TJ Hughes

TJ Hughes may be an extremely successful retailer, but when it came to recruiting managers, their track record wasn’t quite so good. They were looking for an agency that could not only identify the cause of this problem, but also design and implement a strategy to tackle it which required minimum input from their busy HR Department.

Following some initial research, the root causes of the problem quickly became apparent. Because TJ Hughes relied totally on recruitment agencies to fill their main roles, they had become practically invisible as an employer. Add to this an inconsistent and badly resolved employer brand, and it became clear what had to be done.

By increasing the company’s visibility among retail managers and developing a strong employer brand, we knew we could solve the problem and significantly reduce their recruitment costs. To do this we devised a suite of strongly branded press advertisements which combined their key corporate proposition (low prices) with what we identified as an excellent recruitment proposition (the unrivalled level of autonomy TJs allow their managers).

To minimise reliance on the busy HR department, we compiled these new advertisements into and adbook covering all the most frequently recruited positions. All HR had to do was select the appropriate ad, leaving us to place it with the paper and ensure that an online version was sent to their recruitment website. The tactics have proved a phenomenal success, providing TJ Hughes with a huge number of quality applications for each post, reducing the burden on HR and ending the company’s reliance on costly and ineffective recruitment agencies.