And finally… RBS trails software to remove recruitment bias

Building on its successful test run with OTP Bank’s Budapest HQ earlier this year, SymbaSync’s Project Team Builder software presents colleagues’ skillsets in an anonymous, non-sector-specific manner, allowing project managers to make informed, non-biased choices.

The business was created by Joseph McElmeel in 2017 following his previous success building a 160-employee business and drawing from learnings growing-up around his father’s recruitment company. He realised as organisations grow, workers’ skill history is often lost or forgotten, leaving internal resources underutilised or limited by internal networks.

In addition to the trial with OTP Bank and the upcoming pilot with Royal Bank of Scotland, SymbaSync has also been part of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Entrepreneur Accelerator, the UK’s largest free business accelerator network, which offers mentoring, insight and bespoke coaching to entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses.

Joseph McElmeel, founder and CEO of SymbaSync, said: “Organisations are changing structures meaning new skillsets are required and unlocking that intellectual capital internally, relying on transferrable skills, and removing any bias from age or gender will reduce the costs born with external hires or consultants to fill vacant roles on new or existing project teams. Project Team Builder is designed to remove bias and simplify the internal resourcing and deployment process, saving resources in the process.

“Following the success of the OTP Bank trial, we’re looking forward to working with Royal Bank of Scotland to further test and improve our software and prepare for a wider launch.”

Gill Rattray, entrepreneurial growth manager at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “We are excited to work with SymbaSync as they continue to grow. We’ve worked with them through tough times and applaud their pivot to a product that innovative organisations are keen to use to optimise employee engagement and deployment. We look forward to continuing to help them on this journey.”