Award-Winning Partnership Spotlight: Talent Solutions & Auckland Council
Talent Solutions and Auckland Council, winners of the 2024 NZAGE Best Partnership Award, and Auckland Council, winner of the 2024 Best Candidate Experience Award, shared their approach with members at the NZAGE forum last week.
The awards recognised the work put into relaunching Auckland Council’s graduate and intern programmes, with a focus on collaboration, planning, and candidate engagement. The forum gave members the opportunity to hear how the partnership between an employer and a service provider delivered results that stood out to the judges.
Presenters included Aron Chantelau, Senior Consultant for Talent Solutions, Lacey Knight, who previously led Auckland Council’s early careers programme and is now Workday Functional Lead, and Isamu Wagner, Talent Acquisition Team Leader at Auckland Council, who presented on behalf of Sonam Kumar, Early Talent Acquisition Consultant.
In 2024, Auckland Council sought to relaunch their graduate and internship programme, which had been operating on a reduced basis since 2021. The goal was to recruit up to 50 talented graduates to start in 2025. The project had a very tight timeline of six weeks to go to market, and Auckland Council partnered with Talent Solutions to support the delivery of the project.
Auckland Council’s early careers programme was driven by a clear CEO mandate, signalling top-level commitment to developing future talent. The mandate was tied directly to Auckland Council’s 2050 Strategic Workforce Plan, which acknowledges the critical role of early talent in building the capability needed to serve the 1.66 million people who call Tāmaki Makaurau home. Auckland Council and Talent Solutions focused on embedding the programme into long-term workforce planning rather than treating it as a short-term initiative.
This approach ensured early careers recruitment was resilient, adaptable, and integrated into broader organisational goals. It also positioned the programme as a meaningful pathway for young professionals to contribute directly to the future of Auckland, which strengthened the Council’s employer brand.
The programme was built around three core principles:
• Inclusivity: ensuring candidate pools reflected the diversity of Auckland
• Candidate care: embedding support mechanisms throughout the process
• Consistency: applying a common framework to guide hiring managers across varied disciplines
The partnership produced a recruitment and selection process that balanced efficiency with candidate experience. Realistic job adverts were written to provide candidates with a clear picture of the work. A single centralised application pool reduced duplication and streamlined candidate management.
Engagement was prioritised before and after assessment stages. Candidates had opportunities to attend alumni panels, Q&A sessions, and pre-assessment briefings to familiarise themselves with the process. Case studies and assessment centre activities were drawn directly from Council work, giving applicants a genuine sense of what the roles could involve. Unsuccessful candidates also received feedback reports and support to help with future applications.
A key feature of the programme was the development of a candidate experience journey map. This tool set out the intended experience at each stage and linked back to Auckland Council’s organisational values. It was used as a reference point for assessors and hiring managers to ensure that candidate care remained consistent throughout the campaign.
The emphasis on candidate experience had clear results. One of the standout insights shared at the forum was that:
“97% of candidates agreed their desire to work for Auckland Council increased as a result of the selection process.” – 2024 Candidate Survey
“It was the most enjoyable job interview I’ve had to date. As well as being informative it was nice to have a variety of tasks to do and opportunities to show skills.” – Candidate Survey Respondent
The programme delivered strong outcomes, including:
23% of hired graduates and interns identified as Māori or Pacific
Positive survey feedback indicating that candidates felt the process was relevant and reflective of real work at Council
Increased interest in working for the organisation, even among those not offered roles
These results demonstrated that a clear focus on candidate care, inclusivity, and role authenticity can deliver impact even under tight timeframes.
Key takeaways for employers:
Invest time early: gather input from staff and current graduates to create a candidate-centric process
Support at every stage: provide mechanisms both before and after assessments to retain candidates and strengthen their experience
Bring roles to life: design realistic and engaging assessments so candidates leave with a clear understanding of the work and as advocates for the organisation, regardless of the outcome
Thank you NZAGE for recognising this work with the 2024 awards and for the opportunity to share our approach at the members forum.
At Talent Solutions, we are proud to have supported Auckland Council in relaunching a programme that not only delivered results under pressure but also set a benchmark for inclusivity, candidate care, and long-term workforce impact.
