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RECRUITMENT
From Passive Posting to Head-Hunting
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Your recruiting process should say to the candidate, “How’d you like to be part of our community, do neat things together, grow individually and with your peers?” —Tom Peters, The Pursuit of WOW! Every Person’s Guide to Topsy-Turvey Times
After studying this chapter, you should be able to
- Identify the key paradoxes and challenges in recruitment from an organizational viewpoint
- Explain the three recruitment steps in the civil service staffing process
- Pose probing preliminary staffing questions such as whether to hire internally or exter- nally and whether to duplicate the previous recruitment process or to restructure the position
- Write a customized job announcement
- Spot the strengths and weaknesses of various strategies and be able to determine an effective mix for specific staffing
- Describe some of the “do’s and don’ts” of the recruitment process from an applicant’s standpoint
- Incorporate tactics for enhancing diversity
Having examined human resource management’s context and challenges—the civil service heritage and the legal environment—the essential functions of HRM are explored beginning with recruitment, arguably the most important of them all. From an applicant’s perspective, recruitment is often daunting and esoteric. Ultimately, it can be life changing, as one must nav- igate through what is sometimes a bewildering variety of procedures. From the organization’s perspective, recruitment is a process of soliciting the most talented and motivated applicants, and as such it is a bedrock function. Only with highly skilled staff— human capital —do organizations have the opportunity to thrive in an era in which work tends to be complex, customized, and rapidly changing. This chapter, then, discusses an array of concerns that
agencies and applicants encounter and explains why the public sector confronts unique challenges. One paradox is that procurement strategies and techniques, despite their importance, may be relatively insignificant compared to the American sociopolitical environment within which this function takes place. That is, three cultural forces—the historical recruitment philosophy, the social status of public employment, and political leadership—form a powerful context within which government seeks employees. Historically, recruitment has been passive, and until the 1950s it was not legal for the federal government to advertise in newspapers. It has also been highly negative and legalistic, often “turning off” would-be job applicants and con- tributing to the perception of excessive red tape (U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board [U.S. MSPB], 2000). Further, the loss of prestige of the public service from its high-water mark in the 1930s and 1940s is a constant concern (Lewis & Frank, 2002). Finally, politicians may make public employment harder by both “bashing the bureaucracy” (which they are in charge of) and starving the administration of the resources for high-quality recruitment (such as pay and hiring flexibilities). For the job seeker, another stark paradox is the seeming abundance of employment oppor- tunities but scarcity of desirable positions. There are several reasons for this. Not only is there a tendency to increase the span of control and eliminate whole layers of middle management, but there is also a propensity to reduce the number of specialists who have management rank and perquisites; as a result, positions with attractive professional opportunities can easily elicit scores of qualified candidates. Applicants are also often perplexed by the mixed messages. Is recruitment a politically neu- tral, skill-based process, as it purports to be, or is it frequently a personalistic, “underground” hiring system with “wired” jobs subject to subtle, modern-day patronage? As discussed below, the public service was once largely based on patronage, and even today patronage positions are among the most influential in government. The bulk of those senior positions, however, are sup- posed to be based strictly on technical merit, yet the influence of “political” or personal factors is common. Yet below the policy level, personal factors cannot be discounted. Local government has always prided itself on a balanced approach using technical merit and a “good fit.” Even at the federal level, entry-level job applicants hear about a job more frequently from friends and relatives than any other source (U.S. MSPB, 2000), and internal promotions are affected by per- sonal factors (U.S. MSPB, 2001). Thus paradoxically, depending on the position, both perspec- tives can be true, and it is often impossible for the applicant to know how best to proceed. In addition, should management aspirants prepare themselves as specialists or as general- ists? Paradoxically, the answer is sometimes “yes.” Applicants for better positions must be both. Until recently, the American tradition has largely favored specialists. The best case- workers in social service agencies would often be promoted to supervisors, the best engineers in transportation agencies would be appointed as managers, and good researchers in state uni- versities would become administrators. Advanced positions seldom required either general- ist management training or experience in rotational assignments to gain broad experience. Although organizations seem to appreciate generalist training, it is usually on top of special- ist training—for those few who are advanced in today’s flatter hierarchies. Generalist train- ing, however, is critical for managers who deal with diverse functions and who rarely have the time to maintain specialist expertise. Paradoxes and challenges also exist from an organizational perspective. They start with the notion that recruitment is the most compelling human resource function, but it is generally acknowledged to be the weakest (General Accounting Office [GAO], 2003). It is pivotal
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recruitment responsibilities, and job seeker advice. The chapter closes with a summary and concluding recommendations.
