Charity sees dramatic results from e-recruitment

Aug. 15, 2012 - PRLog -- The Youth Sport Trust is an independent charity, established in 1994 to build a brighter future for young people through PE and sport.

As a charity, it is especially important to keep administrative costs as low as possible and recruiting the right staff is vital.

Youth Sport Trust Head of HR Helen Shuttleworth explains: “The processes were taking too long and using time that could be used more effectively on other projects, especially as the HR team had been downsized.

“We were looking for an online system to help us reduce the administrative burden of recruitment and improve the candidate experience. The majority of our line managers work remotely and we wanted a better way of enabling them to shortlist without posting them large paper applications and waiting for feedback. We also wanted a better way of monitoring the quality of applications and the performance of the different job boards we use to advertise.”

The Youth Sport Trust approached Chatham-based RecruitActive to develop a tailored e-recruitment solution that would be flexible enough to be able to adapt for use by partner organisations.

Youth Sport Trust HR Officer Lorraine Baldock explains: “Using RecruitActive has generated huge time savings. Previously a member of staff would spend up to four hours logging and processing the applications for one job. Now this takes about 10 minutes. RecruitActive has reduced the overall management of the recruitment and selection process by about 75%. It has also reduced adhoc queries to the charity’s ‘jobs inbox’ as the process is more streamlined and staff are able to respond to candidates quicker, preventing them chasing responses to their applications. The Youth Sport Trust also has the facility to recruit on behalf of other organisations within sport and education, including staff for the 2012 School Games,” said Lorraine.

Since introducing RecruitActive, The Youth Sport Trust has received nothing but positive feedback from internal and external candidates and line managers. Candidates feel the process is more professional and managers find it easy to use.

The number of applications processed has doubled since introducing the new recruitment system. The charity received 925 applications in the six months since introducing the system while in the previous year it received 1,000 over the full 12 months.

Lorraine added that she would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending the RecruitActive system and online application process to other organisations, particularly if they have a small HR team dealing with regular and sometimes complex recruitment. “It has dramatically streamlined our administrative processes and has provided a better service to candidates,” she said.

RecruitActive Director of Technology Paul Duthoit said: “We were delighted to help this charity that does such important work reduce the administrative burden and cost of recruitment and free up time to focus on inspiring young people to take part in sport. The Youth Sport Trust has seen dramatic results from using RecruitActive and it is pleasing that candidates like the system too. We are particularly pleased that the Youth Sport Trust has been able to help partner organisations with their recruitment and reduce costs for them too. The beauty of our e-recruitment tool is that you can operate one global system and partners, different departments and subsidiaries can manage their processes using their own application and candidates.”

The charity is led by a clear vision - to improve both the quantity and quality of PE in schools and to inspire and engage all young people in sporting activity - whether it's leading, coaching, learning, competing, playing or volunteering. It wants to see every young person in school or college enjoying, excelling and living healthy lives through sport.

Established eight years ago, RecruitActive is an innovative and flexible company that provides powerful yet easy-to-use RecruitActive systems to a range of clients.

Chatham-based sister company Netsite offers a range of services including bespoke website design and website hosting. The company was established 14 years ago and has clients including the NHS, Rochester Avionic Archives, Crewsaver and The Historic Dockyard Chatham.

ENDS

For further information contact Suzi Christie at Blueberry PR on 01435 830031 or e-mail suzi@blueberry-pr.co.uk