Delivering a diverse and highly skilled talent pipeline for a major financial institution

THE CLIENT

Our client is a leading retail and commercial bank in the UK, offering full-service banking through digital and traditional channels to more than five million customers nationwide.

THE CHALLENGES

1. Current recruitment processes did not attract diverse talent. Senior management had publicly committed to improving diversity across the organisation. Additionally, the recent consultation from UK regulators had highlighted the lack of diversity within the UK financial services sector.

2. Significant investment in digital transformation, including the adoption of new technologies, had created an immediate demand for further skills in data analytics and related tools. These skills did not exist in the organisation.

3. Early years talent management was identified as one of the solutions to closing the digital skills gap. The client’s hiring managers did not have experience of managing early years talent and were concerned about the additional responsibilities.

THE SOLUTION

Digital Futures identified the client’s needs through a set process and developed a bespoke data science training programme.

The tailored curriculum was designed to equip data scientists with tailored skills, aligned to the organisation’s technologies, tools and frameworks. Digital Futures was able to capture the organisational culture. This allowed them to identify and match individuals who were motivated by the opportunity to work for a values-based organisation.

Of the team deployed, 56% were from ethnic minority backgrounds. 

Digital Futures’ engagement management framework ensured a seamless transition from education to employment. This resulted in the data scientists deployed becoming highly productive members of the client’s team from day one. The individually tailored technical and professional upskilling of the data scientists is continuing through the support from the Digital Futures engagement manager.

IMPACT & OUTCOMES

1. Time to hire reduced from up to six months to three weeks.

Our Acquire Train Deploy model includes the thorough assessment and due diligence of individuals as part of their onboarding into the Academy programme, significantly reducing the time to hire. Time was further reduced through the use of our DFX platform, which provides detailed profiles of engineers who are available and ready to deploy.

2. Efficiency improvements driven by diverse teams.

Our ability to deploy a highly diverse team resulted in improved employee engagement, more creative solutions and a more collaborative working environment. Existing teams were motivated and encouraged by the increase in diversity and showed a willingness to learn new techniques and ways of working that resulted in a number of efficiencies.

3. Retention and experience significantly improved.

Our engagement management model accelerated the integration of our data scientists into the client organisation. Our insight further enhanced our client’s understanding of how to attract, manage and develop those at an early careers stage, to maximise retention and create a compelling employee experience.