How one REC member was able to save 57% on their pre-employment screening costs

This is a guest contribution by REC business partner Giant Group.

The client

Keystream delivers recruitment & managed service talent solutions to Public Sector, NHS, Private Healthcare & Not-For-Profit organisations.

Founded in 2011, Keystream has grown to become one of the UK’s leading suppliers of talent for the public sector. Under the stewardship of founding Directors Johnny Stein and Andrew Jukes, Keystream has expanded beyond its first few London based NHS clients.  Now operating across the whole of the UK, Keystream Group works with over 65% of NHS organisations, private healthcare organisations, charities, central government and other public sector bodies.

As a values led business, Keystream believes in doing the right thing, putting clients and contractors first, acting as a responsible employer and giving back.

The challenge

Keystream has a number of compliance checks, such as criminal, referencing and education, that need to be conducted prior to placing a worker on-site. In addition, several documents and agreements need to be completed as part of the onboarding process. 

“We looked for an effective way to do this and invested in an “automated” software platform. However, we found that automation did not deliver the hands-off approach we required to effectively onboard our workers quickly and efficiently. In fact, we had to allocate significant human resource to the process which, in addition to increased costs, meant that our consultants could not focus on their core, revenue generating tasks.”  Andrew Jukes, Director

The solution

Keystream needed a solution that would reduce costs whilst allowing them to focus on key fee earning activities and delivery of the exceptional contractor and client experience they have become known for.

We chose giant because they are able to carry out all the background checks our client requires and, unlike other background checking companies, also deal with all relevant paperwork and compliance required to onboard a contractor.

“We chose giant for many reasons such as service delivery, cost and flexibility.  Their knowledge and experience of agency requirements gave us confidence that they could deliver what we needed, and go beyond this to proactively suggest other improvements to our processes.”  Johnny Stein

The results  

Working with giant has brought significant benefits to Keystream.

• the onboarding experience has been significantly improved.
• completion time for relevant checks and compliance has reduced.
• workers can be placed on site without delay.
• estimated cost saving is 57% in comparison with carrying out the work in-house.

“The service giant deliver has been fantastic from initial implementation through to delivery. Our contract network is well supported, as are our recruitment consultants. It has also meant that we can increase our business without needing to commit to additional internal resource.”  Andrew Jukes 

The conclusion

For Keystream, engaging with giant has been a resounding success, bringing several key benefits. The business is able to focus on growing core activities and increasing revenue, freeing up time for its recruitment consultants to concentrate on delivering for clients. They have the confidence that compliance and onboarding is being handled professionally in the background. 

This article was originally published via Giant Group. 

This is a guest blog contribution for the REC website. The views expressed by guest writers reflect the individual's personal opinions.