In the competitive landscape of educational recruitment, the Harris Federation faced a dual challenge: increasing their visibility and attracting high-calibre candidates for both teaching and non-teaching roles. Despite previous efforts with traditional job boards, which proved costly and ineffective, the need for a transformative solution was critical. This case study explores how Gaia (formerly Socially Recruited), armed with cutting-edge technology and a bespoke strategy, turned Harris Federation’s recruitment challenges into a success.
Harris Federation, a renowned Multi-Academy Trust, was at a crossroads. Their existing recruitment strategy, heavily reliant on the industry-standard job board provider Tes, needed a revamp to help deliver better quality results. This ineffective approach led to an annual expenditure in the seven figures, with a return that was barely visible.
Recommended by another leading trust impressed by our results, Harris Federation reached out to Gaia to overhaul their recruitment approach. In total, 10 campaigns were needed for teaching roles and non-teaching roles, including English, science, maths, music, humanities, business studies, leadership, data, finance, and HR/recruitment.
Our strategy was multifaceted, focusing on precision targeting and making the candidate experience as easy and quick as possible across all social media networks:
Our tailored approach delivered remarkable outcomes:
The campaigns not only filled the immediate vacancies but also enriched the diversity and quality of Harris Federation’s talent pool. The strategic use of technology and data-driven insights positioned Harris as an employer of choice within the educational sector, ultimately fostering a cycle of attracting increasingly better-suited candidates.
By transitioning from a generic, costly recruitment spray-and-pray job board model to a targeted, AI-powered strategy, Harris Federation not only overcame their initial challenges but also set a new standard in educational recruitment. Gaia’s partnership with Harris is a clear example of how understanding the specific needs of the sector and applying innovative solutions can lead to unprecedented success in talent acquisition.
We are incredibly proud of the transformative results achieved through our collaboration with the Harris Federation. If you are ready to revolutionise your recruitment strategy and attract top-tier talent with precision and innovation, let's take the next step together. Reach out to us today to discover how we can tailor our cutting-edge solutions to meet your unique needs.
Warm regards,
Gareth Thyer-Jones
Co-Founder and Director
Gaia
Contact us:
Email: info@iamgaia.com
Website: iamgaia.com
Together, let's redefine recruitment.
Who is Gaia best for
Gaia suits in-house recruitment teams, agencies and RPOs who want:
- To reach beyond job boards into the open web and social channels.
- Real-time campaign optimisation and data-driven decision making.
- Flexibility between self-serve and managed service.
- Seamless integration with existing ATS workflows.
- A measurable lift in quality and volume of applicants.
Adzuna works well for teams who want a large active-jobseeker search audience, now combined with social advertising and candidate automation, delivered as a managed service.
Final word: Gaia vs Adzuna
If you need broad, AI-targeted reach, multi-channel automation and real performance data, Gaia delivers a fundamentally different proposition to job board aggregators like Adzuna. Both now operate in social recruitment advertising, but Gaia is purpose-built for performance, with broader reach across the open web and paid search, real-time cross-channel optimisation, cookie-free retargeting and the choice of self-serve or managed delivery. For TA, HR and EB leaders tasked with hitting hiring targets in competitive markets, Gaia provides the tools, intelligence and flexibility to succeed.
Learn more about GaiaComplete or book a demo to see it in action.