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Recruitment and selection

in public service
Agata Austen-Tynda, PhD
Chair in Public Management
University of Economics
in Katowice
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Agenda
Precursors to Successful Recruitment and
Selection
The civil service staffing process (recruitment and
selection)
Public service motivation
Trends in recruitment and selection
Best practices in improving recruitment selection
process
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Definition
Recruitment can be defined as:
all activities directed towards locating
potential employees
the attraction of applications from suitable
applicants.

The aim of recruitment is to get the best
person suited to the job based on objective
criteria for a particular job
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Why is recruitment and
selection so important?
Reversing the Erosion of the Public Service
Ethic
Personnel has long been perceived (and
even defined) in terms of control, rather
than service to the broader organization
Civic Culture and Tradition
Sound recruitment and
selection practices also
depend on complementary
HRM systems

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Why is recruitment and
selection so important?

Costs of mistakes:
engaging incompetent,
underqualified,
unmotivated employees;
employing another
person requires repeating
the process and
generates costs

Element of PR
strategy
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Rules of recrutiment and
selection
Commonality
Openess
Competitiveness
Legality
Non-discrimination
Constancy of criteria
Neutrality
Objectivism
Transparency
Personal data security
Acting without delay
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The civil service staffing
process

Planning and approval for staffing
Position announcement
Selection of recruitment strategies
Selection of tests
Screen, interview, and checks (reference and other)
Final selection / Negotiate and hire
Postselection considerations
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Employer recruitment
Elements influencing effectiveness of
recruitment:
The breadth and quality of the process
The size of the labour pool and the location of
jobs
Offered pay and benefits
Job quality and requirements of the position
Organizational image
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Applicants perspective
Avoiding cold, unthoughtful and dilatory
treatment:
Timing to minimize anxiety
Feedback to optimize scarce job search
resources
Information that makes distinctions
Enthusiastic, informative, and credible
representatives


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Planning and approval
1. Taking review of the need for the position to take
into account the following:
strategic and operational plans for the
organization
funding
current staffing structure
targets for diverse staffing profiles across all
levels;
current staffing and skill levels;
anticipations in terms of new positions,
restructured positions, eliminated positions
how the needs for the position might best be met
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Planning and approval
2. Labour market survey:
trends in terms of
availability, salaries,
education levels

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Title and agency affiliation
Salary range
Description of duties and responsibilities
Minimum qualifications
Special conditions
Application procedures
Equal opportunity employment
Classification
Career potential
Special benefits
Time and place of applications


Position
announcement
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Capabilities
Technical skills knowledge and abilities
connected with particular job position
policy development and analysis,
improved systems for monitoring and evaluation
and systems to improve financial management;
planning,
budgeting
reporting.
Other criteria:
Diversity and broad representation of minority
and protected class
PSM


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Manager Ministerial and
Parliamentary Services (516394)
Applications Close: Friday, 12 September 2008.
Salary: $76,007 per annum.
Community and Health Services (Public Sector) Award,
Administrative and Clerical Stream Level 10.
Permanent full-time day work.
Location: Hobart.
Enquiries to Sharon Trueman, Department of Health
and Human Services, phone (03) 6233 3761, email
sharon.trueman@dhhs.tas.gov.au.
You are encouraged to apply online (below) or forward
your hard copy application quoting the vacancy
number to: Recruitment Services, Human Resources,
Department of Health and Human Services, GPO Box
125, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001.
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Duties:
Manage the operations of the Ministerial
and Parliamentary Services function
including provision of high level co-
ordination, information and advice services
to the Department and to the Minister
including the timely preparation and
provision of high quality correspondence,
briefings, speeches and other documents
for and on behalf of the Minister.
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Desirable Requirements:
High level analytical, conceptual, strategic, research
and creative skills and the ability to understand the
political, social and organisational environment in the
context of the health and human services sector;
identify relevant issues and priorities and make sound
judgements
high level interpersonal skills including written and oral
communication skills, negotiation and conflict
resolution skills;
the ability to develop, manage and maintain
collaborative stakeholder and client networks; and to
work collaboratively with senior executives and peers
to achieve common goals and objectives.
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Who should work in public
service?
Public service motives
Rational


Participation in the process of policy
formulation
Commitment to a public program because
of personal identification
Advocacy for special or private interest
Norm-based A desire to serve public interest
Loyalty to duty and to government as a
whole
Social equity
Affective Commitment to a program from a genuine
convinction about its social importance
Patriotism of benevolence
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Public service motivation
1. attraction to policymaking
2. commitment to the public interest
3. social justice
4. civic duty
5. compassion
6. self-sacrifice

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Analysis: Candidates
Who is the ideal candidate for the agency?
What has attracted qualified candidates to the
agency?
How did those qualified candidates learn about
openings?
Why is the pool of qualified candidates shrinking?
What is the value system of the new generation
and how can the agency package itself to show
potential candidates that the agency has what
they desire?

