Building a Specialist Intelligence and Insights Team for Livv Housing Group
Discover how Adecco’s Housing team delivered five specialist data and insight hires for Livv Housing Group in a highly competitive market.
About the Client
Livv is a housing organisation based in Prescot, Merseyside, England. They provide 13,000 homes across Liverpool City Region and the North West, plus apprenticeships, training, health and local projects to build communities.
The Challenge
Livv Housing Group were restructuring its business intelligence and strategic insight team. As part of this change, several new and redefined roles were identified requiring niche data and analytical skills.
Across 18 months, Adecco were asked to support with the recruitment of:
- Head of Business Intelligence
- Insight Officer
- Performance Officer
- Data Quality Officer
- Data Engineer
These roles required a blend of specialist skills, including data analysis, visualisation, data engineering, critical thinking, strategic analysis, and data modelling.
With the client facing intense competition for roles from larger private-sector employers in the local market, they needed a recruitment partner who could run an exhaustive sourcing and attraction campaign that would deliver, drawing on local expertise combined with proven national infrastructure.
The client’s stakeholders also wanted to:
- Achieve better control and oversight of candidates throughout the recruitment process.
- Ensure recruitment milestones and targets were completed to the correct timescales.
- Improve their approach to ED&I, ensuring a more inclusive recruitment process.
The client partnered with Adecco, recognising our ability not only to provide reliable, high-calibre candidates but also to align with their broader objectives, driving improvement and adding value.
Our Solution
Adecco established a dedicated delivery team to manage the campaign. This included:
- Housing IT Lead – acting as the main client contact and campaign lead.
- Delivery Consultant – managing day-to-day candidate engagement and pipeline.
- Researcher – conducting targeted market mapping and headhunting.
- Marketing Executive – supporting attraction activity and campaign branding.
Under the guidance of the Housing IT Lead, the campaign followed a structured process:
Kick-off and Campaign Design
We conducted a detailed kick-off meeting with key stakeholders to:
This ensured that all subsequent activity would closely align with the client’s expectations and be tailored to their brand and culture.
The client was also keen for the team to ensure a diverse shortlist of candidates. With ample experience in driving ED&I across the recruitment process for similar organisations, our team drew on established and evolving processes to ensure an inclusive approach.
Bespoke Marketing and Attraction Strategy
We developed a tailored attraction plan for the campaign, including:
- A clear schedule of where and how each role would be advertised.
- Refined advert content that highlighted the client’s social purpose, community impact and development opportunities.
- A social media plan to extend reach across relevant digital channels.
The aim was to position Livv Housing Group as an employer of choice for candidates motivated by both technical challenges and community impact.
Headhunting and Market Search
Given the specialist nature of the roles and the competitive local market, we supplemented advertising with a tailored headhunting campaign.
This included:
- A deep market search for each role.
- Targeted approaches to agreed organisations and relevant sectors.
- Screening against technical skill sets, qualifications and cultural fit.
This combination of proactive search and branded advertising ensured a strong shortlist for each vacancy.
Structured Shortlisting
Each candidate was pre-screened, covering both technical competence and alignment with the client’s values and ways of working.
Following this, the team:
- Shared a recommended shortlist with the client.
- Talked through candidate profiles and any development areas for candidates with transferable skills.
- Provided CVs and summary notes for agreed candidates to move forward to interview.
This approach gave the client better visibility while reducing the time they needed to spend reviewing unsuitable applications.
Selection and Interview Management
Adecco coordinated first-stage interviews via Microsoft Teams, followed by second-stage interviews held in-person at the client’s offices.
The team took responsibility for scheduling, candidate communications and feedback, ensuring a consistent experience for all applicants.
Offer Management and Onboarding
Once the client selected their chosen candidates, the team managed offer negotiations and provided feedback to both successful and unsuccessful candidates.
They also maintained contact throughout notice periods and the onboarding stage. Once successful candidates were in place, we continued to check in with both hiring managers and candidates to support a smooth transition into the new team and to minimise any issues.
Outcomes
Adecco fulfilled all vacancies within a competitive timeframe. The client was particularly impressed by the diverse and talented shortlist.
By taking on the heavy lifting of sourcing, filtering applications and conducting pre-screening, the client’s stakeholders were able to dedicate more time to the business. They also shared that the interviews were interesting and enjoyable.
The Adecco team are well placed to support the client’s future hiring needs as a trusted and valued partner.
“The quality of the candidates has been strong and, more importantly, the service has been excellent. Adecco have got to know us as a business and has understood who we are and our culture. This is a challenging market for us, but we have been in safe hands and would happily recommend Adecco.” — Martin Thomas, Director of Business Intelligence and Strategic Insight, Livv Housing.
Key Results
- 5x specialist roles successfully filled.
- Faster than expected timescales and higher quality of candidates than anticipated due to Adecco’s proven recruitment model and expertise.
- Currently looking to the future to explore future hiring needs for the client.
Enhance Your Housing Recruitment with Adecco
We have partnered with over 200 Housing Associations across the UK. Through our partnership approach, we have built a comprehensive understanding of how to overcome the specific challenges facing the housing sector.
We are well-versed in the challenges of recruiting and retaining talent for high-pressure, demanding roles. Add in competitors vying for the same talent pool, plus keeping up with legislative and regulatory changes, and it’s easy to understand why so many housing associations are relying on us to support their recruitment initiatives.
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