Case studies
NHS Resolution
Roles
- Finance Officer (temporary)
- Accounts Receivable Manager (permanent)
- Lead Accountant (permanent)
Client profile
NHS Resolution, established in 1995 and formerly known as NHS Litigation Authority, is a governmental body of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). It provides expertise to the NHS on resolving concerns and disputes, preserving resources for patient care.
Its services include:
- Claims management for clinical and non-clinical claims
- A tribunal service for primary care and contracting disputes
- Advice and support regarding concerns about the individual performance of doctors, dentists, and pharmacists
- Support to the NHS to aid understanding of claims risk, to assist patient safety activity
Assignment
Robertson Bell has previously made successful candidate placements at NHS Resolution. This led to us being recommended to help fill three new finance roles for the body: a Finance Officer (temporary), an Accounts Receivable Manager (permanent) and a Lead Accountant (permanent).
The client was looking for fully qualified candidates with experience in commercial and public sector work, but of course needed different expertise for each role. While legal knowledge wasn’t critical in any roles, an understanding of insurance would be advantageous.
Considerations and challenges
NHS Resolution provides its employees with a mixture of commercial and public sector work. This makes it the ideal choice for candidates already working in the public sector who are keen for a more commercial focus. Many of the considerations and challengers for each of the roles were similar, relating more to the organisation than the individual position. However, there were a few key differences.
Finance Officer
A quick turnaround was needed for this role. It was crucial that the candidate, while mid-level, had experience working in high pressured environments, which can often narrow down the talent pool. In the current candidate-led job market, special attention was needed to secure talent into this unique role quickly against other competing offers.
Accounts Receivable Manager
Part of the job specification was that the ideal candidate would have managed a large team in a large organisation. As the role would be one of high pressure, an already developed management skillset was needed to hit the ground running.
The interview process for this role was particularly unusual with up to three stages, including tests, which can sometimes put candidates off. It was important our consultants provided on-hand support to guide candidates through this seamlessly.
Lead Accountant
This role would be unique, comprised of financial analysis, legal claims, and insurance, which posed both an appeal and challenge to our consultants. A particular challenge of this role was the margins of flexibility offered.
At first, the role required office working twice a month, which allowed our consultants to expand the candidate search beyond London.
However, during the placement process, the requirements changed and the chosen candidate would need to spend one day in the office per week. While this change was a challenge, the exciting and niche nature of the role and organisation outweighed the commute. Our consultants worked with the candidates in the selection process to communicate this change with them and ensure all parties were happy to proceed under the new terms.
This placement also saw three other agencies working on placements and Robertson Bell came in on the assignment several days later than the competing agencies. As our consultants were briefed late Friday afternoon with a deadline to present candidates to the client on Monday, the tight turn around meant working quickly.
Solution
The time constraints of the assignments proved challenging. For the permanent roles, the turnaround was unusually tight and our consultants launched a full advertising campaign promptly to find candidates for the specialist roles.
Each campaign became top priority, with our consultants getting CVs sent across to the client as soon as possible. While the advertising campaigns did find fitting candidates, it wasn’t a surprise to our consultants that the successful shortlist presented came from the existing Robertson Bell database.
Robertson Bell has earned its reputation as a reputable leading recruiter in the UK’s financial, public, and third sectors. With an unmatched track record for placing highly skilled professionals in unique roles, our extensive network and database is often our go-to for candidate searching.
Despite tight deadlines, tricky interview processes, and flexible working guidelines changing, it is always important that our consultants manage client and candidate expectations to ensure placements are a comfortable fit for both parties.
Outcome
Robertson Bell’s detailed approach, combined with our experience and understanding of the sector, ensured the right people were sourced for these roles. Rather than only targeting public sector professionals, our consultants also reached out to commercial candidates. This helped to widen the talent pool and bring a different mix of skills and attributes for the client to consider.
Having successfully placed these three specialist finance roles, we are now searching for a fourth for NHS Resolution. Our track record with the organisation and the sector speaks for itself, while our consultants’ expert approach helps to secure the right candidates quickly.
The current talent market poses a huge challenge for organisations in almost all sectors. Available job roles vastly outnumber skilled candidates, making recruitment much more difficult. By partnering with a specialist recruitment agency, NHS Resolution were able to move quickly, making offers to candidates they may have otherwise spent months searching for – or not uncovered at all. Our unique perspective of the market gives us a broad overview and enables us to pinpoint the right individuals for your organisation.