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Recruitment strategies
Job posting
Electronic posting
Personal contact recruitment
Recruitment by mail
Head-hunting
Noncompetive recruitment
Develop a recruiting DVD


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Recruitment strategies:
Partnerships

University/college/
high school
communications,
art and computer
science programs
Student Interns
Professional
production
companies and
advertising
agencies
Other city
departments or
agencies to
advertise
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Analysis: recruitment strategies
What has worked or not worked in terms of recruitment
strategies and advertising in the past?
Are signing bonuses or other incentives important?
How can current employees be ambassadors for the agency
and help recruit qualified candidates?
What recruitment materials does the agency already have
and how current are they?
Does the agency have a recruitment website and how many
hits is it generating?
Has the agency used paid advertisement in the past and, if
so, what value did it ad to the recruitment process?
What strategies is the agency using to attract the interest
of grade school up to high school students?
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Selection criteria
Electoral popularity policy-making jobs
Patronage designating officials or employees
without a requirement for a formalized application
process
Merit based-system using processes that
analyze job competencies and require open
applicaton procedures
Seniority internal candidates; provides sense
loyalty
Representativeness minorities should get
positions in areas of underrepresentation

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Selection criteria
Selection criteria should be expressed in terms of:
Essential requirements that are critical to
successful performance in the position without
which a person could not be appointed; and
Desirable requirements that would enable
the person to perform at a higher level in the
position, but without which the person could
still be appointed.
The total number of essential and
desirable criteria shall not exceed
10.
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Selection criteria
Selection criteria shall:
be written in simple and clear language;
be specific and not overlapping or repetitive;
be based on the real requirements of the position;
not be excessive in number (i.e. not more than 10
in total)
not discriminate unlawfully either directly or
indirectly against applicants
not favour either internal or external applicants;
and
be consistent with the classification standards of
the position.

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Screening
Retention Survey found that nationally small
agencies took an average of 6.84 weeks to
conduct the screening processes, while large
agencies took an average of 11.51 weeks (U.S.
Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs,
Hiring and Keeping Police Officers)
GOAL: reduce this time so that valuable
candidates are still available

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Screening
Discriminating among the qualified and
the unqualified
Identifying most highly qualified
candidates
Confirming the qualifications and ability
of the chosen candidate; it may include
the first period of employment
Screening particular candidates;
results in offering position to the best
candidate
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Principles of the screening
A fair set of screening criteria
The criteria must be in line with the job content and
appointment as well as advertised requirements
Applicants should be clear on the criteria that apply
The criteria should apply to all applicants in a
consistent manner
Any waivers should be fully motivated and approved
Declarations should be made of whether any
candidate is related to or friends of an official in the
component where the vacancy exists
The various activities of the screening process should
be documented and put on record

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Initial reviewing and testing
Education and experience
evaluations
Letters of recommendation
Self-assessment
General aptitude and
trait test
Performance test for
specific jobs

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Reducing the pool: interview
1. Plan how it should proceed: persons, place,
roles
2. Prepare list of written questions asked of all
candidates
3. Use a work sample as part of the process
Critique or evaluate sth
Solve a problem
Deliver oral presentation, etc
4. Explain basic facts about the position
5. Use the job description and advertisement
guides to ensure that the focus is on essential
job functions
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Reducing the pool: interview
6. Set up interviews in private
job-settings where distractions
are unlikely
7. Concentrate on listening to
applicants answers and take
notes during the interview
8. Be careful that no oral commitments or
suggestions about employment prospects are
made
9. Complete your evaluation notes when
impressions are fresh

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Reducing the pool: interview
Subjects to Avoid
Marital status
Children and other dependants
Religion
Politics
Ethnic origins


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Final selection
1. Keep a list of all applicants considered for final
selection.
2.Identify fair selection criteria for the final
selection phase.
3.Ensure that the criteria are in line with the
advertised requirements as well as the job
content.
4. Ensure that each selection committee member is
provided with all the relevant information
pertaining to each short-listed applicant.

