How do you handle as many as 300,000 to 400,000 new hires over a few years? That is the daunting number the Federal government is facing, according to Allan Schweyer, a principal for the Center for Human Capital Innovation, which along with TMP Government is one of the members of the Portal for Talent Management in Government (www.TMGov.org). Quoted by Workforce Management Online in August, Schweyer noted that, in spite of serious concern about budget deficits, the Fiscal Year 2011 budget calls for hiring thousands of employees ASAP.
Meanwhile, two new studies by the Partnership for Public Service discuss the challenges the Federal government will confront in speeding up the process and finding the best people for those jobs. A survey of Federal Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCOs) suggests that agency HR staffs may need more capabilities and resources to handle the increased demand. The other study found problems with the assessment process that may not be putting the best candidates in front of hiring managers.
TMP Government cites a further issue: Regardless of increased supply or demand, neither improved hiring or assessment processes will adequately staff top performers, unless job candidates know where, why and how to apply. Many agencies lack an employer brand that clearly expresses the value of the specific offering.
For the last few years, TMP Government has been working with our clients to update their communications resource in preparation for this kind of demand. Our programs, such as employer branding, career websites, Web 2.0 tactics and metrics, help agency HR departments "fish where the fish are." Our aim is always to get a sizable pool of diverse candidates whose qualifications and interests match job requirements.
In view of the slowly recovering recession and the Generation Y job-hopping patterns, we have been especially mindful of helping agencies stress their long-term career opportunities. We continue to caution against agencies relying on "common denominator" brand attributes that they share with virtually all other Federal employers. Instead of these "table stakes," our methodology encourages agencies to find the appeal of their unique mission and day-to-day work.
This perspective seems even more helpful in the light of the anticipated demand for Federal workers in the new fiscal year and the studies by the Partnership. Recruitment emerges as a major factor in Closing the Gaps: Seven Obstacles to a First-Class Federal Workforce, released in mid-August by the Partnership in collaboration with Grant Thornton, LLP.
Gearing up recruitment
Surveying 68 Federal agency Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCOs), one report found that 45 percent felt that their HR staffs presently lacked the skills to implement the new streamlined hiring practices called for by President Obama in his May memorandum. The president’s memorandum attempts to accelerate the hiring process and improve communications with candidates. For years agencies have acknowledged that as staffing a position stretches into weeks and months, the best candidates take other options.
Several thoughts about recruitment especially stand out:
Targeted recruitment and relationship building. Taking an ad hoc approach to pressing recruitment needs like diversity cannot hope to achieve results. The report states: "Most CHCOs also believe that diversity is best achieved through targeted recruitment—developing relationships with a small number of key schools or communities." One CHCO pointed out that since a lot of recruitment trends to be personal, "the bond needs to be personal."
TMP adds that Web 2.0 technologies enable even a small recruiter force to keep in touch with sought-after candidates. An example is a Candidate Relation Management (CRM) portal that creates a community of interested students, recruiters and hiring managers, who can stay in touch over the course of a potential candidate’s education.
Expanded recruitment responsibilities. In keeping with the president’s memorandum, the study supported increased involvement of hiring managers in the recruitment process. Bringing in the managers only for interviewing and selection is too late in the game. The report says that "unless a manager is willing to be actively involved in outreach and recruitment activities, some of the best potential candidates may not apply."
TMP would go further and say that unless top leadership participates in crafting the "recruitment story," candidates may never hear the aspirations of the agency and see what the future holds. Corporations tend to have an advantage in that area because they had had an opportunity to share their image in a more extended way.
Strengthening assessment to complement recruitment
The second Partnership report shows how recruitment cannot be successful unless it is followed up by a stronger assessment process.
Released shortly after the first report, and produced with PDRI, The Weakest Link: How Strengthening Assessment Leads to Better Federal Hiring lays out the dimensions of Federal hiring. Each hiring decision in the Federal government carries a lot of weight. In 2009, the Federal government hired 159,000 new employees. That is more than the total number of employees at Starbucks (129,000) or General Motors (145,000). It even tops Microsoft, Google and Amazon (130,000) combined.
Consider the care those firms take in hiring and you can get a sense of why the report feels that weak assessment efforts squander opportunities: to hire those 159,000 people, agencies reviewed 13.5 million applicants.
Assessment begins with recruitment. The report reiterates a key point that TMP shares with its clients: Assessment begins with understanding the recruitment strategy. According to the Partnership study, Recruitment and Marketing occupy an essential step between Workforce Planning and Candidate Assessment. Hiring managers need to be familiar with the messages and media that are drawing the candidates they will later assess.
The report tells managers: "Understand the recruitment strategy. Discuss with your staffing specialist what hiring authority to use and the best recruiting vehicles for each job. Will your target applicants understand your job announcement? Do you need special outreach for this job?"
"Special outreach" may seem a tall order when you are dealing with an influx of thousands. It reminds us that ultimately recruitment is not a numbers game. Each new employee represents a chance for an agency to improve its performance and achieve a mission on which the country depends.
For more information on how TMP Government can help you communicate your value, please contact John Bersentes atjohn.bersentes@tmpgovernment.com or 703-269-0092.
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