Babcock Marine uses First Advantage Applicant Tracking System to drive long-term competitive advantage through strategic recruitment processes

DML (Devonport Management Limited) was acquired in the summer of 2007 by Babcock International Group. It is now an integral part of the Babcock Marine Division, a significant 8,000 employee organisation that, inter alia, operates the Dockyards at Devonport, Faslane and Rosyth, and is a prime support contractor to the Royal Navy.

To help address the growing challenge of recruiting good people, the team in Devonport started examining some of the HR technology packages in the marketplace with the simple aims of automating some of the more labour-intensive manual processes associated with hiring and recruitment and improving the candidate experience. But after adopting a sophisticated solution from First Advantage’s Employer Services segment, Babcock has learned that the right solution – like the right hire – can be used for far more than originally anticipated, and produce more-strategic benefits that simply streamlining existing work processes.

The Devonport team (DML as was) implemented the First Advantage’s Applicant Tracking System more than two years ago and today, as a direct result of the many advantages the system has generated, Babcock International Group has chosen to roll out the systems across all of their seven operating divisions (17,000 employees). This will include its operations in Africa and the use of the system for both internal and external vacancies. This significant expansion in the use of the system is a real endorsement of its cost effectiveness.

In the Beginning…
At the time of the initial adoption of the First Advantage System, there were around 5,000 permanent staff at Devonport Royal Dockyard and several hundred staff at its other sites across the United Kingdom. Babcock Marine also runs Appledore shipyard in North Devon, building hulls for luxury super-yachts. Over an average year, Babcock Marine at Devonport recruits between 200 and 250 new hires. At any one time it also employs some 500 temporary personnel, typically on contracts of one year or less.

Meeting that level of demand is a significant challenge for an HR department the size of Babcock Marine’s. “Handling this level of recruitment with traditional, manual methods is labour intensive,” says Andy Leftley, Babcock Marine’s recruitment manager. “The disconnected processes we previously used meant an administration-heavy workload, and we processed individual applications far too slowly. To stand apart from our competitors and to attract the very best recruits, we need to excel in the way we interact with candidates.”

To realize that goal, the company decided to adopt a hiring management system and designated planned annual recruitment as the first initiative to automate. The intention was to cover all the core applicant tracking needs: automated processing of applications, whether received online or through the post.

“We chose the First Advantage ATS because it offered the state-of-the-art applicant tracking system (ATS), with the flexibility, that we wanted,” says Leftley. “In practice, we have already extended our use of the system, exploiting the wider hiring management capabilities the system provides, which far exceed anything offered by traditional ATSs. Now, we are evaluating how we can benefit from taking it into entirely new areas of talent management.”

The Devonport team initially implemented the applicant tracking system to introduce an element of automation in dealing with applicants to its graduate and apprentice recruitment programmes. The two programmes have very different needs.

“Bringing in around 25 new graduates each year means choosing the best 25 from around 700 applications. Historically, vacancies have tended to be in mechanical, electrical and marine engineering and naval architecture, but our requirements are broadening,” says Leftley. “We are now also recruiting graduates in such areas as civil engineering and chemical process engineering, as well as more business-oriented disciplines including contracts, purchasing, IT and business development.”

Navigating a Sea of Challenges with Intelligent Automation
Filling apprentice vacancies is a different matter entirely, according to Leftley. Babcock generally recruits people to train as mechanical and electrical fitters, fabricators and pipe-fitters. The criteria and processes are necessarily quite different for those for graduates, but commonalities exist in terms of the large size of the pool – Babcock Marine at Devonport typically receives typically 450 or more applications for the 30 apprenticeships it awards each year.

The process becomes more intense as it progresses. Babcock invites graduate candidates to a two-day residential assessment event. Before the First Advantage ATS was deployed, Babcock had to sift and de-select 80 percent of the 700 applications received by hand. With ATS, however, that process is performed online, saving the company at least 60 man-hours of manual checking.

