Case studies
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Head of Financial Management (Interim)
Head of Financial Management (Permanent)
Client Profile
Royal United Hospitals (RUH) Bath provides a wide range of services including medicine and surgery, services for women and children, accident and emergency services, and diagnostic and clinical support services. Its values are: ‘Everyone Matters, Working Together, Making a Difference’ and were created based on feedback from 1,000 hours of listening to staff, patients, carers and families about their experience of working and being cared for at the RUH.
As RUH Bath is a NHS Foundation Trust, it is free from central government control, but continues to deliver free care based on need, not ability to pay. It can be more flexible about how money is invested in patient care and is more accountable to patients, staff and visitors through a body called the Council of Governors.
An NHS Foundation Trust aims to ensure that your local hospital is the hospital of choice for quality and safe treatment, gives patients the opportunity to get actively involved in how it is run and ensures all can benefit from better services, building and infrastructure.
Assignment
The Deputy Director of Finance at RUH Bath held a previous relationship with the Robertson Bell team, as a former candidate, and reached out for support with a piece of recruitment they had been struggling with. The nature of the NHS means that most permanent recruitment is taken on in-house via NHS jobs initially, but if unsuccessful, departments will then reach out for external support.
The vacancy was for ‘Head of Financial Management’ which was an ‘8C’ salary band position – a very senior post that has a fundamental role in the structure of the team.
The Deputy Director of Finance (and line manager for the role in question) provided the team with vital context to the hire, explaining how they had been brought into the team to improve the Financial Management department of the organisation, and needed a deputy to support her in achieving the team’s goals and ambitions. It was therefore of the upmost importance to fill the vacancy quickly, particularly as the team was approaching a key, and busy, time of year.
Taking these considerations on board, the Robertson Bell team offered support that was two-fold – hiring someone on a permanent basis, and in the meantime bringing in some much-needed interim support – essentially running two processes alongside one another.
Following the pitch, the Deputy Director of Finance was eager to engage with Robertson Bell for both hires and was hopeful to receive a quick turnaround on the interim position as it was expected that anyone sourced for the permanent position would be on a three-month notice period, given the level of seniority.
Considerations and challenges
Because NHS experience was desired but not essential, the team worked to headhunt candidates that wouldn’t have otherwise known to look for roles on the NHS jobs platform. This required the team to explore all NHS and non-NHS avenues, educating people about what a career in the NHS means and its benefits, and providing guidance about transferring into a different industry.
One of the challenges for the permanent position was the location. Being based in Bath, there was not a huge range of nearby NHS organisations to source talent from. The second key consideration was around salary, where, due to the nature of the NHS system, regimented benchmarks are in place that have no scope for additional negotiation. However, due to the consultants' experience within this sector, this is a challenge faced frequently and was overcome through strong consultation acumen.
Solution
The hiring process became an exclusive recruitment campaign between Robertson Bell and RUH Bath, making it clear to candidates where the job would be. The team set timeframes and took a thorough brief from the line manager in order to dig down and fully understand the organisation’s structure and priorities and what they needed from candidates. The consultants were able to successfully appoint someone into the interim position early on, meaning that the line manager’s team was fully staffed, giving them breathing space to source a high-quality permanent hire. This also allowed a handover to take place once the permanent candidate was in position.
The team implemented a broad range of search techniques including vetting applications, combing numerous specialist CV sites and in this case, implementing rigorous head hunting within the ‘passive’ market. An intense four-week period ensured that the entire market was covered and resulted in several candidates being put forward for the role. The team sent over a shortlist on the agreed date and, as is usual NHS protocol, candidates would only be going through a one-stage interview before offers were made. Four out of the five CVs shared with the client resulted in face-to-face interviews, two of which were identified as appointable, which was a strong position to be in.
One of the candidates had previous NHS experience, which, although not essential, was identified as being an advantage and gave them a slight edge. This candidate was offered the position and accepted.
However, the line manager then quickly returned to Roberton Bell with another role they had on the horizon as an additional vacancy within the team. It was a ‘Head of Financial Projects’ role at the same 8C level of seniority and the client felt that the second appointable candidate from the previous hiring efforts would be a strong contender for the role.
This required Roberton Bell to launch a new hiring campaign, again involving a shortlist and interviews to ensure a fair assessment of the market for this new position. The second candidate was ultimately successful in gaining the position.
Outcome
The client was delighted that Robertson Bell was able to successfully fill two permanent 8C vacancies in the team – sourcing two appointable candidates clearly showed that they had taken on board her needs and expectations. By providing interim support, the consultants were able to alleviate pressure from the Deputy Director of Finance and ensure a vital handover could take place.
The campaign demonstrates Robertson Bell’s comprehensive knowledge and expertise within the contract and permanent market space, as well as the team’s understanding of the unique needs that an NHS organisation faces. The consultants pulled out all the stops during the campaign, utilising their comprehensive database and network of contacts, and tapping into the passive market – understanding that when the market is competitive, a proactive approach is crucial. The client has since returned to Robertson Bell for support with other vacancies.