Factors in Recruitment: Employer and Applicant Perspectives
Recruitment can be seen from two perspectives. What are the factors that affect success for the organization? And just as important, what are applicants’ perspectives on what a quality process is, even if they are not selected?
EMPLOYER RECRUITMENT
At least five major elements influence the effectiveness of recruitment: the breadth and qual- ity of the process, the size of the labor pool and the location of jobs, pay and benefits (dis- cussed in Chapters 6 and 7), job quality, and organizational image. Having a sound recruitment philosophy means asking the right and wise questions from the outset (Breaugh & Starke, 2000). Is the entire procedure well conceived and supported so that it fully embodies vital organization goals? Are enough—and the correct—strategies used to reach a broad range of those who might be qualified and interested? Is the process aggres- sive enough to encourage the best candidates to apply? Is it clear and nonbureaucratic so that would-be applicants will not be discouraged? Is the process free from legal challenges yet not excessively legalistic or stultifying? Do applicants feel good about the recruitment? Finally, is the overall procedure cost-effective for the position being considered and the recruitment environment, both of which vary enormously? Although other factors are not emphasized in this chapter, they have influence on the con- text within which the technical process operates. Labor pool size and job location play a role in recruitment (Smith, 2000). For instance, in the last generation, thousands of public sector jobs have been privatized with the result that they have gone to private domestic and overseas contractors. Economic boom or bust cycles also affect recruitment. For school districts, for example, this means that sometimes HR offices may be inundated with high-quality candi- dates; yet in times of shortages districts may travel out of state to job fairs and offer signing bonuses and moving allowances to fill vacancies. Good economic times generally mean that professionals of all types—lawyers, accountants, doctors, engineers, and others—may be in short supply; when the economy is weak, employee supply expands to the advantage of employers. Job quality may or may not be an element that applicants are immediately aware of, but top candidates invariably become proficient analysts of the organization they are considering. The best ones investigate with a critical eye such aspects as job security, challenges and potential, working conditions, and professional perquisites such as travel and training. Although much of this understanding is sought and verified in the selection process (Chapter 4), it begins with recruitment. Finally, organizational status plays a significant role (Gatehouse, Gowan, & Lautenschlager, 1993). Being an auditor in a social service agency beleaguered with a series of child protec- tive service and welfare scandals may not be as appealing as working as an auditor in a large accounting firm. When the pay differential is factored in as well, it means that one organiza- tion may have Ivy League graduates competing for interviews, whereas the other does not. Laudable as the public service ethic may be, it can wear people out if agencies do not con- tribute to employee welfare in important ways. To illustrate, although most public defender
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offices pay poorly and overwork assistant public defenders, some have fine candidates because the training afforded is excellent and the work is as exciting as it is challenging. Interestingly, because of the surge in popularity of a strong public service ethic after the ter- rorist attacks of 9/11, interest in public service employment is up (Kaufman, 2004). Also, there has been increased attention on polishing agencies’ images—called “branding”—which is often done in tandem with recruiting (Bailes, 2002).
HIGH-QUALITY RECRUITMENT: AN APPLICANT’S PERSPECTIVE
According to recruitment expert Sara Rynes (1993), too often employers neglect to think of the applicant’s perspective in the recruitment process. Instead of candidates being impressed by the organization whether they are hired or not, most feel resentment because of cold, unthoughtful, and/or dilatory treatment. Rynes offers four suggestions for employers who want people to have a good impression of the agency:
- Timing to minimize anxiety. Good candidates expect recruitment processes to result in timely notification of being in contention, prompt follow-ups, and enough time to make a reasonable choice among offers.
- Feedback to optimize scarce job search resources. “Withholding of negative feedback is often interpreted as ‘stringing applicants along’ to preserve complete freedom of organiza- tional decision making” (Rynes, 1993, p. 31). In other words, as soon as agencies have elim- inated applicants by narrowing the field to a short list, they should consider notifying candidates rather than wait until the final person has been selected.
