Achieving 30% Fill Rates vs. 10-Year Incumbents

A large technology company hadn’t added a new IT staffing supplier for the past decade. But the demands of the business, combined with their goals for improved quality, responsiveness, and diversity led them on a search for a single new supplier. After a rigorous three-round process, PTR Global was chosen as that supplier.

Over the past decade, a group of incumbent suppliers had become highly familiar with the program, built long term relationships with the hiring managers, filled all open requisitions, and in some cases, even rented property near the client’s locations.  The value of incumbency was even greater given the client’s use of a proprietary, internal VMS platform that could only be accessed from inside their network.  

Investing in Client Service.  Step 1 in our approach to breaking through the wall of incumbency was to invest in a senior level, highly experienced tech sector team of professionals.  The six-person client-facing team included an overall Account Executive, two client-facing Account Managers, and three client-facing Delivery Managers overseeing multiple teams of skill-specialized, industry-specialized Recruiters.  Importantly, the Recruiters assigned to the account were experienced IT Engineering Recruiters, not simply recruiting professionals. 

Investing in Technology.  The investments in the team were supplemented with significant investments in technology.  Automated skills validation platforms, nationwide search platforms, and candidate referral networks were significant investments that yielded immediate results.  In addition, PTR Global invested in a range of diversity-focused job boards to ensure that every qualified candidate could be identified.  Combined, our investment exceeded $20,000 per Recruiter!  

Investing in Quality & Retention.  Finally, PTR Global invested significantly in our Customer Care team to ensure the highest levels of Contractor quality and retention.  Dedicated Customer Care professionals checked in with each hiring manager on a regular basis to assess issues of quality, fit, and overall effectiveness.  The team also checked in regularly with the Contractors to answer questions, provide feedback, and address any issues or concerns they may have. 

Remarkably, we were able to achieve a 30% fill rate during Year 1 of the program – a virtually unheard of level of success in today’s highly competitive marketplace. In addition, our goal was to include women and minority candidates in our candidate slates. The billable population was 48% women and 47% minorities.