With the public sector now facing significant change, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s Industry Research Unit is today publishing a practical business case to assist hiring, procurement and HR managers working in the sector to make informed recruitment choices.
This will help them balance the need to maintain essential frontline services while meeting the imperative to reduce costs and improve efficiency within their organisations.
The guide, ‘Hire Power’, is being launched to coincide with the REC’s Public Sector Summit today (Tuesday June 8). The summit brings together public sector hiring managers, HR practitioners and recruiters who will explore ways of finding cost effective workable solutions to meet the short and medium term challenges faced by employer organisations and their intermediaries.
‘Hire Power’ assesses the contribution that private sector recruitment intermediaries are likely to make to public sector reform over the next five years. It concludes that they will be key players in finding the leaders of the future, in accessing interim change management expertise and in delivering the workforce flexibility that already underpins the public sector business model and which will now become critical to the successful implementation of significant change programmes.
‘Hire Power’ also outlines the business case for each of the recruitment models available to public sector managers who are faced with increasingly difficult choices in providing an essential new feed into the workforce planning process.
Commenting on the importance of the new guide, Roger Tweedy, the REC’s Director of Research said:
“With uncertainty over how deeply the cuts will impact on recruiters working in the public sector, we have to raise awareness among employer organisations of the choices they have in the way they recruit temporary staff in the future.
“This guide maintains that the public sector should resist the temptation to simply apply a short-term ‘slash and burn’ approach to achieve savings. Longer-term sustainable savings are available through the smarter use of existing resources and greater use of the shared services model. Hire Power concludes that the effective use of temporary agency and interim is pivotal to the success of public sector reform at every level.”
Commenting on the current challenges facing the public sector, Kevin Green, the REC’s Chief Executive said:
“With the continuing uncertainty and fragility of the jobs market, it is important public sector employers are given the most comprehensive and practical guidance to help them reach some crucial decisions within their organisations. ‘Hire Power’ is a big step forward in helping both recruiters and employers take a measured look at how best to bring about the changes in the way they go forward during such a repressive financial climate.”
Andy Robling, Public Services Director at Hays, who reviewed the guide, said of its conclusions:
“The report clearly highlights that recruitment agencies have a key role to play in public sector reform. This will range from supporting the recruitment of leaders at all levels who are capable of driving change and providing the flexible temporary resource to manage peaks and troughs in demand or delivering specific projects more efficiently. There is also a crucial role in the next couple of years in providing career transition support for people moving out of the public sector.
To obtain a copy of “Hire Power”, please visit the website, http://www.rec.uk.com/about-recruitment/research/bookshop/HirePower