- Information that makes distinctions. People prefer to have information that is detailed enough to allow realistic assumptions about the specific job content rather than the single- sentence descriptions common in many announcements. In the interview process, candidates appreciate a realistic job preview because they understand Malcolm Forbes’s statement, “If you have a job without aggravation, you don’t have a job.”
- Enthusiastic, informative, and credible representatives. In the initial recruitment process, applicants respond much better to warm and enthusiastic recruiters. In the interview process, candidates not only notice whether they meet top organizational leaders and cowork- ers but also are sensitive to how their time is used. Dead time in the schedule or a casual inter- view schedule is seen as negative factors from the candidate’s perspective.
Overall, treat applicants as customers, and manage the recruitment process in a profes- sional manner. With the backdrop of these recruitment factors and applicant preferences, our attention now turns to the technical processes.
Recruitment Steps
Recruitment provides information about available positions and encourages qualified candi- dates to apply. It has three stages: planning and approval of the position, preparation of the posi- tion announcement, and selection and use of specific strategies. The process should be seamlessly connected with selection (the next chapter), and together they are known as staffing
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multiple locations, or lengthy procedures that could be accomplished in a short time). Ever since the widespread use of civil service systems, the ideal has been to be as neutral as possible to make the process fair and unbiased. To accommodate numerous applicant requests for a large range of positions, centralized systems emerged in the federal government in the 1920s and elsewhere thereafter (Hamman & Desai, 1995, p. 90). Certainly this was sensible, helping to combat excessive political cronyism and managerial personalism and to overcome a lack of hiring expertise dispersed among various units. It led, however, to rigidity and for- malism as well. Adding to proceduralism in the mid-1960s was the interest in providing greater employment accessibility for minorities, women, and other protected classes.^3 The trend today seeks to ease the effects of proceduralism by decentralizing to allow hir- ing managers more control and to try innovative methods to compete in the new employment environment. For example, Hays (1998) notes that the recent government reform initiatives have affected staffing in three ways: First, there is a strong drive to decentralize staffing activities. To the extent feasible, line managers are being provided with greater influence over recruitment and selection efforts. Second, government appears to be making a sincere effort to simplify and invigorate intake functions. More energy is being spent on selling public agencies to prospective workers and on easing their passage into the workforce. Finally, personnel offices are beginning to demon- strate an unaccustomed willingness to experiment with new staffing strategies (p. 303). Thus, for instance, Congress approved the use of direct hiring authority in the wake of 9/ for 2-year emergency appointments. As well, an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recruits 50 college graduates each year in its scholarship program as full- time employees who receive special training, mentoring, and job rotation experiences.
Planning and Approval
At least two different types of planning occur in well-managed organizations (Mintzberg, 1994). First, they engage in strategic thinking about the future needs, challenges, and oppor- tunities of their incoming workforce. True strategic planning requires research, original think- ing, and a willingness to change. Second, agencies operationalize strategic plans as concrete positions become available. In other words, preliminary, vital questions should be rigorously asked about available positions before the actual recruitment process takes place.
STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT OF VACANCIES
A plan for staffing begins with a labor market survey or overview of the labor market as it affects agency job clusters. What are trends in terms of availability, salaries, and education levels? Public organizations often suffer most in employment cycles because of the difficulty of implementing policies to compete for workers in tight labor markets. In addition to a mar- ket analysis, a needs assessment should be done. What does the organization anticipate its requirements will be for new positions, restructured positions, and eliminated positions? If an agency is required to strengthen its educative/facilitative role and decrease its regulative role (such as occurred at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the 1990s, for instance), then it takes new skills and even different types of staff. It is neverthe- less quite common to find workforces lacking the requisite technical, interpersonal, and
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problem-solving skills needed by the contemporary organization. Such mission transitions are common today. Although the decentralization of human resource functions overall has made planning at the systems level more difficult for states and cities, it has made it more flexible at the department and unit level. Planning can take a number of different forms. Organizations can make sure that the staff intake function is properly funded. They can work on institutional image to positively affect recruitment. Agencies can provide flexible schedules, family support policies like child care, comparable pay, and technology upgrades. Such planning and action take place long before any particular position is advertised. A final aspect of planning is to make sure that the process is timely and user friendly. Ultimately, each position that opens may have special problems and opportunities. Administrators need to be able to assess whether a routine protocol is best or whether closer examination is necessary. If any of the following red flags are present, the hiring manager should probably give special attention to a new or customized process:
- Applicants for recent positions have been poorly qualified.
