Three steps to better public sector recruitment 

There's plenty of evidence to suggest that local government planning departments are struggling to recruit the right people to the right roles. But there are steps you can take to improve your processes and increase your chances of finding the right person. Pooja Agrawal, chief executive of Public Practice, offers her top tips

We know that local authority placemaking teams have severe funding challenges and this has been a barrier to successful recruitment campaigns. But it's not the biggest barrier, as our 2022 survey discovered: nearly four in five of our respondents told us their biggest recruitment challenge was attracting appropriately qualified or skilled candidates.

Can we overcome this? Can we engage the most talented placemakers in the work of local authorities? I believe we can, and here are my top three practical tips for meeting the challenge and making a successful hire at mid-career level.

1. FOCUS ON THE TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

I've been helping local authority officers recruit staff for more than five years now and so often I find that recruiters make narrow assumptions about the kind of experience required for a role. By insisting that your candidates already have the specific skills and experience for the job at hand, you narrow your field of potential recruits. If you require sS106 experience, straight away you're narrowing your field to people with public sector experience. This has two effects: by creating a public sector vacancy elsewhere you do nothing to address the wider problem of the skills shortage in the sector; and you deter private sector planners or those with international experience. 

Shift your focus to transferable skills. What are you really looking for? There are elements of a job that can be learnt on the job. And yes, there is limited resource for supporting development at the moment, but this is a catch-22. In order to open the pool of candidates, we need to think creatively about the background, skills and attributes a job requires rather than looking for someone who has done the same job before – just in a different part of the country. Also, this person is going to be part of a team, and designing a team with different skills and backgrounds brings different perspectives to projects and programmes.

2. BE MORE CREATIVE WITH YOUR JOB DESCRIPTIONS

We're in a candidate-driven market so you have to work harder to reach the best people and hook their attention. Where are potential candidates going to see your job ad? Be honest, restricting your advertising to your authority’s website isn't going to get you very far.

There are a number of local authority job boards (including this one!) that candidates actively seek out; however, social media, specifically LinkedIn, is a key platform that needs to be explored. Job titles and descriptions can be incredibly generic – can you name the specific project/s this person is likely to work on, and describe what the culture of your team is? I have been particularly drawn to Surrey County Council’s recent job advert, where the team recorded a video about the impact this job would have and who they were looking for. It demonstrated the importance of the role, the human side of the council, and what this job would be in reality.

3. DO MORE TO DIVERSIFY YOUR POOL OF CANDIDATES

Finally, pay attention to recruitment process itself - and get buy-in from your HR colleagues to help you attract the widest, most inclusive pool of potential employees. Why exclude? You could be missing the very person who is absolutely right for you. 

At Public Practice, we maximise the range of people who apply for our roles with a  three-stage recruitment process that is not only inclusive in its approach, but also cares about proving candidates have the key attributes required for the role, along with the values aligning with working for the public good, more than ‘previous experience’. 

By using these methods, we have consistently attracted more women, people of colour, LGBTQ+, and disabled candidates than the average employer

Going back to the S106 example, we would test the key attributes of negotiation, communication and empathy skills through specifically designed assessments. Instead of catching people out, we want candidates to do the best they can. We send interview questions in advance and point them to information on the ‘STAR’ method for answering questions. By using these methods, we have consistently attracted more women, people of colour, LGBTQ+, and disabled candidates than the average employer in the planning, architecture, and surveying sectors. We are constantly aiming higher by keeping abreast of best practices and adapting our recruitment process accordingly. 

Solving the skills and capability gap in local government placemaking teams is not going to be easy, but these are some of the small (and big) changes that every hiring manager can make now. Public Practice is keeping track of the impact these changes can have in our annual Local Authority Resourcing & Skills Survey.

Having a well-resourced local government is the only way to tackle the urgent societal challenges we face today. So let’s think values, attributes and skills, rather than confident interviewees, previous public sector experience and rigid qualifications.

Pooja Agrawal is co-founder and chief executive of Public Practice

Have your say in the 5-minute Local Authority Resourcing & Skills Survey until 6 March 2023.

Image credit | Tim Smyth/Public Practice