutions for clients that enabled them to remain successful.

Having an established MSP in place with SRM, we had visibility of its entire contractor population, which meant we could engage with them efficiently about the overnight impact of the UK lockdown. We played an unequivocally vital role in the communications and processes that were put in place to close sites with almost immediate effect. Within 48 hours of the lockdown announcement, every contractor had been informed of SRM’s updated policy and had exited site, which we made clear was for their own protection, and in compliance with the law.

Over the year, as restrictions ebbed and flowed, we worked synonymously with SRM to remobilise its teams to site. We used our in-house reporting technology to inform senior management of its contractor spend on a weekly basis, broken down by region, to enable it to manage costs for the wider business in a delicate financial climate. Having Morson available for 24/7 support also freed up valuable resources amongst leaders who faced pressure in other business areas.

Having been selected as the official ‘Northern Recruitment Partner’ in REED’s ‘Keep Britain Working’ movement, part of our role centred on redeploying contractors who found themselves out of work, or in suddenly low demand industries, into those which were in high demand or faced labour shortages to ensure as many of our clients as possible were able to sustain their businesses. As part of our MSP with SRM, we were able to recruit and onboard six suitable contractors in less than 48 hours – all of whom were qualified to the senior specialist skill levels required – at a point when resource became suddenly limited. This ensured there was minimum disruption for SRM and enabled the project to continue at pace.

 

Coordination during continuous change

Throughout our relationship with SRM – but particularly in the year of 2020 and beyond – we have striven to demonstrate that, as a group of people, we go well beyond the scope of services our business offers, making clients and their success our main focus.

Nadeem Mirza, head of resourcing at Sir Robert McAlpine, said:

“In the last 12 months, our MSP with Morson has completely matured. They are fully engaged with our business; they open up new streams to reach candidates, they understand our culture and processes and even with a higher quality of service are saving us hundreds of thousands of pounds each year compared to previous solutions.

 

When Coronavirus became part of our lives, our partnership with Morson truly came into its own. They achieved in 48 hours what our team would’ve taken at least a week to implement – and they did it when quick action was imperative, never ever making us feel like we were just one of many clients they had to do this for. Our service remained personalised, and we felt a priority, at every step.

The term ‘extension of our team’ is used a lot, but it is certainly the case with Morson. Whenever we made an update as a business, they were amongst the first to know and helped us communicate this to our workforce. It has been a truly coordinated effort at a time when we were so physically removed from one another.

Covid-19 has been tragic, with a catastrophic impact on so many parts of our lives. A positive we can take is that Morson’s actions have helped our relationship to go from strength to strength. I have direct access to Morson’s leaders as well as my account team, and they have made what has been an extremely tough year into something constructive for us.

There is a lot of synergy in how our two businesses are run – that’s what makes it work. I’ve worked with other recruiters who’ve implemented an MSP, but the relationship had no personality. With Morson, I know we have genuine relationships with recruitment professionals.”

​

If you would like to find out more about our MSP solution and how we can help your organisation cost save, continuously improve, and transform through talent, get in touch with Morson MSP director, David Lynchehaun at david.lynchehaun@morson.com

MORSON SERVICE HIGHLIGHTS

  • Managing the complete supply chain
  • Entire contractor population visibility
  • Rapid Covid response and support
  • Genuine strategic relationship
  • Achieving 6 figure savings per year

READ NEXT…