International Recruitment Strategies

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International Recruitment Strategies

• Neil Reichenberg, Executive Director
• International Public Management Association for
  Human Resources (IPMA-HR)

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International Public Management Association for
Human Resources (IPMA-HR)

• Located in Alexandria, VA
• Website - www.ipma-hr.org
• Members are Human Resource professionals who work
  primarily in the public sector
• Over 8,000 members in more than 25 countries
• IPMA-HRWorking Together on Behalf of the Public
  HR Community
• Programs, Products Services include
• Publications
• Human Resource Center
• Professional Development Programs and Conferences
• Human Resource Certification Program
• Employment Examinations

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Presentation Outline

• Importance of Recruitment and Selection
• First step in the employee life cycle needs to
  be done well
• Challenges
• Workforce planning need for holistic approach
• Age bubble in some countries
• Potential labor shortage/skills shortage Brain
  drain
• Technology
• Becoming an employer of choice

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Presentation Outline

• IPMA-HR Benchmarking survey results
• IPMA-HR aging workforce study results
• Recruitment/Selection trends innovations

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Charter for Public Service in Africa

• Article 15 states that public service employees
  shall be recruited, appointed, and promoted on
  the basis of their competence and professional
  skills and in accordance with transparent and
  objective procedures that guarantee equal
  opportunities for all, women, disabled, and
  particularly disadvantaged groups

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Importance of Recruitment Selection

• Great companies first got the right people on
  the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the
  right people in the right seats and then they
  figured out where to drive it.
• Good to Great Why Some Companies Make the Leap
  and Others Dont Jim Collins

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Recruitment

• Recruitment is not about filling jobs that are
  currently vacant it is about making a
  continuous, long-term investment to build a high
  quality workforce capable of accomplishing the
  organizations mission now and in the future
• Recruitment is a critical management function
  all levels of the organization should be involved
  in planning and implementation

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What Are Job Seekers Looking For?

• Accenture study of 4,100 job seekers in 21
  countries found the most valued career goals of
  both entry-level experienced job seekers are
• Challenging interesting work
• Recognizing rewarding accomplishments
• Providing an opportunity for fast career growth
  advancement
• Financially strong organization
• People oriented organization

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Workforce Planning

• Workforce planning should be the framework that
  integrates all HR practices
• Identifying workforce needs
• Analyzing where you are
• Developing HR strategies to close gaps

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Workforce Planning Model
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Recruitment Challenges

• Demographics
• Much smaller pool of replacement workers in some
  countries to fill positions of those who will be
  retiring
• the dominant factor in the next society will be
  something most people are just beginning to pay
  attention to the rapid growth in the older
  population and the rapid shrinking of the younger
  generation.
• Peter Drucker

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Recruitment Challenges

• Globalization The World is Flat
• Aging workforce in some countries
• High cost of sustaining pension benefits
  reducing benefits could decrease the
  attractiveness of public sector employment
• Brazil has more retirees than employees
• Changing definition of career has reduced the
  loyalty of employees to organizations
• Rapid change that requires a highly fluid skill
  mix

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Recruitment Challenges

• Brain drain that can result in the movement of
  skilled labor to other countries
• South Africa efforts to stem the brain drain
• Loss of health professionals
• Improvements in conditions of service
• Introduction of compulsory community service
• Cooperation with destination countries
• Recruiting foreign health professionals

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Recruitment Challenges

• Philippines effort to maximize benefits from
  labor migration
• About 8 of the population lives overseas
• Remittances account for 10 of GDP
• Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
  established to promote return and reintegration
  of migrants
• Tax free shopping, loans, subsidized scholarships
• Government offers benefits to migrants

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Recruitment Challenges

• Declining image of the public sector in some
  countries
• Compensation tends to be lower than the private
  sector

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Recruitment Challenges

• According to IPMA-HR aging workforce study
• 51 do not believe that sufficient talent already
  exists in the organization to fill positions left
  by retiring workers
• 70 believe competition with the private sector
  for talent is increasing
• 60 believe that recruiting efforts will need to
  expand

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Employer of Choice

• To compete successfully for talented applicants
  and retain high performing employees, governments
  must become an employer of choice. To achieve
  this, consideration should be given to
• Provide challenging work
• Implement progressive HR policies work/life
  balance
• Offer opportunities for promotion career
  development
• Engage in marketing/public relations

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Employer of Choice

• Recognition of employee accomplishments
• Develop printed/electronic materials to present
  positive images to recruits
• Use technology solutions for recruitment
  selection
• Correct reasons why good employees leave
• Create internships or other entry level programs
• Reduce the cycle time for filling hotly recruited
  positions
• Build partnerships with colleges
• Recruit applicants where they are

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IPMA-HR Benchmarking Survey

• Survey sent out in June 2006
• 236 responses
• In-depth survey with 172 questions
• Most responses are from the U.S.

