Outlook Care cut candidate turnaround time by 50%, while improving visibility and continuity of processes
Outlook Care is a not for profit organisation that provides support to people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and older people. Established in 1989, they deliver services in eight local authorities across North and East London and Essex.
Challenge
- Disparate systems for the multiple checks required
- Limited visibility of candidate progress
- No central record of all screening checks for auditing or inspection purposes
- Average 10-week turnaround time for candidates
- Manual-heavy administration
Approach
- To work with a software provider who understood the business
- Implement a system that fitted into a planned growth model
Results
- Turnaround time reduced by 50% to just 5 weeks (average)
- Full visibility and continuity of screening process
- Centralised record of all screening data, with easy to access reporting
- Improved efficiency within HR team, particularly useful during COVID pandemic
- Excellent implementation and support experience
Reducing manual tasks, improving efficiency and candidate turnaround
Prior to implementing Screening, Outlook Care were working with multiple, admin heavy processes to complete the various checks required within the health and social care sector.
We were basically doing everything outside of a system, and there were just lots of emails. So for one particular candidate you’d have an email to send off to the occupational health people, you’d have a separate process and a separate portal to go through for the DBS, we’d have then separate places we’d have to send the references to, so there was so many different avenues you were having to go down for every candidate.
Emma Kornblum, HR & Resourcing Partner
Within the Outlook Care HR team these unnecessarily complicated processes were taking up a lot of time.
Easy and straightforward implementation
Despite implementing Screening during a pandemic, Outlook Care received a seamless introduction of the solution into their systems.
I’ve done many an implementation, never have I experienced something so smooth.
An Margison, Assistant Director of Human Resources
The team received exceptional support and training from the Access team, and felt well supported and informed throughout.
Our implementation consultant was excellent in the way she supported us, she was very clear in the training that she gave us and in clarifying what we needed to do in between the meetings we were having with her in order to reach our deadlines. She would also check in between meetings, and say ‘How are you getting on? Is there anything I can help you with? Anything you’ve got a query on?’ The communication was very clear.
Emma Kornblum, HR & Resourcing Partner
Despite some concerns about how the team would respond to introducing new software into their work, once Access Screening was in place, An, Emma and their colleagues found it easy and intuitive to pick up and start using.
Even people who may be concerned by change will just welcome Screening with open arms, that’s how I know it’s been a success in our team.
An Margison, Assistant Director of Human Resources
The team have also found that they have been able to configure and use the system in a really natural and simple way, that has allowed them to just get on with their jobs.
One of my colleagues mentioned recently that she likes that there’s more than one way to go in, and different approaches to get into the system or to find a person or information. That just shows that she’s found it easy enough and user-friendly enough to go in and explore the system, to work with it and take it on board quite quickly.
Emma Kornblum, HR & Resourcing
What our customers say
It’s revolutionised the way we do screening. It’s made it so much more efficient and because all of us on the HR team have got access to the system, the continuity and the consistency is much better.
It’s reassuring to know Access Screening can support our recruitment process and the necessary pre-employment processes in the social care sector. My one concern when exploring screening was thinking will it be able to make sure we’ve got everything we need in the same place, and it has definitely ticked all those boxes.
It’s dramatically reduced our reliance on manual processes.
Excellent visibility, making meeting regulations easy
Access Screening is particularly beneficial for companies like Outlook Care, that operate in a highly regulated sector.
In the social care sector we have many pre-employment checks to undertake, and being able to manage them all in the one place is a huge benefit for us. It also helps us evidence that we are compliant with all necessary pre-employment processes.
An Margison, Assistant Director of Human Resources
Having comprehensive visibility of their screening processes and being able to view this so easily and simply in once place provides companies like Outlook Care real reassurance when it comes to recording and monitoring and enables them to support their managers with their regulatory requirements regarding maintaining a safe and compliant workforce.
The report that comes from the system gives all the information the HR team need to share with managers, helping them ensure compliance with regulators such as CQC as it shows that all necessary pre-employment checks have been completed satisfactorily, the date of the check and evidence of the check.
An Margison, Assistant Director of Human Resource
Outlook Care has seen a wide range of benefits since implementing Access Screening
Here are some of the key stats:
Centralised record of all screening data, with easy to access reporting
%
Outlook Care reduced their candidate turnaround time by 50% - from an average of 10 weeks to 5 weeks