- Supervisors complain that new workers do not fit into the department well.
- The best candidates do not apply.
- Better applicants have already found positions by the time the position is offered.
When strategic issues are involved, it is time to consult with the human resources depart- ment, colleagues in the agency and other organizations, and professional trade journals. Systemic concerns should trigger the use of decision-making tools such as cause-and-effect charts, statistical analysis, and Delphi techniques (i.e., the pooling of expert opinions on a problem or issue) so that solutions can be found. An example of a strategic problem comes from a midlevel information technology manager arguing with his supervisor about whether to hire an underqualified but high-potential candi- date. The supervisor’s view was that such employees take at least 3 months to have marginal utility and 6 months to perform at standard. Furthermore, some never come up to speed but rather plateau at a low performance level. The midlevel manager’s position was that the unit had five open positions, was struggling to keep up with a rapidly expanding workload, and found that fully qualified personnel were simply not applying, despite a new, higher pay level. By discussing the systemic problem with human resource experts, however, the manager and supervisor uncovered a strategic opportunity. Why not hire five technically underqualified but high-potential candidates (who were relatively plentiful) and offer a special training class? This would be worth the effort because its size would justify a full-time trainer, which would, in turn, ensure higher-quality training than the ad hoc on-the-job training provided to single hires. Furthermore, furnishing a trainer would reduce the demands on the already overworked person- nel in the unit for whom training was generally a distraction. Another case of a strategic decision is the outsourcing of governmental jobs in recent years to contractors and subcontractors operat- ing overseas to avoid improving working conditions and compensation for American employees.
PRELIMINARY DECISIONS ABOUT THE SPECIFIC POSITION
Before the recruitment for a position begins, some thought must be given to staffing funda- mentals. Is it advisable to fill the position at all? Sometimes it is better to leave one position
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The final preliminary issue is getting authority for hiring and approval for any job adjust- ments that may be needed. Positions are a carefully guarded resource, with hiring freezes instituted directly by presidents, governors, county commissioners, and mayors. Paperwork must be carefully completed, adjustments must be documented, and acquiring formal union approval or informal approval by colleagues is prudent. Hiring supervisors who are sloppy or impatient with the process or inarticulate with their rationale may find their hiring opportu- nities hamstrung by human resource specialists or stymied by superiors. As often as not, man- agers who demand expedited processes have simply neglected to plan properly or learn long-established procedures. In summary, recruitment begins before a position becomes available. An agency that wants to appeal to the best candidates will make sure that it is competitive in terms of pay, reputa- tion, working conditions, and collegiality and that its personnel procurement process has resources to identify and attract the finest people available. As positions become available, proper planning requires a series of preliminary questions related to job currency and restruc- turing, inside-only versus outside recruitment , pool versus targeted hiring, scope of involve- ment, specialist-generalist characteristics, and timeliness. This planning occurs prior to designing the job announcement, discussed below.
Position Announcements
Because there are no standard legal requirements about minimum information in job (posi- tion) announcements , they vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, from entry level to profes- sional recruitment, and from source to source. For example, one jurisdiction may routinely include information about its benefits package, whereas another may not. Or a professional level announcement in a national trade journal may insert a promotional paragraph about the agency or its jurisdiction that would rarely appear in an entry-level announcement in a local newspaper. Many agencies use advertisements that have relatively little detail but rather are aimed at noti- fying applicants of opportunities that can be more fully explored by requesting more informa- tion. A cost-effective compromise may be to post an ad in a national job search Web site like Monster.com or Careerpaths.com; such ads include a series of questions that screen qualified people as they read them. In any event, the announcement should be designed initially using a full format, which subsequently can be modified for a variety of purposes (see Exhibit 3.2).
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4 EXHIBIT 3.2 The Elements of a Job Announcement
The following types of information are relatively standard in a full announcement:
- Title and agency/organization affiliation. This can include the official title and/or the working title. The agency/division affiliation is mentioned except when recruitment is being conducted on a centralized basis (e.g., statewide or citywide).
