Public sector must go online to build the workforce of the future says talent management expert

Online channels must become the ìfundamental toolî for public sector employers to win the recruitment war for talent, says Richard Tyrie, co-founder of online talent management specialist JGP after further evidence emerged that online advertising spending including recruitment is rapidly overhauling that of traditional media channels - UK online trade body the Internet Advertising Bureau recently reported a 38 per cent leap in revenues for 2007 with online recruitment helping to boost Internet channels.

Richard Tyrie, co-founder of online talent management provider JGP commented: ìLocal government employers are going to have to revolutionise the way they manage and recruit personnel, using channels like online recruitment, talent pools and social media sites, if they are to attract and maintain sufficient numbers of quality staff. The IAB figures show this change will become almost inevitable.

ìThe underlying problem is that local government will lose one third of its workforce over the next decade as people retire, with the proportion of potential employees in the under-25 age group at only half that of the economy as a whole ñ the replacements are not there. Since local authorities are the UKís biggest employment sector with 1.5 million people, effective future recruitment is a huge issue.î

ìWith the public sector facing an unprecedented squeeze - from the ëbaby boomersí retiring and rapidly declining numbers of potential Generation Y recruits, online recruitment will become the tool for local authorities, housing associations and primary care trusts to win what is definitely a ëwar for talentí over the next decade.î

Richard Tyrie says the big rise of online advertising last year heralds a sea change in recruitment practices by large organisations: ìInternet advertising spend was up nearly 40 per cent last year alone and the IAB is forecasting double digit growth again in 2008. The wholesale shift of local government services online already shows that the public sector will in turn have to replicate these Internet-based channels in its HR and recruitment strategies.

Richard Tyrie believes however that innovative public sector organisations are now showing the way: ìWe are working with a number of local authorities and housing groups that have accepted the challenge. They have developed online talent pools and e-recruitment campaigns that are often integrated with their existing websites. This enables them to harness the power of the Net and reach out, nurture and recruit personnel on a 24/7 basis, instead of relying on slow, administration-heavy paper processes to fill different posts.î

ìThis sort of regular two-way contact is the future for public sector employers. It builds a community of potential recruits, helps communicates the authorityís values as an employer and streamlines recruitment processes helping them reduce operational costs.î