Case Study - Indigo

# of Months

# of Hires

Cost per Hire

Total Savings

 

Overview

Indigo is a well-known Canadian retailer (TSE:IDG) and eCommerce company owned by Heather Reisman, one of the most influential female business leaders in Canada.  Indigo had long been established as a highly respected Canadian retailer but they were looking to further build upon their eCommerce and digital capabilities as well as leverage data and build out the technical infrastructure to enter the US market.  In order to deliver on these mandates they decided to build a division called “Indigo Digital Innovation”. They were looking to build out a team of 47 people in the span of 6 months across Design, Development, QA, DevOps, Product Management, Mobile, and eCommerce as well as the management layers for that organization.

The VP of Digital Innovation was someone that we have had a phenomenal relationship with over the years and have worked with him for well over a decade across multiple organizations including Yahoo!, Mercatus, Sysomos, Indigo and Setter.  He has put a lot of trust in us over the years, and this was certainly no exception…

 

Solution

Indigo opted for an On-Demand + Contingency hybrid model.  On these models we play the role of an internal talent acquisition specialist as well as engage the entire team across Canada, the US and Mexico to help to deliver on the project.  This is typically the model that makes the most sense on these larger-scale projects and delivers savings over the cost of hiring an internal resource and using agency partners to supplement when needed.

We worked closely with the key stakeholders and the executive team to help build out a hiring plan and heatmap and rank the planned hires as High, Medium, and Low difficulty. From there we planned and budgeted for what hires could likely be done organically and which would likely need external help.  We then modelled out a few different scenarios and project engagement models options.

We had one of our team members embedded in their team with an email address, ATS access and physically in the office 2 days per week who developed the sourcing strategy, managed all inbound activity (postings, referrals, events, etc.), created job descriptions, worked with the team to iterate and optimize processes, conducted phone and in-person interviews, scheduled and managed the entire process, negotiated and prepared offers.

The projected cost per hire in this model was just over $8,700 per hire, and the end result was the cost per hire wound up about 10% below this.

 

Results

We were able to successfully deliver on all 47 hires in a span of just over 6 months.

The projected cost per hire was just over $8,700 and the final cost per hire came in at just under $8,000.

Indigo saved over $250,000 in comparison to if 50% of those hires had been done via contingency search (their projected number).

 

Testimonial

GuruLink is kind of like Mastercard, priceless! 😁

I have worked with the team at GuruLink for over 10 years and across 5 different organizations and the consistency with which they deliver a high quality of talent that matches our culture never ceases to surprise me.  They just “get it”. They’re the first and only people I mention when anyone asks me who the best agency I’ve ever worked with is.

While agencies sometimes seem like a commodity as the barrier to entry is so low, it has been my experience that the good ones are few and far between and I only know one great one.  GuruLink approaches the conversation much differently than any other agency I’ve encountered.  They ask good questions, get a deep insight into the roles and culture, offer innovative cost-saving approaches and really become an extension of the company. They’re my secret weapon wherever I go and need to scale a team…but I guess now the secret is out.

If you’re scaling a technology team you should definitely give GuruLink a try. Heck, I’d stake my reputation on it…and have multiple times already.”

— Ambles Kwok

“I was very impressed by GuruLink.

Gavin and Paige were able to find opportunities that aligned with my personal interests for companies that are at the forefront of new technologies and industries. The process was very quick and guidance was given every step of the way. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a job.”

– Jeremy/Candidate

“Having applied to many jobs individually

and feeling like I was getting lost in a pile of resumes, GuruLink did the legwork of presenting my skills and experience to the employer for me and helped get me the IT job that I’ve always wanted. They have educated me on the company, prepared me for who I’d be interviewing with, what questions might be asked. They gave me the confidence I needed to go in and rock the interviews, and now the job. In a booming IT job market that can be hard to find valuable and interesting work, GuruLink found the job that’s right for me, at the salary that I wanted.”

– Dany/Candidate

“I would like to say thank you

Julia and Jibran for the great opportunity that they gave me. As a newcomer to Canada, I wasn’t expecting to get the same job that I have before in my home country. I am unfamiliar with the recruiting process here, and I always hear that we need ‘Canadian Experience’ even if it means taking a job not related to your previous occupation or education. But with the guidance and help of awesome recruiters like Julia and Jibran, I was able to get a job well suited to my qualifications and more than expected compensation. I am very grateful to both of them, and I hope that they can help more newcomers like me to have a great job in Canada and start a new chapter in their lives.”

– Marc/Candidate

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