Solving Ricardo's temporary & permanent talent challenges for over 16 years.
Ricardo is a global engineering and environmental consultancy business employing 3,000 personnel across multiple business units. As an innovative business at the forefront of changing technologies, Ricardo prides itself on having incredible technical knowledge that drives them in pioneering new solutions. To enable them to deliver high-tech solutions, Ricardo required a market leading approach to engage the very best engineering talent.
Our partnership with Ricardo spans over 25 years. We began our partnership as a PSL supplier to Ricardo's Performance Products business unit, before beginning to deliver Automotive & Industrials' temporary workforce solution (MSP) from 2009 and providing an onsite recruitment partner to support their TA team's permanent recruitment in 2014. As a result of our support, we have delivered heights of over 200 permanent hires and up to 200 contract workers on site per year, providing engineering, professional, technical and clerical skill sets.
Within this case study, we have further detailed our partnership by providing a breakdown of each core element of our service, including our:
1. Flexible workforce solution (MSP)
The MSP problem
In 2008, Ricardo was facing challenges with its hiring process including:
- A large supply chain: Their TA team were having to manage a significant PSL of 30 suppliers; whilst this was naturally time consuming, this set up also didn't provide Ricardo with true accountability for fulfilling their requirements.
- No clear processes: A lack of process underpinning the PSL often led to hiring managers engaging suppliers on an ad-hoc basis and therefore agreeing to high rates, resulting in overspending.
This resulted in difficulties with finding the contingent specialist engineers they required.
Too much money and time was spent on inefficient recruitment processes.
Our MSP solution
To solve these challenges, Ricardo engaged Matchtech to deliver an MSP. We formed an experienced Solution Team to manage the implementation and delivery of our solution, providing:
- Expert workforce planning to capture their current workforce requirements and allocating resource where it's needed most, increasing efficiency of their recruitment process.
- Supply chain management to consolidate their supply chain of 30 suppliers. We appointed a Supply Chain Manager to carry out our proven Supply Chain Management programme. We initially captured their highest-performing suppliers to streamline their PSL and then boosted engagement through supplier briefings, Ricardo news & updates and supplier satisfaction surveys. We ensured continuous improvement through SLAs & KPIs, which we reviewed on a quarterly basis and installed compliance measures such as annual audits and encouraging applications for desired accreditations such as the Supply Chain Sustainability School and SBTi to improve ESG performance and adherence to Ricardo's requirements.
- Contractor delivery to ensure project timelines were met. We utilised our in-house delivery brand, Matchtech, to supply their engineering, professional and technical skill sets at lower rates than their current PSL, providing cost savings.
- Contractor screening to ensure a compliant workforce. We assigned a Solution Coordinator to provide support with Ricardo's screening requirements.
- On-site recruitment experts to improve internal knowledge of hiring managers.
The results
Our MSP has resulted in providing Ricardo with:
75 contractors delivered on average per year
c.200 contractors on-site at peak periods
100% fulfilment of their temporary talent
After a successful six-year relationship in which Matchtech cemented itself as an integral partner for contingent recruitment, Ricardo asked Matchtech to encompass their engineering and technical permanent requirements within our service to deliver a total workforce solution. We have provided more information in the next section.
2. Permanent talent acquisition solution (RPO)
The RPO problem
Ricardo operated a PSL to deliver their technical permanent talent requirements. In 2014, they recognised their PSL was not consistently delivering their permanent requirements and that they didn't have a holistic approach to recruitment that joined up their permanent and temporary recruitment efforts.
Having seen the delivery, process and added value benefits an MSP could deliver, they wanted to consolidate their temporary and permanent TA process.
Additionally, like all PLCs, they had to respond to rapidly escalating public, consumer, shareholder and employee expectations on subjects such as ED&I, sustainability, governance and ethical practice requirements. This meant that they needed a solution that could provide added value and consultancy, in addition to their permanent talent.
The RPO solution
Utilising the knowledge of Ricardo built from six years as their MSP provider, we worked with their permanent TA team to review and consolidate some of their TA processes and mirror our MSP successes via:
- Overall process management via a Solutions Manager who coordinated the entire process by assigning internal subject matter experts to fulfil Ricardo's requirements.
- Expert workforce planning to capture their current workforce requirements and allocate resource where it's needed most, increasing efficiency of their recruitment process.
