Introduction

Pearson, a global FTSE 100 education business with 22,000 employees, faced significant challenges in recruiting for their Enrolment and Student Success teams within Pearson Online Learning Services (POLS). Historically, Pearson hired candidates with a few years of commercial experience, but this approach led to poor retention and capability misalignment. With eight urgent vacancies and an increasing difficulty in securing experienced hires, Pearson partnered with The Early Careers Company to design a more effective hiring strategy.

Challenge

Pearson needed to fill critical vacancies with candidates who possessed the right capabilities to excel in the roles. However, their traditional hiring methods brought in candidates who lacked the essential characteristics for long-term success, resulting in retention issues. The company needed a new approach that could identify early talent aligned with the key success factors for these roles.

Solution

To address Pearson's recruitment challenges, The Early Careers Company implemented a comprehensive, four-phase solution. The process began with psychometric profiling of 20 top performers at Pearson, combined with research calls conducted with team members and leadership. This step provided critical insights into the behaviours and characteristics required for success in Pearson’s Enrolment and Student Success roles.

Using this data, ECC developed a Core Characteristics Framework that outlined the key traits for high performance in the roles. This framework became a blueprint for hiring junior talent, ensuring that future hires would be aligned with Pearson’s needs.

Next, ECC designed an Assessment Centre specifically tailored to Pearson’s recruitment goals. The Assessment Centre included a variety of evaluations, such as 1-1 interviews, group tasks, and passion presentations, to thoroughly assess candidates against the Core Characteristics Framework. This approach ensured that Pearson could identify not only the most capable candidates but also those who fit the company’s culture and long-term vision.

Finally, ECC launched a targeted hiring campaign that focused on identifying and assessing early talent. Through outreach efforts, the team identified 1,371 candidates, conducted 307 interviews, and invited 20 candidates to the Assessment Centre.

Outcome

This rigorous process resulted in Pearson hiring eight candidates. These new hires represented the best of a diverse talent pool, which was 90% state school educated, 55% BAME, and 60% female. Most importantly, Pearson achieved an 88% 6-month retention rate – a significant improvement compared to previous recruitment cycles.

This new, data-driven recruitment strategy allowed Pearson to hire candidates who not only had the right capabilities but were also aligned with the company’s values and long-term goals. By improving both the diversity and quality of hires, Pearson was able to strengthen its Enrolment and Student Success teams, setting the foundation for continued success.