Strong ambitions to build a sustainable succession plan were becoming increasingly difficult to achieve, due to an inefficient recruitment process caused by a lack of in-house resources. Samworth Brothers knew that if they were going to become a leading student and graduate employer within the food industry, it was critical to outsource their recruitment process. Discovery and Samworth Brothers have been in a successful partnership since 2009, utilising Discovery’s expertise in early career recruitment and development to find the best early-career talent for the Samworth Brothers.
The challenge
An integral part of achieving a sustainable succession plan was recruiting students to complete industrial placements with the intention that they would return as graduates to develop and progress within the company.
Samworth Brothers needed a stronger employer brand to attract high-calibre talent, engage them throughout the recruitment process and ultimately build a strong talent pipeline. Key stakeholders recognised that this would be significantly harder to achieve if the process remained in-house.
For over a decade, the industrial placement recruitment process has been developed, implemented and managed in a successful partnership with Discovery. The enhanced process, consisting of talent attraction, retention and progression, improved Samworth Brothers employer brand, positioning them as a leading, student and graduate employer in the food industry.
The Process
A clear ‘go-to-market’ strategy was essential to attract the right, high-calibre students. Discovery identified that aligning the process with Samworth Brothers’ culture and vision was fundamental to creating a candidate experience that would position Samworth Brothers as a leading employer within their industry.
Sourcing candidates
Industrial Placements aren’t only a great platform for students to gain experience and make a valuable contribution, they also form an integral part of Samworth Brothers’ longer-term succession planning. To fulfil the objective of recruiting individuals that can return to the company post-university to kick start their graduate career, Discovery needed to recruit the same calibre of individual that Samworth Brothers would expect of any employee.
Discovery measure all candidates objectively and consistently against the desired competencies and attributes for an ideal Samworth Brothers employee. For Industrial Placement recruitment, Discovery use the same robust, multi-stage recruitment and selection as used for permanent Graduate recruitment, to ensure a high calibre of candidates.
“Discovery have delivered exceptional results in positioning Samworth Brothers as a student and graduate recruiter of choice and through the competency-based selection process culminating in a final assessment centre, we can be sure we are securing the best talent. We are always delighted with the efforts Discovery go to in order to understand our business.”
– Samworth Brothers
The Solution
Since 2009, Discovery have successfully recruited 8-12 students each year for Samworth Brothers Industrial Placement scheme, which has supported Samworth Brothers in becoming a leading student and graduate employer within the food industry.
By outsourcing the recruitment process to Discovery, Samworth Brothers were able to significantly reduce the roadblocks caused by limited in-house resources. Alongside this, the company have developed a strong talent pipeline and sustainable succession plan, with many of their industrial placement students returning after their studies to kickstart their career within the company.
