Building Operational Capability

Background

A leading private bank wanted to establish an investment management operations capability in the UK, as part of a wider transformation programme. This was driven by a desire to be closer to the client, the business and enhance oversight.

This required accelerated recruitment of 30FTE and the subsequent onboarding process across multiple operations functions. PryceWilliams was engaged to lead the resourcing process to ensure the delivery against tight timelines and internal governance requirements.

Approach

Working with HR and operational leads, PryceWilliams delivered a recruitment solution which focused on meeting the deadlines. Key activities included:

• Role design and capability mapping
  Analysing the responsibilities of legacy teams and structuring the new job descriptions around operational needs and local pay banding.
• Milestone-led recruitment planning
  Built a delivery-driven recruitment plan aligned to string onboarding periods and set training windows.
• Internal sourcing and mobility strategy
  Actively sourced candidates from internal pools to reduce risk and onboarding time while supporting staff progression.

Analysis

PryceWilliams delivered a milestone-driven delivery framework that ensured operational readiness. Key analysis and delivery actions included:

Role restructuring and alignment to UK frameworks

Legacy operational responsibilities were converted into locally aligned roles with regional pay banding, team structures, and responsibilities, ensuring clarity for both team leaders and the expanded investment management operations function.

End-to-end resourcing governance

A central hiring tracker was created and utilised to provide live visibility over each stage of the hiring process, from requisition approval through to onboarding. This allowed team leads to monitor progress in real time, raise any risks, and intervene where dependencies may impact readiness.

Internal mobility activation

Internal candidate pipelines were assessed and activated early in the plan to reduce onboarding timeframes, maintain candidate engagement, and support internal career path development. This strategy allowed for the accelerated identification and recruitment of the required roles by focusing on the internal talent pool.

Risk monitoring and mitigation

Regular check-ins were used to flag any roles at risk of delayed onboarding, particularly where candidates had extended notice periods or where screening timelines approached critical thresholds. A contingency list of relevant candidates were identified and approached as required.

Conclusions

• Successfully recruited and onboarded 30 FTE into a UK-based team within 6 months.
• Minimised third party recruitment fees by 80%.
• Used the transformation programme to enhance internal mobility by opening the required roles to both internal and external applicants.

Recommendations

Based on the successful execution and lessons learned from this capability building project, we recommend the PW Project Planning check to support any future resourcing or similar transformation initiatives that your organisation may wish to undertake.

For example, the PW Project Planning check covers the following:

• Starting with clarity of required resource and expected capabilities
• Identify potential resourcing challenges and related onboarding dependencies
• Build the plan backwards from the required training deadlines
• Analyse the key IT and systems application requirements
• Use internal mobility to de-risk hiring and boost staff engagement

Next Steps

PryceWilliams provides specialist consulting and project delivery services for organisations undergoing strategic change, regulatory compliance and technology transformation needs. Our focus is supporting the project sponsor to ensure project implementation is delivered on time and within budget. Should you need support, contact us to make progress happen.