Support the Business by Growing from Within
With the rollout to connect high-speed fibre to 8 million homes in more than 285 cities, towns, and villages nearing completion, CityFibre knew it would need to embark on a new phase of its business journey. After increasing headcount by 80% over two years, the company wanted to facilitate internal mobility and career development for its current employees.
Promoting internal mobility is an important part of the company’s ethos. “We want people to have the opportunity to grow as the business grows,” said Richard Hutchinson, Head of Resourcing at CityFibre.
SmartRecruiters had provided a robust platform for managing external hires, but CityFibre had no tools to support internal job applications or employee referrals. The company promoted jobs in an internal Microsoft Teams chat, and employees had to apply by submitting a Word document via email. “There was no visibility of all vacancies in one place,” Hutchinson said. CityFibre also lacked a technology that allowed employees to recommend friends or family to its openings, making it difficult to track the disbursement of employee referral bonuses.
About CityFibre
- Industry: Telecommunications
- Region: UK
- Employees: 1,450
- Headquarters: London, UK
- Hiring Model: Centralized
CityFibre is the UK’s largest independent Full Fibre infrastructure platform. The company provides digital infrastructure that enables its wholesale customers to provide ultra-fast, reliable and futureproof broadband, ethernet and 5G services to homes and businesses and other sites such as schools and hospitals.
Recruitment Operations & Continuous Improvement Manager
Employee Portal Offers Centralized Access to Jobs
CityFibre deployed the SmartRecruiters Employee Portal to promote internal mobility and employee referrals. Employees have single sign-on (SSO) access to the portal, which they can reach through the CityFibre intranet.
Internal Applications
On the portal, they can scan existing vacancies by searching and filtering to find the most relevant results and sign up for job alerts. When they see an opportunity they like, they complete a quick, simple application process that captures their resume. The workflow checks to ensure that their line manager has been informed that they’re applying for a new position. After applying, an employee goes through the recruitment pipeline in the same way as an external candidate.
Employee Referrals
The portal enables employees to easily refer friends and family members to hiring managers through a seamless online interface. Previously, there had been disputes with multiple people claiming credit for the same referral. Now, ownership of a referral is clear. Employees receive both a sense of pride and a monetary bonus for providing a job to one of their connections.
Recruitment Operations & Continuous Improvement Manager
Key Outcomes
In the first three months of Employee Portal, CityFibre achieved:
- 21% of hires from internal employees
- 19% of hires from referrals
- 100+ employees signed up for job alerts
Results: More Internal Hires, Referrals, and a Morale Boost
The Employee Portal has helped reduce recruiting costs and boosted morale by empowering CityFibre employees with an easy way to look for internal jobs, apply, and make referrals.
In the first three months of using the SmartRecruiters Employee Portal, more than one in five hires (21%) came from employees, and nearly as many (19%) came from referrals. In addition, more than 100 people signed up for job alerts.
For a company so focused on connecting the country, the SmartRecruiters Employee Portal has been the perfect partnership to help CityFibre build stronger relationships with its workforce. As the business grows, its employees will be empowered to grow, too.
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