The ROI of Building Talent Internally

A Train to Deploy strategy offers a smarter, more sustainable way forward. Cost reduction, accelerated readiness, and a workforce designed to meet both today’s demands and tomorrow’s opportunities. Often referred to as a Hire Train Deploy model or Recruit Train Deploy strategy, Train to Deploy (TTD) is a workforce transformation solution that combines bespoke training with targeted deployment. It enables you to source talent based on behaviours and potential, then develop the technical skills your business needs. It’s a scalable workforce solution that delivers tangible ROI and long-term resilience. 1. Direct Cost Savings Lower recruitment spend You invest in readiness, not agency margins. External hiring often comes with hefty costs, agency fees, advertising, multiple interviews, onboarding, and more. And when those hires don’t stick, the cycle starts all over again. TTD reduces recruitment spend and reactive hiring by creating a pipeline of pre-trained, aligned talent. Spend shifts away from repetition and toward lasting capability. Reduced contractor reliance Reduce your dependency on high-cost, short-term fixes. A Train to Deploy strategy lets you build a pipeline of job-ready talent that meets your real-world operational needs. You’re able to scale back short-term or high-cost contingent labour and build talent capacity internally. This gives you more financial flexibility and control over your workforce model. Higher retention rates Investing in the right foundation leads to better long-term outcomes. When candidates are trained specifically for your roles, systems, and culture, they stay longer. With TTD, training is front-loaded and role-specific. People arrive more confident, capable, and connected to your purpose. That leads to lower attrition, less churn, and reduced hiring costs over time. 2. Value Beyond the Bottom Line Faster onboarding, faster productivity One of the biggest hidden costs in recruitment is lost time: the two-month ramp-up, the slow integration, the inconsistent onboarding. Our Train to Deploy solution shortens that curve. With role-specific onboarding delivered in advance, new hires contribute faster, helping you unlock value from day one. Inclusive hiring, by design Traditional hiring filters often exclude great candidates who don’t match a perfect CV. TTD is built around a behaviour-first approach. If someone has the right mindset and potential, Rullion helps develop the skillset, regardless of background, career history, or qualifications. We call it inclusion without limits. And it helps organisations build community-reflective, inclusive talent pipelines that improve DEI metrics and culture, without compromising on quality or readiness. Higher engagement and performance When people feel prepared, supported, and set up for success, they thrive. X helps turn every new hire into a high-potential one. By nurturing confidence early and delivering job-specific training up front, it supports stronger retention, better collaboration, and more engaged, high-performing teams. That means better value per headcount and a stronger culture. 3. Future-Proofing the Workforce Building skills before you need them Whether you’re preparing for an infrastructure expansion, facing a retirement cliff, or adopting new technologies, a Train to Deploy solution helps you build skills in advance. By aligning talent development to your strategic goals, you’re never caught short when demand shifts. It’s one of the key benefits of Train to Deploy, enabling you to grow capability at pace with opportunity. Built-in resilience Organisations that build from within are better equipped to handle evolving industry or project landscapes. A Train to Deploy model gives you the agility to scale teams, adopt new technologies, or respond to regulatory shifts. With a workforce already trained and aligned. The ROI of Train to Deploy is beyond just pounds saved; it’s in adaptability gained. Institutional knowledge transfer By redeploying contractors or training new hires to shadow outgoing specialists, a Train to Deploy framework helps retain hard-won expertise that might otherwise walk out the door. This workforce transformation strategy makes sure knowledge transfer is captured through structured training and handovers. It protects institutional knowledge, safeguards IP, and ensures continuity during transitions. The ROI Goes Deeper Than Cost Yes, Train to Deploy delivers tangible cost savings. It also transforms how your organisation functions. This long-term workforce transformation is where the true ROI of Train to Deploy is realised: in cost, capability, and culture. When you invest in internal capability, you don’t just plug gaps. You shift from reactive hiring to future-fit teams. You create a workforce that reflects where your business is today and where it’s going. Want to see how Train to Deploy could deliver ROI for your organisation? Download the Train to Deploy Toolkit or visit our Train to Deploy solution page to explore how this strategic workforce solution can help you get work done. Ready to quantify the ROI of building talent from within? Book a discovery call with one of our consultants.