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Final selection
5. Ensure that the interviews are conducted in a fair
and effective manner and that each candidate is
weighed comprehensively against the
requirements as advertised.
6. Ensure that a comprehensive motivation is
compiled in respect of all the applicants
interviewed.
7. Ensure that all applicants are informed about the
outcome of the final selection phase.
8. Ensure that all relevant information is put on
record.

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Closing selection

Closing selection

1. Phone call and further clarification
2. Letter of intent
3. Completing employment forms
4. Protocols may be available for intetested
individuals
5. Number of candidates
6. Names, surenames and adresses of 5 top
candidates
7. Recruitment and selection criteria
8. Justification of the decision

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Trends in recruitment and
selection
Procedural Changes:
Eliminating arbitrary rules and regulations that
restrict the choices of hiring managers and
supervisors
Adopting flexible and appealing hiring procedures.
Screening applicants quickly
Validating entry requirements and examinations.
Instituting worker-friendly personnel policies,
Creating more flexible job descriptions.
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Trends in recruitment and
selection
Improvements to the Recruitment and
Selection Process:
The decentralization movement "New Public
Management" is known in many quarters as
devolution, often characterized by the
decentralization of HR responsibility.
Aggressive outreach efforts
Current employees as recruiters



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Trends in recruitment and
selection
Use of Technology:
Many scholars believe that technology will be the
most notable HRM trend of the next few decades
Many large public organizations use computer
bulletin boards and electronic mail to improve
recruitment process
Managers can have online access to applicants'
test scores, qualifications and contact information
Software programs: to administer online
examinations, track applicants, match resumes
with skill sets, expedite background checks, and
shepherd job candidates through a paperless
staffing process


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Best practices
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Problem:
A review of the hiring practices found that job
announcements were filled with jargon, lots of
facts and information, and extensive list of job
duties which made it difficult to identify major
features and selling points of the job.
Recruitment was passive NNSA waited for
applicants to apply.

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Makeover:
A new look to convey the importance and excitement of their
positions, as well as why they were a great place to work
Added photos to depict the unique work environment at
NNSA.
Implemented an internet-based targeted recruitment
strategy to identify potential candidates from job boards and
other locations
They sent recruiters to fifteen universities in the South and
West to recruit interns with an emphasis on diversity
The results produced 28 qualified candidates, up from three
unqualified candidates in the previous recruitment process
+ 30 highly qualified interns



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Best practices
U.S. Department of Education
Problem:
The hiring process took too long and did not always deliver
qualified candidates.
Upon mapping out the hiring process, it was discovered that
there were discrete steps with over 45 handoffs between
different managers, administrative officers and HR
specialists.
Managers were disengaged from the hiring process. Job
descriptions were problematic. When managers could not
find good candidates they had a tendency to sit on the list,
until ultimately it was re-posted.


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Makeover:
The hiring process was streamlined by eliminating
redundancies and unnecessary steps resulting in a
reduction of more than half of the stepsdown to 53.
The automated process for assessing applicants has
been overhauled and questions are more closely
aligned with skills needed to be successful on the job.
The process of change has not been easy and has
taken a commitment of time and effort on the part of
leaders, HR, managers and others involved in the
hiring process.

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Best practices
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Problem:
Federal law changed requiring the agency to add 500
new positions. The length of time to complete the
hiring process was long and the quality of candidates
was lacking.
The automated staffing system in place was believed
to be inadequate to meet the demands of the hiring
needs. The agency wanted top talent and a faster
process.

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Makeover:
The agency started with an end-to-end mapping of the
hiring process and identified both short and long term fixes.
They used focus groups to document the process, identify
roles and responsibilities, and assess obstacles.
Through the process the agency eventually reduced the
number of steps in the hiring process by more than twenty
percent.
Other key things they did included better marketing
positions using visually appealing, plain-English
announcements, proactively targeting qualified candidates
via internet, resume databases and built tools to effectively
screen applicants to ensure they were a good fit for the
position.
They eventually assigned responsibility for the process to
one person at the executive level.



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10 golden rules of recruitment
and selection
1.Develop a Recruitment Plan
2.Conduct Research
3.Personalize the Recruitment Process
4.Select and Train the Right People as
Recruiters
5.Build Strong Partnerships
6.Develop an Employee Referral Program
7.Improve the Selection Process
8.Develop an Advertising Plan
9.Develop an Internet Presence
10.Employ Effective Recruitment Strategies


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Agata Austen-Tynda, PhD
Chair in Public Management
University of Economics in Katowice

aausten@ekonom.ae.katowice.pl