General Medical Council

Background

The General Medical Council (GMC) helps to protect patients and improve medical education and practice in the UK by setting standards for students and doctors. They support them in achieving (and exceeding) those standards and take action when they are not met.

The public sector body looked to overhaul and better integrate internal IT systems, as well as redevelop its website and some key outward-facing services, requiring investment in specialist technology talent. The GMC partnered with Robert Walters, with the intention of hiring a number of technology professionals to be based in the GMC Manchester office, across a breadth of specialisms, including:

• Development
• IT Leadership
• IT Support
• Testing 
• Cyber Security
• Architecture
• Projects

Solution

Robert Walters Technology took a multi-angled recruitment approach, with a targeted search exercise, coupled with a branded advertising campaign. This strategy aimed to attract a diverse range of technology talent, as well as market the GMC’s employer brand to the technology-rich candidate market in Manchester.

Market Mapping & Targeted Search:

The Robert Walters data analyst team identified target technology candidates within the Manchester area with the desired technical skill sets for each discipline, as well as suitable candidates that had previously worked or studied in the area that would have a higher propensity to relocate for the right opportunity. This allowed the account management team to carry out a targeted headhunting exercise on LinkedIn and job board databases, as well as refine the targeting for the premium advertising campaign, ensuring the jobs were viewed by, and received applications from the target candidate pool.

Database & Networking:

As an active participant in the Manchester tech scene, the account management team were able to tap into their existing network of technology candidates registered on the Robert Walters database, as well as engage with prospective candidates at regular meet-ups and technology networking events. This proactive approach allowed the technology team to reach a diverse network of technology jobseekers and passive candidates that would not necessarily apply for the roles directly.

Premium Advertising Solution:

Robert Walters Technology launched a premium advertising campaign, with GMC-branded adverts posted across national and specialist technology job boards, a sponsored social media campaign, a targeted HTML mailshot, and a dedicated GMC microsite built in-house. This hosted all the live roles, alongside targeted information about the career opportunities and project exposure, workplace culture and wider employment offer available at the GMC. Directing advertising to the employer microsite enabled candidates to be encouraged to apply, as well as buy into the GMC employer brand.

Diversity & Inclusion:

The technology team gained an understanding of the GMC’s diversity & agenda, as well as setting diversity benchmarks for the recruitment assignments based on demographic data derived from our data analysis, research and market mapping exercises. To encourage diversity of applications, Robert Walters used in-house technology, to analyse the job adverts and flag advert structure or language that would disproportionally appeal to male candidates. Adopting measures such as CV anonymisation eliminated any bias during the selection process. Robert Walters also consulted in-house diversity & inclusion research to understand the aspects of the employment offer that appeal to different demographic groups. This allowed the team to put forward an inclusive employment offer to the target technology candidate pool. 

Candidate Screening: 

The dedicated account team managed the entire first stage screening process before presenting a shortlist of best performing candidates to the GMC for final interview. The screening process included application questions (dictated by the GMC) to capture relevant information to support first stage screening, as well as a technical testing platform to assess key competencies of the candidates and mitigate unconscious bias by making judgements solely on a candidate’s CV.

Results

The technology team placed 22 professionals in total at the GMC, and still maintains an ongoing relationship with the organisation as the recruitment consultancy of choice for their technology function. The performance of the technology team also led to the GMC to release further roles across different disciplines, including business support and project management.

Read the full case study here.