Case Studies

Transforming Talent Acquisition at Farfetch

Introduction

Farfetch, a leading luxury goods and fashion platform, recognized the critical importance of attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent to maintain its competitive edge. To achieve this, they embarked on a comprehensive change initiative designed to make Farfetch an employer of choice and ensure that the talent hired matched the company’s ambitious goals.

Rostrup’s Role

Rostrup, a renowned training provider, was tasked with supporting this project by creating the infrastructure, materials, and training to support a new approach and leading its rollout to the Talent and People Teams and the Leadership/Management community.

The Solution

To develop a world-class talent acquisition strategy, Farfetch conducted a thorough analysis of leading organizations, both within and outside the tech industry. This research provided valuable insights into best practices and successful approaches to attracting top talent.

Based on these findings, Farfetch implemented a comprehensive change initiative designed to surpass the standards set by other leading recruiters. The newly designed approach was rigorously tested in key functions before being approved for implementation across the entire organisation.

Building the Infrastructure

Rostrup’s initial task was to create a comprehensive Guide to equip Farfetch recruiters worldwide with clarity about the new approach, an awareness of the mindset shifts required, and an understanding of the challenges they would face.

The Guide was designed to be accessible to recruiters of all experience levels, providing the necessary support and guidance to approach their critical responsibilities with confidence. It included information on selection criteria, recruitment processes, interview structures, bias, legal compliance, interview skills, and a question bank.

Designing and Delivering the Training

Once the infrastructure was in place, Rostrup focused on designing and developing the training to roll out the new approach. The training also needed to provide opportunities for Recruiters to practice the new skills required for implementation.

Many Recruiters were well-versed in criterion-referenced candidate assessment, but sharing the responsibility for assessing candidates with others outside their team was a significant mindset shift. Similarly, changing the use of technical assessment techniques required a different rationale and new thinking.

The training started with the rationale for change and the overall new approach. Once participants recognised the need for new thinking, the training focus shifted to the new skills they would require to make the approach work.

Both sessions were highly practical, emphasising the benefits of the theoretical framework and new skills. The two training events were mandatory for Interviewers to achieve the accreditation needed to be involved in hiring.

Rollout and Outcomes

The rollout started with the global Talent Teams, followed by the People Teams, to ensure widespread understanding and support for the new hiring process. In larger locations, Hiring Managers were invited to attend the training to accelerate the building of a critical mass of accredited Recruiters.

To ensure consistent delivery and scalability, the training transitioned into a “Train the Trainer” (TTT) model, empowering the Talent and People Teams to deliver training locally. Additional focus on facilitation was required to equip these teams with the skills to deliver engaging training internally.

Even with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the training was successfully shifted to an online delivery format, ensuring no delays in building the global population of Interviewers. The final TTT sessions were delivered in September 2020, marking the completion of the project.