Case Study
Finding and developing local talent & creating a diverse, scalable software talent pipeline into giffgaff.
What I realised quickly is that we were all seen as individuals who had different needs and different learning styles. Everyone came from such different backgrounds, but I felt like we were seen for who we were; very individual, very different, and the Academy really taught us to play to our individual strengths.
The Challenge
To help giffgaff on its mission to make its products and services better for its customers, placing its tech teams at the forefront of innovation. giffgaff believes in the power of diversity and creating an equitable, fair & inclusive working environment that champions different ideas and perspectives.
The Solution
Hatch partnered with giffgaff to create The Software Engineer Academy, hiring ‘undiscovered’ talent with enormous potential but who had previously faced barriers-to-entry into tech. The partnership included a 12-week training bootcamp in the way giffgaff does things when it comes to developing its code.
The Academy encompassed technical theory alongside the key skills, methodologies and practices that giffgaff teams use day-to-day, from HTML and CSS, UX, React and ReactNative, to TDD and Pair Programming.
It also developed key business & interpersonal skills, and taught the cohort everything from critical thinking & problem-solving to conflict resolution & stakeholder management, so they could really hit-the-ground-running from the moment they landed in their new roles.
Finally, the full Academy delivery took place at giffgaff’s headquarters in Uxbridge – “the gaff” – to truly immerse the cohort in giffgaff’s culture, enable them to build strong relationships with one another, their future teams and other colleagues, and to enable giffgaff’s leadership team to deliver key aspects of the programme using its own onboarding, learning and development strategies, and technical content and materials.
The Results
The Academy culminated in a project to fix an issue pertinent to giffgaff in which teams of two would not only write and demonstrate their code, but also present it back to the Senior Management Team. All the Junior Engineers did an outstanding job, incorporating all the things they had learnt over the course of the Academy.
Over a 4-week, localised campaign, the Academy received:
- 10,000+ engagements across outreach channels
- 500+ application assessments
- 219 passed assessments
- 24 top-performers shortlisted
- 11 hired & onboarded by giffgaff
Key Highlights
- 24% of applicants identified as female
- 73% of applicants represented ethnic minority backgrounds
- 10% of applicants voluntarily disclosed disability or neurodiversity
- 49% of applicants were career-changers and career returners
- 51% of applicants were ‘bedroom coders’ with self-taught skills
Hatch is doing really good work, giving chances to people like me. I have no background, no degrees, no previous experience in the industry and you’re opening up doors - big, massive doors to people like me. Keep doing what you're doing because you're changing lives.
Where are they now?
All 11 candidates have now been fully deployed into their product teams as Junior Engineers and are contributing to giffgaff’s ongoing tech innovation.
About Hatch
Hatch is more than a business. It’s a mindset.
We believe in the value of human potential, and we know exactly how to unlock it.
We’re providing the world’s leading tech companies with the tools to buck out-dated hiring practices and embrace true inclusion, augmenting their digital workforces by embracing diverse talent that’s often invisible to CV-led hiring.
We think differently
Because talent develops in the most unexpected of places
Today’s digital talent develops in non-traditional ways, often invisible to out-dated hiring practices. But we’ve found it.
We engage with these passionate self-starters differently, turning our backs on CVs in favour of assessment-led hiring that proves their potential, and providing them with the opportunities that the rest of the industry has denied them.
What their CV would have told us
- Registered Nurse
- Transport for London Underground Cleaner
- Retail Bank Branch Manager
- Assistant Anatomical Pathology Technologist
- London Bus Driver
- Dental Hygiene Assistant
- ICO Cyber Investigator
- PSCO for West Midlands Police
Solving the digital skills gap
what can we do for you?
Hatch Academies
Create entry-level talent pipelines of 10 - 25 new starters all landing on your schedule.
Hatch Recruit
Find a solution to immediate hiring needs with Hatch's direct hire model for experienced candidates.
Hatch Reskill
Engage and retain existing staff, whilst closing critical skill gaps in your organisation at any level.
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