Instead, applicants now complete forms and tests online. Selection begins with the very first of these, as even basic candidate information can produce an automatic rejection. As an example due to Babcock Marine’s work on the UK’s sea-going nuclear deterrent, for example, there are some specific security restrictions, one of which includes a requirement only to employ UK nationals. The new online application process effectively introduces an element of candidate self-vetting, as anyone not meeting certain strict criteria is automatically excluded at the outset.

After the initial forms, the graduate candidate is faced with a series of three tests, which are all products from a specialist applicant screening company, customised to link seamlessly with the First Advantage ATS. First, a talent screening module examines a candidate’s competencies in a number of areas. Next, the candidate is tested for numerical and verbal reasoning skills. Finally, they complete psychometric testing. The process is seamless to the candidate.

The benefit to Babcock is immense. It is able, without ever meeting or talking to candidates, to apply rigorous assessment procedures and reduce 700 applications to just the 120 individuals invited to attend for in-person evaluation. It has meant Babcock reducing its dependence on traditional ‘milk round’ graduate recruitment events.

“Anybody who has had to undergo the ‘milk round’ will understand the significance of not having to tour the country meeting un-vetted candidates,” notes Leftley. “For each event we used to attend, there was the cost of the exhibition stand, of transport, of accommodation and of management time involved in planning and taking both senior managers and previous graduate recruits to meet applicants. Reducing the number of exhibitions has significantly reduced costs.

A less obvious – but highly significant – benefit has been the improved calibre of candidates invited for assessment centres. With previous methods, a pass rate of between 20 and 30 per cent of candidates would be the norm. The pass rate this year has been between 50 and 60 per cent. The result of this is that Babcock Marine now has fewer people travelling across the UK, to fewer events, with an obvious cost saving.

Given that the Devonport team used to hold six assessment events, each involving a substantial outlay before the management costs were even considered. Higher calibre candidates mean fewer events and considerable costs savings.

The candidates also benefit, as the streamlined procedures mean they spend less time on the job application process during what is an extremely busy period in the run up to final exams at university. The serious attention given to their applications is obvious and, in consequence, they report feeling more valued. When the Devonport team canvassed candidates during recent assessment centres for feedback on the graduate application process, 75 per cent reported being “really impressed” and particularly praised the amount of preliminary testing conducted in advance.

In addition, some candidate comments indicate the ATS is helping Babcock achieve its goal of standing apart from competitors in the way the company treats its candidates. One candidate noted that the advance assessment made her feel that she had “a real chance” of securing a position. She contrasted this with the feeling elsewhere of being “just another graduate on the recruitment treadmill.” Another commented that he had been “dragged from pillar to post” at other graduate recruitment events and described being “put through the mill,” asked to supply the most basic of assessment information in test after test. He described the Babcock process as “slick,” with its on-site processes clearly having taken into account the findings of earlier on-line assessment.

Charting New Horizons
Babcock is in no doubt about how it has benefited from implementing First Advantage ATS and is already planning on expanding its use into other areas of recruitment. This will include external recruitment, where the company anticipates that up to 60 per cent of permanent staff hires will be conducted using e-recruitment.

More immediately, it is examining how to best apply the processes and system to internal recruitment, using First Advantage ATS to maximise returns on its existing talent pool. “The whole point of introducing the First Advantage ATS was to improve efficiency and to gain a competitive edge,” says Leftley. “We have done that, but can not afford to sit still and let competitors catch up. Review is continuous in every area of recruitment and retention. At the most basic level, even the way in which we test applicants has to be considered.”

More particularly, Babcock is looking at the area of pre-employment background screening where, traditionally, its checking has been contracted out to the Defence Vetting Authority.

“They are very good at what they do but their checks do not necessarily give us the in-depth information we need to decide if an applicant has the appropriate qualifications and background for a specific position,” says Leftley. “With this in mind, we are considering the First Advantage background screening services.”