Building a framework for staffing success with Barnet Council

By Matthew Richards, Head of Resourcing and Recruitment, Barnet Council

Introduction: How Matrix Workforce Management Solutions used its unique service-line portfolio to offer an end-to-end workforce solution for the Greater London local authority helping to streamline temporary and permanent recruitment processes, saving them time and money, while increasing candidate quality.

The Problem: Like most local authorities across the UK, Barnet Council is facing an increasingly competitive public sector staff marketplace with a shrinking talent pool and tightening budgets. As a result, it’s Hiring Managers required support to better understand their evolving recruitment needs to ensure they were taking the best possible approach to finding and onboarding the right talent at minimum cost. In trying to address these needs with an already overwhelming expectation on their in-house Hiring Managers, it became clear that going it alone for each temporary and permanent vacancy wasn’t a viable option. Instead, Barnet Council needed a more coordinated and consistent process that would increase staffing agency and candidate reach as well as the overall quality of their talent pool.

The Solution: Rather than Hiring Managers dealing with multiple recruitment agencies for each hire, Barnet Council ideally wanted a one-stop-shop for both interim and permanent recruitment. Matrix was brought on board, uniquely able to deliver a self-service platform that consolidates the offerings of multiple agencies, and is quickly and easily accessible through a single online portal; Matrix Prism. Tailored to the local authority’s specific hiring needs, Matrix Prism provides all reporting requirements in one place. Specific solutions include:

• Matrix Talent Pool, where Barnet can store contact details for its known temporary public sector workers to quickly fill one-off placements when required, saving time and avoiding hefty agency charges for each placement.
• Matrix Milestone, a procurement and supply chain platform where subject matter experts for specialist projects like town planning and transport infrastructure can be sourced in line with IR35 legislation, improving outcomes, giving greater control and reducing spending.
• Matrix Security Watchdog Pre-employment and background screening, which vets and validates all candidates chosen through the Matrix platform in line with the stringent demands of the public sector. Barnet has also launched electronic ID pre-employment checks for permanent hires, further tightening recruitment security.

The Outcome: Barnet Council’s partnership with Matrix has opened the door to a highly accessible, larger and more varied talent pool, made up of validated and better-quality candidates. Costs are also being reduced through the negotiating and buying power Matrix can leverage across its network of recruitment agencies. Meanwhile, Barnet Council benefits from a single line of authority for all recruitment needs, which means only one regular meeting is needed to address any issues and policy shifts. This streamlining results in increased efficiencies, boosts transparency, saves time and accelerates the response to the local authority’s rapidly changing needs, while also enabling better, more efficient and effective future planning.

The Results:

• £200k savings in agency charges achieved through Matrix Talent Pool
• Through Matrix Talent Pool, the London Borough of Barnet has seen an increase in accessibility to a diverse and skilled workforce that covers 16 job categories and across 64 job titles, via the Matrix platform
• £800k of supply chain savings through using Matrix Workforce as a managed service provider
• 99% Fulfilment Rate for Orders in FY23/24

Conclusion: In partnership with Matrix, Barnet Council now enjoys a streamlined, end-to-end process that addresses its recruitment needs, transforming and future-proofing its staffing process. As a result, hiring is faster, and more consistent, efficient, effective and transparent, saving time for hiring managers and costs for the local authority.

What the customer says:

“The strong agency partnerships that Matrix has forged increase its buying and negotiating power and drives deeper engagement. This brings down commission costs for Barnet, gives us access to a much wider pool of talent, and makes it easier for us to find the right candidates for our more difficult-to-fill roles. We now have a variety of recruitment solutions in one basket, with all reporting in one place, enabling better, more efficient and effective future staffing planning.”