4 min read
A national care group with three subsidiary companies providing residential, domiciliary, supported living, and specialist brain injury services across England. The organisation was growing rapidly, taking on new clients in new regions, and needed to scale its workforce to match. The recruitment team was the largest in the organisation's history, but was operating without a coherent strategy or the tools to support one.
Service: Technology Consulting Care sub-sector: Residential, domiciliary, supported living, specialist care
The care sector has a well-documented workforce problem. Fewer people are entering the industry, competition for candidates is fierce, and staff turnover is high. This care group was feeling all of it.
Recruitment was reactive. Vacancies appeared, ads went out, and the team chased candidates as best they could. There was no structured approach to job board spend, no visibility over cost-per-applicant, and no data to tell the organisation which channels were actually delivering. Third-party recruitment costs were high and the return was unclear.
The onboarding experience was slow and inconsistent. Candidates who did apply often faced a drawn-out compliance process that risked losing them to competitors who could move faster. The referral scheme in place used a points system that wasn't motivating staff to refer, and once candidates were through the door, there was no structured retention programme to keep them.
From a brand perspective, the organisation wasn't selling itself to candidates. In a market where care providers have to compete for talent, the recruitment materials and job adverts weren't reflecting the strengths of the business or the opportunities it could offer.
We developed a full recruitment strategy for the organisation, starting with a SWOT analysis of their current hiring position. This gave the leadership team an honest picture of where they stood: strong brand potential and a large recruitment team on one side, but high turnover, slow onboarding, and a lack of data-driven decision making on the other.
From there, we built a practical plan with clear priorities.
First, we recommended eliminating unnecessary third-party recruitment costs and redirecting that budget towards direct job board partnerships with proper tracking. Working with boards like Indeed and TotalJobs, the organisation could establish monthly campaign budgets with clear expectations and monthly reporting on cost-per-click and cost-per-applicant. No more spending without visibility.
We defined standardised job role templates so that when a vacancy came up, the recruitment team could turn an ad around quickly using modular content. The company introduction, benefits, and values stay consistent. The role-specific detail slots in. Faster turnaround, better quality, consistent brand.
We proposed replacing the existing points-based referral scheme with a cash incentive model: one payment on referral and completion of a first week, a second payment after six months if the referral stays. This approach rewards the referrer and supports retention at the same time, creating a community-driven hiring pipeline.
We also recommended the organisation look beyond digital channels. Visiting local nursing schools to attract individuals early in their career, offering the promise of training, progression, and competitive pay. A route to organic growth that most care providers overlook.
Finally, we proposed a partnership between the Marketing and Recruitment teams to develop candidate-focused materials that improve click-through and application rates. The care group has a strong story to tell. The job adverts needed to tell it.
All strategic work was delivered at no additional charge.
The care group moved from reactive hiring to a structured recruitment approach with clear priorities and measurable outcomes.
Job board spend is now tracked with cost-per-applicant visibility, so the organisation knows which channels deliver and which don't. The modular job ad templates reduced turnaround time for new vacancy listings and improved the consistency of the employer brand across all platforms.
The restructured referral scheme gave frontline staff a clear, tangible incentive to refer from their own networks. This supports a community-based hiring model that builds a pipeline from within rather than relying solely on job boards.
Rather than reacting to each vacancy as it comes, the organisation now has a coherent plan that scales with the business. When new clients are taken on in new regions, the recruitment strategy adapts with them.
Full recruitment strategy delivered · Job board spend now tracked per applicant · Referral scheme restructured for retention · Modular job ad templates created · All at no additional cost
Related service: Tech Consulting