Case Study | Retained Legal Search - Warwickshire County Council

The Opportunity

Warwickshire County Council faced challenges in attracting suitable candidates for two crucial roles: Senior Commercial Lawyer - Team Leader and a Commercial Lawyer, despite multiple advertisements. Recognising the need for a different strategy, they retained our search services to fill these positions. Our history of providing talented interim professionals over many years made us the clear choice as a trusted and knowledgeable supplier.

These roles demanded a blend of leadership and technical skills. In recruiting for both positions, we were able to adjust and complement the combination of abilities to meet the demands of both the team and the council, and in doing so increase the potential talent pool.

The solution

Our search team employed a comprehensive strategy to include:

• Candidate information pack: A detailed document was developed to provide prospective applicants with in-depth information about the council, it’s culture and the vacancies

• Wide-ranging branded campaign: Leveraging both our and Warwickshire’s brand we advertised across various platforms to ensure maximum exposure, including LinkedIn and LinkedIn closed groups, legal specific sites, and online job boards.

• Headhunting: Utilising our talent network built over two decades, we connected with professionals in commercial law to gather their top talent recommendations and obtain valuable feedback on the opportunity’s attractiveness.

• Structured recruitment process: Having assumed the responsibility of success for their recruitment we embedded a strict timeline to ensure momentum was maintained. This included a four-week period for advertising and applications, with pre-agreed interview dates to expedite the decision-making process.

The Outcome

Our structured, proactive and creative approach ensured a successful recruitment outcome for Warwickshire County Council. Over 80 potential candidates were contacted for the roles, resulting in a strong pool of applicants. Eleven CVs were presented, and seven candidates were shortlisted for interviews, demonstrating the quality and suitability of the applicants.

The council made swift decisions, appointing one role immediately and finalising the senior position the following week. Our recruitment facilitation was pivotal in maintaining momentum and ensuring the process remained on schedule and efficient.

By adapting their recruitment strategy and engaging a search expert, Warwickshire County Council successfully filled their critical legal positions, demonstrating the value of our structured and facilitated recruitment process.

“The main standout was the impetus of the external recruitment facilitation of building a timeline and then sticking to it. If left to their own devices WLS wouldn’t have stuck to the timeframe, it needs someone whose priority is that recruitment. HR wouldn’t push back to keep the process moving like Venn did.”

Mark Randell – Legal Service Manager, Practice Management

“So much time was saved by having the whole process managed by VG, not having to review applicants that weren’t right and knowing that every applicant they had knew what they were applying for. The briefing meeting at the start of the process was key, to all parties. VG walked away knowing exactly what we needed to do to fill the roles, WLS felt confident that they had engaged experts who understood their requirements.”

Nichola Vine – Head of Legal & Governance

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Tom Ripley

Senior Manager

tripley@venngroup.com

07441 916069