Babcock International provides engineering support for naval, land, air and nuclear operations, and manufactures defence and civil equipment. Working with TA partner ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions, it wanted to explore how to expand its pool of quality candidates while supporting its ED&I goals. The UK veterans’ community is recognised as facing issues when transitioning into civilian employment, and despite Babcock’s respectable record as a veteran employer, there was still huge untapped potential in this talent pool.

To address this it needed to improve the overall process and candidate journey for service leavers, with a view to increasing applications by 10% and conversion rates from applications to hires. It wanted to take a multi-channel approach that would improve cost-per-hire and deliver higher return on investment. Research showed it needed to improve the attraction stage, engaging as many veterans and reservists as possible. Channels would include job boards, events, print publications, social media and drop-in centres.

Recruiters were trained to ensure they were fully in tune with their military audience, and they reached out via 22 publications and websites aimed at forces personnel and their families. Babcock empowered ex-services employees to become brand ambassadors, and launched a new internal comms campaign promoting the employee referral scheme. Employee resource groups fed into content and marketing, and virtual and in-person events made opportunities accessible. The company won a Military Employer of the Year award and attracted 85% as many applications as there were service leaders between the start of 2023 and August 2024.