- On-site recruitment experts to improve internal knowledge of hiring managers.
- Supply chain management to consolidate their PSL, increasing efficiency and promoting a more manageable use of the Ricardo brand and external messaging.
- Reporting on KPIs and SLAs to provide a structured feedback and continuous improvement strategy.
- Marketing services and consultation from our Employer Branding Consultant to increase brand presence and Employer Value Proposition (EVP) via Glassdoor scores and various email campaign.
Adding value to Ricardo's permanent strategy
Our RPO's aim to go above and beyond to add value to our clients' overall talent strategy. For Ricardo, we provided:
- ESG consultancy via our in house Head of ESG and Head of ED&I to support with industry best practice and introduce Ricardo to our partnerships to further their ESG goals.
- Bid support, where we provided relevant candidates that could deliver works they were bidding for, alongside market insights and salary/rate benchmarking.
- Employer branding support, including the creation of campaign-specific marketing materials and general marketing assets for online use to improve Ricardo's market presence (examples can be seen below).
The results
Given the history between Ricardo and Matchtech, encompassing permanent requirements within our already successful service, allowed for a smooth transition and further improved the experience of Ricardo stakeholders and candidates. The total workforce solution incorporated permanent and contingent recruitment of all skill sets in engineering, professional, technical and clerical disciplines and resulted in:
Up to 200 permanent hires per year
18 days reduction in time-to-hire
4.1/5 Glassdoor score (increased from 2.9 within 4 months) due to our branding campaign
After multiple contract renewals, retaining our place as their Total Talent Solutions provider, Ricardo were looking to grow internationally. Given our own global growth strategy, they requested our assistance in supporting their TA approach across North America.
3. International BD and project resourcing solution
The international situation
Ricardo UK, specifically the Rail CE & ES business units, did not have a clear strategy in place when it came to their global business and talent requirements. They had limited understanding and experience of international business practices and legislative compliance procedures alongside lacking localised talent networks to deploy workers upon project mobilisation.
Ricardo identified a need for agile international business development support with rapid project resourcing capability. They needed to engage the support of a recruitment partner with significant experience, insights and talent pools to support their ambitions.
The international solution
Building on their already successful relationship with our delivery brand, Matchtech, we re-introduced them to Matchtech's international specialist, Ben Rogers.
Ben has almost 10 years’ experience in recruitment and specialises in the infrastructure & transportation sectors, delivering senior hires with technology and engineering skill sets. Ben helps his clients with challenges beyond recruitment, helping expand their networks, business development opportunities and supporting their growth on a global scale. He supports a large portfolio of clients across the division, including Ricardo, WSP, Egis, Metrolinx and High-Speed Rail.
For Ricardo, Ben utilised our global network of offices and internal resource to provide a consultative service, providing information on the global candidate and client market in key locations of interest to Ricardo. Our service encompassed:
We also identified pro-active ways to support Ricardo's strategic business growth, such as providing them with Canadian office space to assist with setting up their own Canadian base of operations.
The results
We are now Ricardo's highest-performing permanent and contract supplier across North America, Middle East and US.
We have supported Ricardo Rail by identifying, scoping, qualifying and facilitating strategic introductions on 30 bid opportunities, following up with tender support resulting in 2 bids wins and over $11.5m revenue. Our provision of pre-screened, qualified candidates have enabled us to rapidly resource these projects across the globe so Ricardo can deliver on its project commitments.
Beyond delivering the basics, we’ve identified pro-active ways to support Ricardo, such as providing Ricardo Rail with Canadian office space and facilitating CMREA Training for Metrolinx delivered by Damon High (HSRS), free of charge.
26 international hires from senior leadership to project delivery
30 bid opportunities supported
$11.5m additional revenue generated through bidding activities
Outstanding client satisfaction
At Matchtech, we pride ourselves on building long-lasting and meaningful client partnerships. Our company's mission is: "Every day, we deliver a service that is so trusted that our clients, candidates colleagues and suppliers recommend us without hesitation."
Our partnership with Ricardo has continued throughout multiple contract renewals, with Ricardo’s CEO commenting upon our last contract renewal:
“Matchtech has built trust with us over the years and we have confidence that their continued support will enable us to succeed in our strategic objectives, thus delivering value to our own shareholders as well as Matchtech’s.”
Get in touch
Reach out to one of our Talent Solutions Directors to discuss how we can support you.
