.jpg)
A New Approach to Recruitment in Finance
Alignment to PS ambitions:
Background
In December 2024, the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH) recruited two Level 3 Accountancy Apprentices into the Finance team as part of the new approach to recruitment in Finance. Apprenticeships have existed within the Finance Directorate before, though these were on an ad hoc basis and were mostly isolated to specific departments. When George Whalley, Deputy Director of Finance rejoined the University, he became responsible for overseeing finance business partnering teams as well as training, development, recruitment, and retention for the Directorate of Finance. Returning with experience of overseeing Finance Apprenticeship Schemes and having great success with recruiting enthusiastic apprentices, George was keen to implement a structured Finance Apprenticeship Scheme here at the University.
Led by John Irvine (Head of School Finance in the School of Health Sciences) and George, partnering with The Growth Company who are a UK leading apprenticeship provider, this collaboration between internal and external stakeholders enhanced the implementation of the Finance Apprenticeship Scheme. This partnership played a critical role in the program's success and was influential in helping the team deliver a new role-redesign where the Grade 2 role of Finance Assistant Apprentice aligned with the Level 3 Accountancy Apprenticeship course. It also enhanced the universities reach in attracting candidates from diverse backgrounds and provides a direct route into Grade 4 Finance Officer roles upon completion of the apprenticeship.
A robust assessment day was created which was intended to be fun and provide a comfortable environment to help bring the most out of candidates. It included campus tours, group activities, interactive sessions, short interviews that evaluated candidates’ communication and teamwork skills as well as motivation. Because of this, there was a lot of engagement and enriching conversations from the candidates.
Overcoming Challenges
- It was identified that recruitment for Finance Officer roles often faced a shortage of suitable applicants, leaving positions unfilled or taking up too much staff time to enable recruitment. Retention challenges were rising alongside this due to limited opportunities for development and progression within the existing recruitment model. Recruitment of apprentices at the top of Grade 2, to complete an 18-month Level 3 apprenticeship to then progress onto the permanent roles and ongoing professional training is a strategic pivot to address these challenges of recruitment and retention.
- Internal and external partnerships launched a sustainable and inclusive apprenticeship scheme. Tackling inclusive recruitment challenges, widened access to finance roles, creating career pathways for progression and sparked an initiative to create a community of learners within Finance roles.
Benefits of the new approach
- Increase in access to a diverse talent pool by recruiting through an apprenticeship provider.
- Enhanced inclusive recruitment by drawing on applicants from a variety of backgrounds.
- Career progression through staff development and training.
- Upskilling current staff who are line managing the apprentices.
- Improved staff retention as the Level 3 apprentices are encouraged to continue studying and progress through of team structures.
- Increased financial efficiency as we utilised apprenticeship levy, making it cost-effective.
- Less time intensive recruitment for our teams, utilising the reach and networks of our apprenticeship partner.
Feedback
Feedback from Successful Candidates:
“I enjoyed the variety of tasks which were both creative and fun giving me an insight into what some of the tasks are like. Meeting the team was also great as everyone was so welcoming and friendly.” (Sara Mahmoud, Finance Assistant Apprentice)
“I enjoyed the assessment day because it was a great way to be introduced to the team at the finance department, I got to know a bit about everyone which let me know if I would enjoy working within the team (which I'm happy to say I enjoy it a lot). I loved the little challenge we had where we built a tower out of spaghetti, overall, it was a great day.” (Yusaf Khan, Finance Assistant Apprentice)
Link to PS Ambitions
The apprenticeship initiative exemplifies the Finance directorate commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability in workforce development. The new approach to recruitment has created a model that offers a framework for other departments seeking to balance operational needs with a long-term vision for talent recruitment and retention.