More than 50% recruitment cost savings while building specialist technical capability

How Davidson Executive & Talent helped a privatised NSW utility provider recruit for 24 specialist technical positions while broadening its talent pool and reducing recruitment costs.

savings compared with standard preferred supplier recruitment rates

specialist technical positions required across the business

of successful appointments sourced through Davidson’s industry networks and direct search 

A hiring challenge with more than one objective

Following several organisational restructures, a privatised NSW utility provider needed to recruit for 24 specialist technical positions across its business.

Finding the technical capability was only part of the challenge.

The organisation also wanted candidates who could contribute to a more customer-focused culture and support its broader workforce diversity objectives.

This mattered in a sector characterised by traditionally low female participation and a long-tenured workforce. The organisation wanted to expand access to a broader range of candidates without compromising the specialist capability required for the roles.

Internal recruitment capacity was also limited.

The organisation needed a way to address multiple workforce priorities through one recruitment program while creating greater certainty around recruitment spend.

Davidson Executive & Talent partnered with the organisation to develop a specialist Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) model around those requirements.

Looking beyond the usual candidate pool

Davidson worked with the organisation’s People & Culture team and executive sponsors to establish the technical requirements, workforce priorities and diversity objectives for the project.

A fixed-price RPO model provided certainty around recruitment spend while allowing the recruitment strategy to respond as requirements evolved.

A central part of the approach was expanding how and where candidates were found.

Rather than relying on traditional contingent recruitment alone, Davidson combined direct search, specialist industry networks, targeted advertising and social media recruitment campaigns.

This gave the roles national exposure and created more ways to reach candidates beyond conventional utilities talent pools.

The results demonstrated the importance of that proactive approach. More than 70% of successful appointments were sourced through Davidson’s industry networks and direct search activity.

Assessing technical capability and fit consistently

Expanding the candidate pool still required a consistent way to determine who should progress.

Technical capability was important, but the organisation also wanted to understand alignment with its broader cultural requirements.

All shortlisted candidates completed psychometric assessments and recorded video interviews before being presented to hiring managers.

This created a common assessment process across the recruitment program and gave hiring managers additional information to consider alongside candidates’ technical experience.

Regular progress reviews, stakeholder updates and feedback sessions kept hiring managers involved throughout the project. They also allowed the recruitment approach to respond as new information emerged.

Together, the sourcing and assessment model provided a structured approach to a recruitment challenge involving specialist capability, cultural requirements and broader diversity objectives.

More than 50% savings against preferred supplier rates

The fixed-price RPO model delivered more than 50% savings compared with standard preferred supplier recruitment rates.

The result demonstrated the commercial value of approaching the 24-role requirement as a coordinated recruitment project rather than a series of individual contingent assignments.

The sourcing strategy also proved effective in reaching successful candidates. More than 70% of appointments came through Davidson’s industry networks and direct search activity.

The broader sourcing approach increased access to candidates from more diverse backgrounds and supported the organisation’s objective of expanding participation beyond traditional talent pools.

Combined with a consistent assessment process, the model gave the organisation one approach for managing specialist sourcing, candidate assessment and recruitment delivery across the project.