London Borough of Hillingdon Council’s recruitment system transformation

Together, Zellis HCM and Eploy’s ATS helped the council replace their outdated system and manual processes with streamlined efficient workflows that support the needs of both the council and its residents. Along with delivering real benefits to the Borough and their candidates, the new Applicant Tracking System also helps meet the compliance requirements of public sector talent acquisition.

The Challenge

In the London Borough of Hillingdon, where the demands of serving over 300,000 residents are the heart of every decision they make, Hayley Seabrook and her HR and Payroll team faced a challenge. The council's existing Applicant Tracking System (ATS) simply wasn’t working. 

For a department which otherwise functions well, Hillingdon's previous ATS was limited and outdated. This meant that recruitment was bogged down by cumbersome, manual processes, often causing managers to go rogue and avoid the system entirely. Candidates frequently dropped out due to frustration or simply boredom, leaving critical roles unfilled. Compliance processes for new hires, vital for safeguarding vulnerable residents, were managed through an endless chain of emails, prone to error and delays. 

Every inefficiency in hiring, HR and payroll can affect the council's ability to deliver the many essential services they provide - from social care to waste management. This important part of the department was letting the rest of the side down.

The Solution

“We had been a customer of Zellis for a long time, but we knew that Zellis HCM Cloud alone wouldn't solve all our problems. Wendy and Julie suggested Eploy, who they partner with. 

We've always valued Zellis for their commitment to development, so we knew we could trust their recommendation. 

Julie put us in touch with a local authority who also used Eploy, so we could ask them more about how it worked in practice. 

What it could do blew our minds. So much so that we were concerned because it seemed too good to be true. We kept asking can it really do all this? And every time, the answer was yes." 

Hayley Seabrook, HR and Payroll Service Manager, Hillingdon Borough council.

Eploy’s partnership with Zellis

You can learn more about the Eploy and Zellis partnership on our Partner Marketplace.