Cambridge Weight Plan

The Background

The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan is a 100% Employee Owned Business with Global Headquarters in Corby, Northamptonshire where manufacturing of its sachets, bars and meal packs takes place.

The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, originally known as The Cambridge Diet, was launched in the UK in 1984 through a network of self-employed Consultants. It has helped thousands of people worldwide lose weight and live healthier, happier lives.

Before Cambridge Weight Plan (CWP) implemented Eploy’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS) they had a completely manual recruitment process. Graham Jameson joined CWP to lead recruitment with a purpose to build in-house recruitment capability and scope out the requirements of an ATS. This was prompted by company growth, international expansion, and to drive cost efficiencies.

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Recruitment Challenges and Objectives:

• Move from HR and Agency led recruitment to a direct recruitment model, delivering an enviable candidate experience.Move from HR and Agency led recruitment to a direct recruitment model, delivering an enviable candidate experience.
• Reduce agency spend and utilise a wider range of sourcing channels.
• Improve the CWP employer brand with a dedicated candidate portal and delivery of a careers site, separate from the corporate website that was limited with careers information.
• Improve offer and pre-boarding process with online onboarding to remove multiple attachments via email with often repetitive information that was difficult to manage.

A process mapping exercise was undertaken as part of HR Leadership Change Programme. A case was presented detailing where an ATS would add value, where benefits could be made and the associated time saving, and equated costs could be realised.

A fresh approach to recruitment

After reviewing the marketplace for a functionally rich recruitment platform, CWP chose Eploy’s ATS and Talent Acquisition platform to enhance the recruitment experience.

As an SME, CWP don’t recruit by volume, however approx. £¼ million fees were spent on agencies prior to implementing Eploy and putting in place a robust candidate centric process. The changes are now delivering gross savings of £168k and net savings of £75k.

Alongside the implementation of Eploy, CWP prioritised the following initiatives when developing to further enhance candidate experience by incorporate:

• A comprehensive intake briefing takes place with each hiring manager to understand role purpose, level and requirements. That helps to get the right role specification and ensure the response and conversion rate is higher. 82% conversion rate from Hiring Manager review to 1st stage interview.
• The recruitment team spend time crafting strong job advert copy. The focus is to speak to candidate audience clearly, be transparent and share reasons to work for CWP, to provide the best possible start in attracting candidates.
• The candidate portal and careers site is seamlessly integrated to CWP main corporate site and contains candidate centric content. The careers site clearly signposts how candidates can apply online and sign up for job alerts with notifications of relevant roles. CV parsing in Eploy helps to capture the necessary information at application stage, reducing the repetition of data entry from candidates.
• The Recruitment Team developed content for the careers site and throughout the candidate journey to educate candidates about CWP business from early stages. Examples include’ what you can expect working for us’, which is sent as soon as someone applies, and an overview about the business, employee-ownership and what this means.
• Using Eploy’s interview scheduling tools, the interview scheduling process is simple and puts control with candidates to pick a convenient slot from the created slots. This gets excellent feedback from candidates on the ease of use and keeps everyone informed with email notifications.
• Candidates are guided and supported through the recruitment journey with CWP. The team developed an interview guide to help candidates understand the different types of interviews conducted and how to prepare. The guide is sent out as part of interview confirmation for candidates, which is all automated within the recruitment workflow.
• If a candidate is discounted in the recruitment process, candidate communication has been considered to exit candidates in the right way where they still feel valued. Using the e-marketing suite in Eploy, email templates are used automatically at the relevant stages and captured with the candidate record.
• The recruitment team provide detailed structured feedback via a phone call (in the first instance) or via email following interview. This is something not many organisations are able to do.
• Eploy’s Onboarding Module is used to improve the candidate experience. The process is now fully automated, collecting data securely with improved customisable workflow management. The streamlined onboarding and offers process has removed the 13+ documents that were previously sent via email that required scanning and returning from candidates. The online portal contains all the information a candidate needs and is a personalised experience.
• The recruitment team developed a welcome video from the CEO who shares what new joiners can expect from their journey at Cambridge Weight Plan. The video is used as part of the onboarding process and makes new starters feel valued.
• Candidates receive a welcome card, signed by all directors, to welcome candidates to the business.
• One week prior to joining CWP, a Joining Guide is shared with new starters to put them at ease. It shares all the information that a new starter thinks about and takes away any worries by communicating before someone joins, what to expect from onboarding, what to expect on the first day, lunch facilities, dress code, payday information and more!
• If candidates are discounted in the process, candidate communication has been considered to exit candidates in the right way and still feel valued. We provide detailed structured feedback via a phone call (in the first instance) or via email following interview. This is something not many organisations are able to do.

Candidate feedback: A real insight into the day-to-day

“ The process of applying, then a response to the application within 24 hours, where I could talk through the suitability with a recruiter was one of the smoothest interview processes I have been through.”

“ My experience has been excellent from the initial screening call to my first interview.” 

“ You’ve kept me informed every step of the way and provided me with valuable information about the role and the company, which has helped me prepare for the interview.”

“ Your emails are personable and friendly, with prompt follow-ups. Additionally, the option to book an interview slot online has been so convenient, offering great flexibility!”

Read the full case study here.