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IPMA-HR Benchmarking Survey
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IPMA-HR Benchmarking Survey

• How many recruitments are assigned to one HR
  employee at any given time
• Between 1-3 23.3
• Between 4-6 23.7
• Between 7-10 14.2
• Between 11-20 18.5
• More than 20 11.2

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IPMA-HR Benchmarking Survey

• On average, how many hours does the HR staff
  spend on each recruitment
• 1-5 20.3
• 6-10 21.6
• 16-20 10.8
• 21-30 11.7
• 31-40 6.1
• More than 40 9.5
• Unknown 19.9

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IPMA-HR Benchmarking Survey

• Average time it takes from notification of
  vacancy until new hire reports to work
• Jobs in general 49 days
• Professional jobs 51 days
• Clerical jobs 45 days
• Trades jobs 44 days
• IT jobs 48 days

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Cost to Fill A Position

• Data from IPMA-HR aging workforce research
• About 1/3 dont know the average cost to fill a
  position
• Of those responding
• 31 report average cost of less than 10 of
  salary
• 30 report 10 25 of salary
• 6 report 26 50 of salary
• 1 report more than 50 of salary

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Filling Vacancies Turnover

• According to the IPMA-HR aging workforce
  research, half of respondents fill 25 of their
  positions with internal candidates
• Annual turnover rate is between 1 10 for
  almost 70 of respondents
• During the past 5 years, 41 report an increase
  in annual turnover 48 say turnover rates have
  stayed unchanged

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Recruitment/Selection Trends

• Instituting worker-friendly HR policies
• Flexible work hours
• Telecommuting
• Family-friendly workplaces parental leave
• Non-monetary incentives
• Cooperative management styles
• Open communications
• Good working conditions
• Latest technology

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Recruitment/Selection Trends

• Using current employees as recruiters financial
  incentives often provided
• Using temporary employees assess workers before
  they are hired
• Internships
• Focus on retention
• Can reduce the of vacancies signal that the
  organization is a good place to work
• Use of mentors to ease the entry of new workers

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Recruitment/Selection Trends

• Use of on-line or automated systems
• On-line applications
• On-line screening
• On-line certificates and applications to manager
• Integrated web-based recruitment and hiring
  systems
• Internet/computerized testing

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Recruitment/Selection Trends

• Recruitment Strategies
• Job Fairs (Apply Today Start Tomorrow)
• New Hire Feedback Through Surveys
• Open continuous recruitment for hard-to-fill
  positions
• Advertisements in professional journals and
  publications

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Recruitment/Selection Trends

• Recruitment Strategies
• Help-line support for applicants
• Promotion of workplace flexibilities
  telecommuting (working from a remote location)
  work/life balance
• Family-based new employee orientation
• Development of a recruitment work plan
• Joint hiring process between hiring manager and
  HR

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Recruitment/Selection Trends

• Use of contract employment
• Trinidad Tobago example
• Contracts used when there is a shortage of
  suitable candidates plus an urgent need for the
  services
• Special projects or programs of specified
  duration
• Need has been identified for specialized services
  of an individual
• Where a Minister requires personal staff and the
  established job positions dont lend themselves
  to the range of responsibilities assigned

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Recruitment/Selection Trends

• Contract employment
• The contract period must not extend beyond 3
  years
• The Cabinet needs to approve the appointment of a
  person
• The contract positions cant carry job titles of
  offices established in the public service
• Chief personnel officer negotiates the contract
• The renewal or extension must be approved by the
  Cabinet

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Starbucks Example

• Starbucks is experiencing significant growth with
  plans to open 1,800 stores globally in 2006
• Hiring about 200 employees per day
• Recruitment innovations
• Interviews include coffee tasting sessions
• Candidate bill of rights developed emphasizing
  that recruiters should use phone calls
  handwritten notes rather than form letters, set
  goals for how quickly applicants should hear
  back, and encourages recruiters to send out
  Starbucks gift card whether or not applicant is
  hired.
• Goal is to treat job applicants like customers

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Resources

• UN World Public Sector Report Unlocking the
  Human Potential for Public Sector Performance
• HR Recruitment Best Talent Retention Tool Kit
  for the Public Sector issued by the UN with the
  assistance of IPMA-HR
• Available at www.unpan.org

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Questions

• Neil Reichenberg
• Executive Director
• IPMA-HR
• 1617 Duke Street
• Alexandria, VA 22314
• USA
• nreichenberg_at_ipma-hr.org