We were named as winners of The Client Service Award and The ESG Initiative of the Year Award at a ceremony in London, on Thursday 21 September 2023.
Why we were shortlisted
Our submissions for the awards showcased just some of the fantastic work we've undertaken:
The Client Service Award
Our winning entry celebrated the work we have achieved alongside our client, The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). MaPS, an arms-length body sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions, was formed to ensure people throughout the UK have guidance and access to the information they need to make effective financial decisions over their lifetime. They partnered with Reed Talent Solutions in October 2021 as a provider of a first-generation recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) service to achieve some key strategic objectives:
Recruitment of over 200 new hires, including several pensions and financial services experts
Access to improved recruitment data and performance metrics
Reduced time to hire
An applicant tracking system that could host their vacancy approval and offer approval processes
Higher quantity and quality of applications
Compliance with civil service recruitment principles
Better and more consistent hiring manager experience
Diversity, equity, and inclusion reporting
A single point of contact for vetting, interim and permanent requirements
Our subject matter experts partnered with MaPS to support projects on equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I), employee value proposition (EVP), recruitment best practice, and mentoring programmes. Our work with MaPS has resulted in a reduced time from ‘vacancy approval’ to ‘candidate start date’ of three months for mid- to senior-level vacancies.
To support a key project, we needed to recruit pensions specialists for remote phone-based positions. Working in partnership with MaPS, within 45 working days we sourced, screened, assessed, and vetted 19 starters – filling the requirement entirely.
MaPS praised our work, saying: “You have been totally committed to achieving a great outcome, you have guided and supported us at each step, shown patience and agility, shared our excitement and been true partners in every sense.”
The ESG Initiative of the Year Award
Since Sir Alec Reed opened the first Reed office in 1960, his ethos of active engagement in charitable and social causes has been integral to the company’s vision and values. We aim to be a good global citizen by improving the lives of individuals, being actively involved in social and charitable causes and by being carbon neutral.
We are committed to education and the development of people, and enjoy sharing these values with our likeminded clients, as well as supporting those client organisations who are at the initial stages of their ESG agendas.
When working with clients, we have focussed on employability as part of our social value agenda, particularly for underrepresented groups in their local communities. Initiatives include the launch of a ‘Gateway to work’ programme to educate 14–18-year-olds in inner London on career opportunities, targeting students from socially deprived communities. We also donated our apprenticeship levy to Manchester Fire & Rescue Service, enabling them to engage 10 trainee firefighters, and delivered free-of-charge employability training via the ‘EY Foundation – STEM Futures’ programme for underprivileged 16–17- year-olds.
Other projects include supporting the ‘Million Mentors’ initiative, aimed at providing one million people with a million opportunities, and volunteering at Manchester’s ‘Festival of Learning’ which delivered employability support. We also supported the Care Leavers Covenant providing mock interviews for A-level students and apprentice applicants, and signed the Armed Forces Covenant.
This year, we were the first in our sector to launch an electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme, ‘Electric Dreams’, with Octopus Energy, and we have additionally removed the cap from our cycle to work scheme.
These initiatives, alongside our wider rewards programme resulted in us being crowned winners of the ‘Best Motivation or Recognition Scheme’ at the Employee Benefits Awards 2023.
Our purpose is improving lives through work:
We are fair, open and honest: We treat everyone with fairness and respect, act with integrity, and are true to our commitments
We take ownership: We respond swiftly to execute our promises, take responsibility for providing solutions, and hold ourselves accountable for our actions
We work together: We work in partnership and build sustainable trusted relationships, value a diverse workforce and respect the contributions of all, and we support our customers and colleagues in achieving their goals
The verdict
For both awards the judges praised our work and commitment:
The Client Service Award
For this category, the judges said we have clearly developed a very strong working partnership with our client and that our work is valued for the benefits it brings.
They said we spotted a great opportunity to take a holistic approach to improving all aspects of our clients' recruitment process and the commitment and trust from our clients came shining through.
The ESG Initiative of the Year Award
Building on our winning entry from last year, the judges said they were impressed with our ongoing ability to raise the bar with a host of new initiatives and approaches which were wide-ranging and practical. They praised our submission for being interesting and passionate, and for showing the extent to which ESG is embedded across the company, our clients and society more widely.
Read more about our work and how we have helped our clients achieve success on our case studies page.
