As part of one of the world's largest life insurance and pension companies, Aegon's UK division sits in a market facing increasing skills shortages together with heightened competition for talent. Add ongoing attrition, and the company's ability to hire and hold customer service people had resulted in increasing costs and potentially compromised business performance.
Aegon's operational teams have some 1,000 customer service staff. To help the company attract, engage and retain customer service people, the HR team created the Pipeline Project.
Prior to the launch of Pipeline, key people processes were not integrated or streamlined, and the new joiner experience was inconsistent. For line managers, it was hit or miss when it came to recruiting quality people, and it was a significant challenge to retain new joiners in the first year of employment. At the time, Aegon had a low profile even though it was a large local employer - and this was particularly true for those not working within, or familiar with, financial services.
The project was launched in March 2007 and was designed to improve the company's access to skills by creating a compelling recruitment proposition that tapped into new talent pools; increase ‘year one' retention by driving improvements in people processes and giving new starts a great welcome; improve customer satisfaction through the increased quality and productivity of Aegon's people; and increase visibility and control over people processes and costs, particularly in relation to recruitment.
The company has introduced better resource planning to tells it how many people are needed and when, with the ability to flex up or down. A new recruitment proposition targets passive candidates as well as active job seekers. At the recruitment stage, newly designed salary progression models show candidates how their salary will increase over the next few years assuming they perform at a good level. At the end of a 12-week acclimatisation period, successful employees can choose a reward to the value of £125 from an online award site. There were other improvement to selection, induction and reward, as well as new Pipeline induction trainers, buddies and a Pipeline Management Committee made up of senior managers within operations and HR that has oversight of its performance and governance over intake numbers and budget. The performance of Pipeline is measured through the production of a scorecard that is produced and distributed to key stakeholders on a quarterly basis, with additional monthly MI available to the Pipeline Management Committee.
Aegon worked with its communications agency, Work, to build a campaign that motivated the right people and leveraged the power of the brand, developing a distinct proposition to people within financial services and people outside of it.
Some 360 staff have now gone through Pipeline and, in just 12 months, the project has transformed recruitment and retention for customer service, achieving a 70% reduction in time to hire, a 33% reduction in cost per hire, a 50% improvement in retention (in the first year) and an estimated saving of £220k on recruitment and £450k on retention.
Judges were impressed with the comprehensive approach to the project, as well as its keen fit with Aegon's business strategy. And as well as the impressive results above, applicant to offer rate has risen from 8% to 11%, interview to offer conversion from 25% to 57% and direct applicants from 50% to 75%, of which 25% of hires are from the referral scheme.
" Within a year of implementation, this initiative has not only significantly reduced attrition, but has also increased skill levels across our servicing areas, enhanced employee engagement and raised Aegon's profile in the marketplace as an employer of choice"
Gill Scott, Head of HR for Corporate and Individual Business
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