Coventry CC Case Study

UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER CASE STUDY

Do it for Daniel.

Kate Wilson – Client PartnerPhone: 07768 885564Email: [email protected]

How Coventry City Council overcame the enormous challenge of recruiting qualified experienced Social Workers

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DO IT FOR DANIEL DO IT FOR DANIEL

Coventry integrated campaign for Social Workers

With 3,600 qualifi ed experienced social worker vacancies across the UK, employers have been forced to turn to expensive agency workers; UK councils spend a total of £300 million on agency social workers annually. Recent research conducted by TMP Worldwide and Community Care entitled “The Social Work Jobs Market: What’s really going on?” revealed that the shortage is only likely to increase, with 43% of social workers considering moving out of the profession. The supply of qualifi ed experienced Social Workers is not expected to match demand until 2022.

So hiring permanent staff is a tough enough challenge for any local authority. For Coventry City Council (CCC), however the challenge was going to be an even bigger one. Following the much-publicised death of Daniel Pelka in 2012, Coventry City Council was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, their reputation tarnished. In addition to that, a recent Ofsted inspection rated the service as inadequate. On the face of it, CCC was an employer at its least attractive.

But when you hit rock bottom, you get brave.

The Challenge The Aim



The research highlighted a belief that Social Workers think that most recruitment marketing is sugar-coated; what they want is an authentic, honest portrait of the employer and the challenges.

For CCC, being honest meant acknowledging what happened.

Our campaign for CCC used the galvanising line, ‘Do it for Daniel’. Its controversial approach takes a tragic case and sets out to create a positive legacy for all at-risk children in Coventry. We told the tough, honest story of how the death of Daniel had led to a complete overhaul of systems and processes – giving proof that lessons had been learned and that social workers would see a radically improved work environment.

The campaign ran across media with the highest audience traffi c, anchored around a primary package with Community Care. This included advertising and editorial options, including listings, banners, Job of the Week, MPUs/videos, advertorials, ‘page peel’, and interviews with CEO Martin Reeves and Executive Director, Brian Walsh. As the campaign progressed, additional interest came from the likes of the Guardian, www.lgjobs.com, Gumtree and The Professional Social Worker Magazine, resulting in free advertising inventory.

The Concept

TMP’s Media Relations team worked with the client to generate and maximise editorial opportunities created by the high profi le nature of the campaign. These included: BBC, ITV, The British Association of Social Workers, the Guardian, Community Care, the MJ and the Coventry Evening Telegraph. The advertising equivalent value of the PR coverage generated is estimated at £350,000.

The combined advertising and editorial drove traffi c to a dedicated campaign site www.doitfordaniel.co.uk

We developed a scrolling site, to take our audience on CCC’s journey – beginning with a video portraying the thoughts and views of current Social Workers. Due to the challenging market conditions we knew that we needed to make the application process as simple as possible. Again the research fi ndings were clear; clunky, lengthy processes giving little thought to the pressures Social Workers work with daily. By clicking the “register” button on the site, all interested candidates had to do was fulfi ll six clarifi cation questions; uploading a CV was optional. From this point, it was TMP’s role to confi rm the registrations and work with the candidates in vetting them and keeping them warm through to subsequent interview with CCC.

Do it for Daniel.

Daniel Pelka was four years old when he died.

We owe Daniel, and every child at risk, a legacy of the best possible services. Help us to improve our children’s services ensuring a legacy

for Daniel that will help others.

Discover more at www.doitfordaniel.co.uk

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“I just wanted to compliment the website, in terms of the interviews, content, design and the overall message. There are few out there that have approached

such a sensitive subject in such an open manner.”Paul Woulfe, Director, Sanctuary

The Website



With a generated click count at 10,849, the overall cost per click is £0.72, the campaign has secured over 35 hires. The campaign also received 90% positive editorial media coverage, as well as multiple plaudits across the industry.

At the 2015 RAD Awards, this campaign picked up the Best Print Advertisement award and was also nominated for Best Integrated Campaign award.

“Yes, I think it is a bold campaign, and yes, I think it will be divisive. But it needed to be. And it’s working. Where other local authorities struggle to recruit even one social worker, we’ve hired 35.”

Martin Reeves, CEO, Coventry City Council

The Impact The Results

“Coventry City Council should be applauded for their Do it for Daniel campaign.”The British Association of Social Workers

“This campaign has put Coventry City Council on the map – and for the right reasons”Shokat Lal, Asst Director HR and Workforce, Coventry City Council


Coventry CC Case Study

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