Care UK will go head-to-head with household names like Adobe and Coca-Cola in May, in a bid to win a national award set up to find those companies which go out of their way to give their employees the best possible experience.

A new project marrying technology and taking good care of the organisation’s latest recruits has caught the eye of the judges responsible for the 2022 UK Employee Experience Awards. Care UK is shortlisted in the Best Use of Digital Technologies category. 

The project uses a software platform, which delivers messages to a person’s mobile phone, to bring a personalised experience to people who are offered a role with Care UK. 

A pilot project was used to design the full rollout. Using this knowledge, management teams at each of Care UK’s homes have been coached in how to use the software to improve the experience of recruits – particularly during the more drawn-out periods of the recruitment process which requires everyone to have various checks such as the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), necessary to keep residents safe. 

After being offered a role, the system is used to send each new starter interesting content about Care UK and their workplace to keep them engaged while they wait until their first day. This might be welcome videos from colleagues, photos of residents enjoying activities or useful information about their new role and team. The system also asks for a candidate to share their favourite things, which can then be used to personalise their experience when they join the team. 

In addition, the software shows the home manager whether those waiting to start their new role are interacting with the content, enabling them to act swiftly and proactively if they think someone has stopped engaging with their messages.

“We work hard to attract people to apply for a variety of roles with us but our analysis had shown that many dropped out between being offered the role and their first day – often because the background checks, which are mostly out of our control, can take several days or even weeks,” said Human Resources director at Care UK, Leah Queripel.

“This project has reduced the number dropping out by over a third and, crucially, we are seeing new colleagues start with a better idea of their role and their working environment.”

As well as creating a personalised experience for each recruit, the system is also used to instantly communicate news and messages to the wider workforce in a channel they are familiar with. This has been particularly useful to support the health and wellbeing of colleagues during the pandemic and to communicate urgent messages as the situation changed.

The winner will be announced at a ceremony on 19th May.