Keystone Shortlisted in CUBO 2020 Awards

Keystone Talent Bank, in partnership with London South Bank University, have been shortlisted in the CUBO (College & University Business Officers) Awards 2020 in the ‘Business Partnership of the Year’ category for the highly innovative LSBU Employment project.

LSBU Employment is a unique partnership between London South Bank University and Keystone Talent Bank that has created an employment service within the university that allows local businesses and organisations to employ LSBU students and graduates on a diverse range of temporary and permanent roles.

London South Bank University (LSBU) was keen to reduce its reliance on traditional employment agencies for finding opportunities for their students and so decided on a highly innovative approach – by setting up its own agency, powered by a 24/7 online Talent Bank that allowed students to be offered work opportunities around the clock, wherever they were in the world.

LSBU turned to Keystone Talent Bank and their award winning Talent Bank technology to create an online talent pool of their students and graduates that is available 25/7 x 365 to hiring managers within the university itself but also to external business partners and employers.

In a bold and ground breaking move, LSBU created an entirely new entity, LSBU Employment, in partnership with Keystone Talent Bank and an on-campus and online employment service was created.

A wide range of external organisations and businesses were soon attracted to the LSBU Employment proposition, with a clear CSR and cost benefit of utilising their local university to source talent – as opposed to a traditional recruitment agency.

The partnership with Keystone Talent Bank created a true one-stop-shop service that updated the old concept of an on-campus ‘job shop’. With students expecting an ‘always-on’ digital service that they could access both in and out of term time without the need to be on campus, the LSBU Employment service was accessible 24/7 x 365 on laptops, mobile phones and tablets.

The partnership between London South Bank University and Keystone Talent Bank has set an exciting precedent for other universities across the UK and has become a showcase for how to dramatically improve the employment options for students whilst also being a highly attractive recruitment solution for a wide range of businesses and organisations to find and retain talent.

The annual CUBO awards reward and showcase the very best in campus and commercial services. Open to all higher education institutions in the UK and Ireland, they are run in association with media partner University Business.

Postponed from earlier in the year due to Covid-19, the 2020 CUBO (College and University Business Officers) Awards will be presented at a Virtual Awards event in December as part of the CUBO Winter Festival.

“In what has been a been such a difficult year, we feel is it vitally important to recognise and reward excellence within our sector. Never have campus services teams worked so hard. Our virtual awards ceremony will be chance to join together to celebrate not only the finalists and winners, but also the determination and resilience of everyone across the sector.” said Kirsty Woodward, CUBO Awards Chair and Director of Campus Services, University of Leicester.

CUBO Chair Jo Hardman (University of Lancaster) added:
“Many congratulations to those shortlisted and our thanks to all who submitted an entry during a period of great uncertainty, when the impact of Covid-19 was just beginning to be felt.
“The quality of entries was high – a lot of excellent work is happening in campus services across the UK and Ireland.”