How MSPs Support Better EDI Outcomes and Inclusive Contingent Hiring

Nearly 20% of the UK workforce are in contingent roles. Yet, most organisations don’t consistently capture diversity data across those populations, leaving a major blind spot in their EDI strategy. 65 percent of companies plan to increase contingent labour use, making it more important to close this gap. A strategic Managed Service Programme (MSP) can help you close that gap by: Bringing your whole workforce into view Building EDI into every stage of the hiring process Turning Insight into Action Helping you deliver on strategic initiatives Making inclusion part of the day-to-day experience The business case for inclusive contingent hiring Organisations with inclusive contingent hiring practices see measurable improvements in workforce agility, innovation, and performance. A diverse supplier base can also support ESG goals and unlock new opportunities, particularly when bidding for public sector or large corporate contracts that increasingly require evidence of inclusive workforce practices. With contingent workers making up such a large share of the talent mix, overlooking them puts your reputation, resilience, and results at risk. Bring your whole workforce into view Contingent workers are often left out of EDI strategies entirely with no visibility over who’s being hired, how inclusive the process is, or what outcomes look like. You can’t improve what you can’t see. An MSP creates one joined-up picture of your entire workforce, providing you with info on who’s applying, who’s progressing, who’s converting, and who isn’t. This is done by: Setting up demographic data capture from the outset Normalising the conversation around why and how that data is collected Tracking shortlist diversity, interview progression, and offer conversion rates across suppliers Introducing EDI dashboards so you can see where action is needed That means you can make more informed decisions, spot trends and drop-offs, and understand where your process may be unintentionally biased, just as you would with permanent roles. Most clients don’t ask their suppliers for this data but we do. An MSP Provider becomes the connector between you, your supply chain, and your EDI ambitions. With a consolidated view of your contingent workforce, your leadership team can confidently report on inclusive contingent hiring progress across the board. “Our MSP platform made recruitment, contract extensions, and even rate reviews seamless. It’s helped manage the transition of over 700 contract workers and the knowledge of the Rullion team has been invaluable in the recruitment and maintenance of further workers. Simple, effective, and exceeding expectations.” — Recruitment Manager, Leading UK Energy Supplier Build EDI into every stage of the hiring process In fragmented supply chains, when contingent hiring is split across multiple suppliers, each with their own processes and standards, it means one may remove identifying data from CVs while another doesn't, and none of it ladders up to meaningful data. This makes it easy for inconsistencies to creep in, especially when it comes to inclusion. Your MSP partner brings consistency and accountability across the entire supply chain. From how jobs are written to how candidates are shortlisted, interviewed, and selected, we ensure inclusive practices are baked in from the start and not bolted on later. That includes: Reviewing job descriptions to remove bias or exclusionary language Using inclusive advert templates and gender decoders Providing anonymous CV screening where appropriate Setting clear diversity expectations for suppliers Guiding hiring managers through inclusive briefing and interview practices Launching focused campaigns to reach underrepresented talent, such as early careers or women in STEM We hold suppliers to account with diversity-focused performance metrics, helping you track progress and improve where it matters most Turn Insight into Action Collecting the data is one thing. Knowing what to do with it is another. Too often, diversity data is collected but not connected to hiring decisions making it impossible to act on. An MSP closes that loop by building feedback into every stage of the hiring journey. Your MSP can work with you to identify where inequalities exist in your contingent recruitment process and, more importantly, why. Are certain demographics dropping off at the shortlist stage? Are some interview processes unintentionally exclusive? Your MSP won’t just surface the issues; they’ll bring proven ideas, tested across similar organisations, on how to fix them. Help you deliver on strategic initiatives Beyond recruitment, an MSP provider can also act as a delivery partner for wider EDI programmes. You’ll often find the desire is often there, but internal teams don’t always have the capacity to turn ambition into delivery. Providers can help you operationalise your EDI strategy by: Designing and delivering inclusive graduate or apprenticeship programmes Developing routes for social mobility, disability inclusion or veteran employment Supporting supplier diversity goals Embedding EDI into quarterly reporting, KPIs and workforce planning We work with your internal HR, TA, and DE&I teams to bring these ideas to life without overloading your day-to-day operations. For example, we supported one of our energy clients in increasing their percentage of female contingent engineers from 12% to 19% through targeted outreach, inclusive job design, and local STEM engagement. Make inclusion part of the day-to-day experience Hiring diverse talent is only part of the work. Inclusion happens once people are through the door. MSPs help ensure your contingent workforce has a fair and equitable experience throughout their time with you. That could mean: Building visibility of contractor experience and access to opportunities Encouraging participation in ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) Giving contingent workers access to L&D, mental health resources, and well-being initiatives Identifying inequities in how feedback, recognition or progression is handled It’s about creating a sense of belonging, not just filling roles. Your MSP can help bring this to your attention and support you in embedding those practices across your organisation. A Trusted Partner for Long-Term Progress With the right partner, you don’t need to split your strategy across permanent and contingent teams. We help you bring everything under one umbrella. One view, one standard, one direction of travel with real traction. So if you're serious about EDI, don’t leave your contingent workforce behind.