- Salary range. The range generally indicates the starting salary as well as its ceiling. Professional and executive positions may simply state that a “competitive salary” is offered depending on experience and credentials.
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- Description of job duties and responsibilities. This is essentially a short job description. What will the incumbent actually do and be responsible for? Supervisory responsibilities, financial duties, and program responsibilities are especially useful in nonentry positions. Work hours are also standard information, although sometimes omitted when conventional.
- Minimum qualifications. What education, skills, and experience are required, as a minimum, to qualify for the job? Education requirements could be a degree in select fields or a special- ized certification. Skills could be as specific as typing speed or as general as communication facility. Many positions require specific experiences such as at least 3 years as a planner or 7 years in positions with progressively more responsibility (e.g., managerial). Minimum qualifi- cations must be job related; employers should not arbitrarily raise such qualifications just to reduce the number of job applicants.
- Special conditions. These often signal applicants to aspects of the job that some people (but not necessarily all) may find unappealing. Common special conditions include travel requirements, being stationed at outlying locations, a harsh or dangerous work environment, requirements for background checks, unusual hours, and residency requirements.
- Application procedures. What exam method will be used? If there is a specific test, when is it administered? Or is examination done by rating the education and experience of candi- dates? To whom and where does one apply, and with what exact materials? A closing date for the recruitment period is necessary, although sometimes positions “remain open until filled” after the closing date. Re-advertised positions may “begin interviewing immediately.” Otherwise, most jurisdictions require 3 weeks or more to close the recruitment period. Minimum periods for advertising are often in the legal code or statute and should be scrupu- lously followed. Emergency and temporary hiring practices are always possible but generally require exceptional justification and authorization.
- Equal Opportunity Employment. Standard phrases are used to indicate the organization’s commitment to equal opportunity employment and affirmative action.
Beyond these standard types of information, some other kinds are not routine but are never- theless common.
- Classification. The specific ranking of the position in the organizational system (grade level) is often not included in external postings because it may confuse outsiders. When it is relatively easy to understand, such as the federal General Schedule, it should be listed. Grade level is invariably of interest to organizational members, so internal postings should always include this more technical data.
- Career potential. A good job posting should discourage poorly qualified applicants, but it should also encourage those who are well qualified. Candidates often are looking at not only the position but its career potential. Mentioning career potential generally helps recruit better and more ambitious applicants. Examples include opportunities for promotion, training and education, and special experience.
- Special benefits. Some positions have special benefits. Examples might be seasonal vacations (such as summers for teachers and faculty), opportunities for extra pay, availability to work with distinguished people, or exceptional retirement programs (such as the military and para- military organizations).
who come to the agency’s employment office(s). For a job that must be filled internally, say a fire lieutenant’s position, posting alone can be sufficient. Many positions, however, are recruited outside the organization, and traditional posting is unlikely to be effective. As Eleanor Trice (1999) of the International Personnel Management Association says, “The days when government organizations could recruit by simply posting a vacancy announce- ment, then sitting back and assuming that enough qualified applicants would apply, are gone” (p. 10). Today posting also refers to electronic posting —listing jobs on agency Web sites or Web sites exclusively dedicated to job seekers. The Internet is an enormously important recruit- ment tool whose cost is minimal. Some examples are the following:
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management in USAJOBS www.usajobs.opm.gov
- Federal jobs www.fedworld.gov
- Federal Times www.federaltimes.com
- Jobs in government www.JobsInGovernment.com
- International Personnel Management Association www.publicsectorjobs.com
- Local government jobnet www.lgi.org
- Career Mosaic (private sector) www.careermosaic.com
Electronic posting is now required by law for federal positions that are competitively recruited and is the baseline for all but the most specialized jobs or smallest agencies. The ease of placing job advertisements has become a substantial advantage, as has the ability to reach an enormous pool at minimal cost. Despite its growth and popularity as the recruit- ment tool, there are studies that indicate electronic posting is already probably overused. The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board cautions against over-reliance on electronic methods (2003) because of concerns about digital access. Research on Internet recruitment by Feldman and Klass (2002) indicate that only 16% of those identifying the most effective recruitment tools name the Internet, whereas 22% indicated that it was among the least effective. Although improved digital access will certainly increase these percentages over time, the point is that it is not necessarily the most effective strategy for securing the most high-quality talent. Newspaper recruitment focuses on local or regional openings. The employment section of the largest area Sunday paper is the most common vehicle for job announcements, but some jurisdictions use daily employment sections as well. Smaller local papers may be ideal for a local job, especially those that are entry level, low-paying, or part-time. Despite cost, news- papers can be relatively effective in external recruitment. Trade journals are the newsletters and magazines that inform members of professions about activities on a regular basis (e.g., PATimes, ICMA Newsletter, and IPMA Newsletter ). The audience is narrower than that of a newspaper in terms of professional range but broader in terms of national scope. Trade journals are used extensively for professional and senior management positions in which high levels of specialized expertise are desired and generally available only on the national market. If a federal agency is looking for a senior math statis- tician, a state agency is seeking a director for its lottery department, or a city is searching for a city manager, they are all likely to list these positions in relevant journals where candi- dates can easily scan the entire job market. To the degree that appointive positions use open procedures, trade journals are also a strategy of choice, despite the associated cost.
