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B&Q

How B&Q doubled the headcount of a future critical team in just three months

 

 

Project overview:

This year, B&Q has experienced a significant amount of change. With the success of the rapidly growing B&Q Marketplace platform, the need to attract new talent to this business critical team became a top priority.

A key challenge was finding the right people to drive that growth. B&Q needed experienced specialists to lead the new team to even greater heights. By embedding talent acquisition specialists within B&Qs team, and developing a tailored attraction strategy, Caraffi supported B&Q to fill these roles and elevating the visibility of this team in the market.

We helped to:

  • Raise awareness of B&Q as a destination employer for talent
  • Differentiate B&Q Marketplace from it’s talent competition
  • Define a proposition for Marketplace talent
  • Double the headcount of their existing team in just three months
B&Q logo, text: Client- Kate Bege, Resourcing and Attraction Manager Produce: Talent as a service and employer branding

I feel that the work we've done over the last three months has set us up so well for the for the next phase of our Marketplace recruitment. So yeah, it's phenomenal.

B&Q's struggle:

 

What were you struggling with before partnering with Caraffi?

The main challenge has always been recruiting specialist head office roles in particular, especially if the function needs more than one vacancy to be filled in a short time. Those roles will often become available at really short notice, or they'll be required pretty urgently.

It is tough. You know you need to think about a strategy. A plan is needed really quickly so you tend to have to items have to drop everything. Hiring managers and business partners will often need to take more of my time, and we’ll often need to take a lot more time out with both them and our stake holders to build a plan.

We don't always get the quick turnaround with agencies because you find that you're having to start from scratch.

What other solutions did you consider or try before partnering with Caraffi?

Agencies have tended to be our go to when we've been faced with this sort of challenge in the past. In the past we've looked to specialist agencies for support, particularly high volume or hard to fill head office vacancies. Naturally, it can be a pretty costly solution and we don't always get the quick turnaround because you find that you're having to start from scratch. And yeah, it it's not ideal. 

The brief:

 

What did you ask Caraffi to work on?

Putting it simply, Caraffi helped us to achieve the 2023 plan for the development of Marketplace.

We were looking to hire 11 people, within three months, which doesn't sound like a particularly big challenge on the face of it. However this is a newly created team which will be really pivotal in driving significant change for us as a business. So these were very specialist vacancies.

What convinced you Caraffi was the right option?

It was just a bit of a no brainer from the start.

I didn't know a lot about Caraffi, but it was fascinating to unpick all the challenges we were facing together. They took the time to understand what it was that we were faced with; what the problem was, and knowing our business well really helped. Caraffi took the time to appreciate this particular project.

Caraffi took the time to understand what it was we were faced with.

The impact:

 

How did it feel to work with Caraffi?

What we loved was the fact that we had that real opportunity to tailor the experience and the project. It was definitely about understanding.

Caraffi took the time to really understand what it was that we needed from them, but we were also able to appreciate all of the extra projects that you were able to deliver for us.

So I think in terms of the deal maker, it was definitely the confidence that Caraffi gave us that they would be able to competently fill the number of vacancies within that time frame that we were given.

 

What has the impact of the work been so far?

So we were looking to hire 11 people, within three months, which doesn't sound like a particularly big challenge on the face of it. But this is a newly created team, a really pivotal and business critical team that's going drive a significant bit of change for us as a business. These were therefore very specialist vacancies.

They gave us the confidence that they were able to do that. Not only that he was also able to give us an idea around some of the project scope that we had.

They heard the problem, and developed a variety of different solutions that we could really tailor depending on different factors.

Since those 11 critical hires joined the team, B&Q Marketplace has seen real, tangible, and exponential growth. As July 2023, Marketplace sales make up for 33% of B%Q’s total online sales contributions- up from 6% in July 2022.

That's not all. With over 30% of customers new to the platform, it’s clear that the expertise and experience of these talented new hires have helped to expand the visibility and reach of B&Q Marketplace, making it easier than ever for customers to bring their home improvement ambitions to life.

I've been over the moon with it the results that we've got and the relationships that we've built

Now that you’ve completed this piece of work and you’ve seen the impact of it – how does that make you feel about your role within B&Q?

It's been a really positive experience. I've been over the moon with it the results that we've got and the relationships that we've built across the last three or four months.

The level of communication and support that I've received, has genuinely been like working with somebody who's been in my team for years.

I feel that the work we've done over the last three months has set ourselves so well for the for the next phase of our marketplace recruitment. So yeah, it's phenomenal.

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