AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - February 06th 2003

Visit the BP corporate careers site:
http://www.bpjobs.co.nz

In February 2003 the company owned and operated retail network of BP New Zealand (72 retail sites nationwide) went live with www.stepahead.co.nz. This online recruitment and candidate screening solution was developed between BP, IPS (www.team-ips.com ), and Snaphire and is a first for BP globally. After a comprehensive feasibility study and after assessing potential providers in the marketplace BP decided there was definite benefit in an e-recruitment solution.

"The BP project marks the first successful collaboration between SnapHire and IPS", said Andrew Braae, Managing Director of SnapHire in New Zealand. Braae believes that SnapHire's partnership with a specialist human resources provider will provide numerous additional benefits to customers. Braae said "the merging of the best e-recruiting technology with best practice HR processes and methodologies will inevitably translate to bottom line savings for our customers, as well as smarter, more accurate recruitment and selection outcomes. We find that many organisations, after adding up their existing recruitment costs, are surprised with the overall figure, and start to question whether there is a better and more cost-effective way to recruit, screen and manage their talent pool".

The brief:

• Develop a best practice recruitment and screening process
• Demonstrate BP's "human brand" to the job seeker market (i.e. make the site personable)
• Ensure a greater level of consistency in recruitment practices across the retail network
• Reduce the administrative load associated with traditional shortlisting
• Free up the time of internal resource to spend more time building the capability of staff at each of the retail sites
• "Raise the bar" ensuring that BP consistently screens in top performers
• Build a candidate talent pool that is easily managed
• Contribute to improving employee retention levels at high turnover sites
• Ensure a demonstrated return on investment

Key benefits realised already are:

• Internal resources are spending less time on recruitment and more time working with retail managers to develop and coach their people
• Complete control of the BP recruitment brand in the marketplace
• Positive feedback from retail managers regarding the calibre of short listed candidates
• Positive feedback from internal resources about the system and its ease of use
• A greater level of consistency in recruitment practices across the retail network
• Over 1100 applications from candidates received within a six week period
• More targeted and valuable information provided about the candidate and their key motivation drivers to assist in telephone screening and interviewing
• The reduction or savings in terms of cost per hire has by far and away exceeded the overall cost of the system. In other words the system has not only paid for itself it has contributed very real and significant bottom line savings

There were some concerns initially around whether people would apply online. Any concerns have been allayed due to the enormous amount of applications received from people at all levels within a relatively short period of time. The retail sites are progressively using more and more sophisticated technology therefore it is also important for BP to attract people who have computer experience and technical nous. The system provides the facility to use a Hotmail Internet address for those candidates who do not have their own email address. It appears that people who do not own a computer are using either Internet Cafes or contacts such as friends and family.

BP Fuel, lubricants and convenience retailing 1200 people Live since February 2003