Freshminds rapidly responded to an ongoing need for multiple customer service and research agents to help support the growth of this successful scale-up business.
This tried and tested framework can be rolled out for companies requiring remote service, research and analytical teams.
Our client was growing extremely fast as competitors started increasing their rates dramatically. Providing renewable energy at a low, fixed price, coupled with excellent customer service, the firm were struggling to recruit at their rate of growth. To manage the demand, the business needed to hire 100 staff to manage their inbound customer queries department within the space of 4 months. At a rapid rate, Freshminds provided a team of high-calibre customer service agents to support the company and deliver results on a contract basis, with over 50% of people moving to a permanent position within the company.
The key challenges the client faced were associated with maintaining the organisational culture and increasing the workforce headcount whilst not compromising on the quality of individuals being brought in. The on-boarding process also had to be swift and any necessary upskilling addressed quickly in large numbers - the move to hire on such a scale was unprecedented by the company.
There was also the consideration that the clients’ internal permanent hiring did not conflict with the resourcing of the temporary employees.
Following an initial briefing session and internal strategy meeting, the Freshminds team began to understand the key deliverables and project requirements. After a follow-up meeting with the team’s dedicated candidate managers, the search was kicked off. Pre-screened, available candidates from within the network and who were open to exploring opportunities in the relevant industry or fast-growing start-ups were initially approached which resulted in a strong response.
Freshminds were initially tasked with providing 20 high-calibre individuals for a two-week project, and with a two-day turnaround time. The following week a further 20 individuals were needed to keep up with the demanding growth. Moving into the following month, 60 candidates were required over the course of 4-weeks to support a 3-month project. The candidates would be assisting on customer-service research; providing information to new or potential customers, before making recommendations to the client for operational improvements.
Further on when an unexpected further 20 candidates were required in just four days, the team constructed successful marketing and referral campaigns to deliver the additional numbers.
To ensure the motivations of our client's internally-hired permanent staff did not conflict with Freshminds’ temporary candidates, diligent steps were taken to ensure that the candidates provided were bright, highly motivated, and adaptable individuals. Due to these steps, Freshminds achieved a >85% interview to placement success rate, saving extensive interviewing and on-boarding time for the client.
Workforce Capacity: Following a 4-month period, over 100 candidate placements had been made, with the contingent workforce providing results as strong as the permanent staff. The impressive candidate output has ensured that crucial levels of customer service have been maintained throughout the period of growth.
Personnel: Our client has continued to have the customer service agents join their team on a permanent basis, and we remain ready to meet any additional personnel needs.
Moving forward: Our team continues to work with the client on an array of medium-term strategic initiatives and further boost their growth aims. The Research Analyst team has the capability to mobilise on similar medium to large-scale projects within 2 days’ notice as well as filling ad-hoc individual positions across a variety of industries.
On-Boarding: Freshminds are well equipped to manage any logistical challenges during the COVID-19 epidemic from interviews through to on-boarding, training and team introductions. We treat the process you have with candidates the same as we work from home as we would from the office, uncompromising on all areas of your traditional hiring process.