MTC calls on Seetec to help with high-speed recruitment

MTC UK, a leading provider of detention services for the Home Office, needed to mobilise and recruit a large number of staff quickly to meet contractual demands.

Recruitment for high-stakes roles in this sector requires not only volume but also precision, as staff need to meet in-depth pre-employment checks and align with MTC’s core values of professionalism and integrity.

After exploring several options, MTC chose Seetec as their strategic partner due to Seetec’s established expertise in high-volume recruitment and the proven track record of success in similar environments.

Seetec designed and delivered a tailored recruitment service, including managing high-volume assessment centres and providing experienced hiring managers to conduct interviews.

The programme’s success has resulted in 361 successful hires in just 15 months and a significant increase in attendance at assessment days.

Recruiting the right people was fundamental to our contract being successful.

If we didn’t find the volume and the quality of people, we wouldn’t still be operating.
Harry Porter, HR Director, MTC

The challenge

MTC was facing several key challenges in mobilising their workforce:

High-volume recruitment under time constraints
MTC needed to recruit and onboard hundreds of staff quickly to meet the requirements of a new Home Office contract. Their internal resources were stretched, making it difficult to handle the scale of recruitment needed.
Limited internal capacity to manage interviews
With no dedicated recruitment team in place, MTC lacked the internal resources to manage the volume of interviews required.
Low attendance rates at assessment days
Initial no-show rates for recruitment days were as high as 60%, which threatened the success of the contract.

The solution

Seetec’s solution provided MTC with a streamlined, comprehensive recruitment programme tailored to their specific requirements and operational challenges.

This included:

Design and delivery of high-volume recruitment events
Seetec organised and managed assessment centres, ensuring that recruitment was conducted at scale without compromising on quality.
Provision of experienced hiring managers
Seetec supplied well-trained hiring managers to conduct interviews on behalf of MTC, reducing the burden on internal staff.

“We had no training team and no recruitment team, so Seetec offering both was a big advantage,” Harry Porter, HR Director, MTC explains.
.Continuous improvement based on feedback
Seetec regularly adjusted the recruitment process based on feedback from MTC and the evolving demands of the Home Office contract.

Results at a glance

This resulted in a 30% increase in attendance rates and an overall improvement in the quality and consistency of recruitment outcomes.

Seamless alignment with MTC’s culture
Harry notes how well his Seetec recruitment manager integrated with the business: “What the Seetec team did very well was make it feel like they were part of our organisation” he tells us.

“Even though they didn’t have the same email addresses or branding, it still felt like they were part of our team.”
Professional handling of sensitive situations
Seetec’s recruiters handled challenging recruitment scenarios professionally and with sensitivity, reinforcing MTC’s high standards.

“Our Seetec consultant was very good at handling difficult conversations with professionalism and compassion.,” says Harry.

“That level of care made a huge difference.”

The success of the program was reflected not only in the number of hires but also in the positive feedback from candidates and internal stakeholders.

As Harry describes it: “We’ve regularly received feedback from candidates about how well-run and inclusive the assessment process was — it stood out from our competitors’ process.”

At the start, only about 40% of people who said they’d come to the assessment days actually showed up. By the end, attendance was well over 70% through collaborative working and process changes.
Harry Porter, HR Director at MTC