The challenge
MAN Truck & Bus UK are part of the Volkswagen group selling and servicing commercial vehicles across the UK and employ around 850 staff in a mix of white and blue collar roles. The business had lost its market positioning, underinvested in the People agenda and needed remedial action in a number of areas. A new CEO and HRD came in to drive effective change and we were (and still are) delighted to support them.
Attrition was running at 20% and it was killing their business. In a technical engineering environment, the accepted operational and financial maximum for attrition is less than 10%, beyond that the effect on safety and customer service – and cost – is difficult to manage. MAN were also over reliant on 3rd party recruitment agencies resulting in an inconsistent recruitment process and, more worryingly, £000s of unnecessary spend.
We set upon a programme to understand both the causes and effects of the current situation and to implement a new and better way of working to both slash agency spend and cut attrition to below 10%. And we wanted to ensure a legacy of improvement for the future. The commitment we made to the new CEO and HRD was that, not only could they could realise significant financial gains in Year 1, but that they would benefit from the same savings in Years 2, 3 and beyond as the improvements were permanent.
The solution
MAN had a great story to tell but simply weren’t telling it. We had to define and deliver it effectively. And we had to leverage the employer brand strategy to change many of the old ways of working which would increase the quality and decrease the cost of their recruitment and solve the attrition issues.
The process we implemented was as follows:
This gave us a clear picture as to where the employer brand stood within the key audiences that mattered to MAN. Employer branding is a strategy that describes how an organisation markets its employment offer to existing and future talent.
‘...a set of attributes and qualities, often intangible, that makes an organisation distinctive, promises a particular kind of employment experience, and appeals to those people who will thrive and perform best in its culture.’
So, from the diagnostic we;
The outcome
A strong team effort across both DNA and the key contacts within MAN has made a measurable and sustainable difference. The new CEO and HRD had the mandate to drive change and we have been delighted to support them. Within a year, agency spend is significantly reduced. Critically, attrition is below 10%. And, in terms of the business performance overall, MAN UK have gone from the bottom of every market league table to the top – sales, customer service, NPS and more..
What our client said…
‘It was really important to find a partner who took the time to get to know us as an organisation; we had some immediate commercial challenges to overcome, so I needed a team who understood this but also our level of ambition for the future. The DNA team have been fantastic – they have worked with us to overcome these challenges and shown great creativity when it came to translating what our business is all about, into a brand that a wider audience can relate to. We’re incredibly proud of the end result and of the ongoing relationship we now have with DNA.’
Catherine Brown, HR Director
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