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Recruitment by mail is a highly personalized approach in which individuals are encouraged by letter to apply. Aggressive private sector corporations use this strategy to contact students who are in the top few deciles of a handful of institutions identified as sources of exceptional candidates. Even more targeted recruitment occurs when a search committee identifies a select number of individuals who are exceedingly qualified and then personally encourages them. Such an approach “seeds” the recruitment pool with candidates who may not otherwise apply. It is rarely used in the public sector but is a mainstay strategy for Fortune 500 companies. Both sectors use search firms that rely on such personalized approaches. In addition, e-mail provides an inexpensive, informal, and rapid outreach technique. Other mass communications (excluding the print and electronic methods already men- tioned) include dedicated phone lines, government access TV, institutional advertising, and positive public relations stories. Dedicated phone lines are used by centralized personnel agen- cies to accommodate the standardized information needs of applicants who can call about jobs 24 hours a day. Government access TV is most commonly used by cities and counties that have a controlled-access government station provided by the authorized cable company. It is com- mon for these stations to list available jobs at various times. Some organizations do institu- tional advertising, especially when they have a service to sell (e.g., state universities). This advertising increases awareness and prestige, even though it does not target select positions. Positive media coverage can have a similar effect on recruitment efforts. Personal contact recruitment occurs when recruiters, managers, or search panel members attend job fairs, conduct on-campus recruiting, or individually contact top candidates for posi- tions. Recruiters generally travel to such events, perhaps across town but sometimes to other states, or make targeted calls to potential candidates who have not applied. Such tactics are routine for some corporations, professional sports teams, and elite law firms but are less com- mon for all but the largest government agencies. Job fairs provide candidates a chance to talk to prospective employers and provide the organization an opportunity to increase its visibil- ity and scout for suitable talent. The practice of managers personally contacting candidates is common in business; it is less so in the public sector, which is considered vulnerable to accu- sations of cronyism and bias. Internship programs are a common practice in many midsized and large jurisdictions (see Exhibit 3.3 for two examples). Elite organizations screen interns nearly as closely as job applicants because of program cost and subsequent high hiring rates. Consequently, such opportunities are a standard element of almost all Master of Public Administration curricula, and program quality can be quite high. Organizations that make large-scale and effective use of this strategy report that the benefits in terms of training, acculturation, job preview, and job longevity are unequaled by other methods. The federal government has well-known initiatives such as the Presidential Manage- ment Fellowship (formerly the Presidential Management Internship program), Federal Career Intern program, AmeriCorps, National Health Service Corps, and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), including high school junior ROTC. Cooperative education programs are endorsed by the federal government as well (called the Student Educational Employment Program). In such programs, agencies employ students while they are completing a degree program (such as an MPA) without going through a competitive process. Federal law permits conversion of these positions to regular positions if the agency is so inclined. States and cities have set up similar undertakings (National Commission on the State and Local Public Service, 1993). Ties between Master of Public Administration programs and local/regional
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for the host agency. Fellowships, which can be extremely competitive, are generally aimed at mid- to senior level candidates interested in new or broader professional experiences. Head-hunting , or external recruitment, occurs when the staffing function is farmed out to a third party that makes the initial contact or even provides the hiring contract. Ironically, it is used most for both the lowest and highest, but not the middle positions in government. Public agencies contract employment firms, especially in a tight labor market, for basic labor, clerical, and temporary positions (generally en masse). At the top end of the spectrum, private sector organizations have long relied on head-hunting strategies to fill executive and senior management positions, but this is less prevalent in government, which places a premium on open processes from beginning to end. Executive head-hunting is on the upswing as new prac- tices in states like Michigan (Kost, 1996) and Washington (which uses internal executive recruiters); it has always been common for city and county management positions. Noncompetitive recruitment means that a single official completes the process without a formal comparison of candidates. Therefore, recruitment may be “open” for certain jobs or types of applicants. Sometimes it means that immediate hiring is allowed if candidates meet certain standards; at other times the decision maker simply has the authority to select those people deemed appropriate. An illustration of the first instance is when the federal govern- ment has allowed its campus recruiters to hire students immediately if they met certain grade point standards (e.g., the Outstanding Scholar Program and Schedule B appointments, which do not require a competitive examination). This practice has become so popular, in fact, that it was challenged because of affirmative action concerns (Rivenbark, 1998). An example of the second instance is the process of appointing confidential staff; elected and senior appointed officials can hire advisers, deputies, and personal assistants without either a formal merit or legislative consent process. Of course, a noncompetitive process is easier and less costly than other methods. The practice is effective in a limited number of cases such as hard-to-fill posi- tions where meeting a given standard is sufficient for hiring or where political and personal loyalty is an appropriate factor. Which strategies are best for which jobs? For positions in police, fire, and paramilitary orga- nizations with strong seniority policies, there is little reason to go much beyond physical and virtual posting. Organizational members wait for these opportunities, and internal recruitment is usually sufficient. The situation is quite different elsewhere, when competition for high- quality candidates can often be fierce. The question is not which strategy to use but how many, given financial and personnel resources. Following its strategic plan, the U.S. State Department uses both cutting-edge technology and interpersonal relations. By integrating traditional mar- keting, outreach techniques and public relations with Web-based technology, its Diplomatic Readiness Initiative made the department’s recruitment program a model (Pearson, 2004). The strengths of public sector recruitment have been in notification strategies—job post- ing, electronic posting, newspapers, trade journals, and some mass communication methods. Traditional weaknesses have been the lack of expensive, proactive strategies—well-paid internship programs (with the notable exception of the federal government), systematic per- sonal contacts, mail recruitment, head-hunting, and noncompetitive hiring. Future innova- tions are more likely to be in these latter strategies (see Exhibit 3.4). Current innovations cluster around increasing timeliness, in general, and flexibility where positions are hard to fill (see Exhibit 3.5). In 2004, for instance, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management developed Recruitment One-Stop, an integrated, governmentwide online recruitment system. A critical aspect in selecting recruitment strategies is determining whom they target and whether they encourage diversity in the organization, which is examined below.
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Unity Through Diversity in Recruitment
Even though affirmative action has been de-emphasized in recent years (Ewoh & Elliott, 1997; Riccucci, 1997; Slack, 1997), a diverse workforce is both ethical and a management necessity. There are three factors to consider. First, does the agency provide an environment
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4 EXHIBIT 3.4 Just How Aggressive Should Public Sector Organizations Become?
Government is often urged to act more like business. Should it adopt private sector strategies about recruitment? For example, should it abandon competitive hiring (comparing multiple candidates) for selected “hot” fields and substitute minimum standards coupled with on-the-spot hiring in order to make timely offers? Should it use signing bonuses, common in the private sector for difficult-to-hire positions? Although there was a time when this strategy was unheard of, it is now used by school districts desperate to fill positions and by agencies hiring for information technology positions. Should government follow the example of those corporations that target select institutions where the graduates are known to be superior, often tracking specific students during the latter part of their aca- demic study? Should agencies actively hire specific high-performing employees away from other organizations, even though they have not applied for positions? Corporate raiding of employees is common practice, often with public sector employees being the target. Is it appropriate and ethical for public agencies to use such an approach? Finally, should the inducements for outstanding can- didates be enhanced by special contracts promising advantageous opportunities? An example might include rotational fast-track assignments for junior applicants (this has always been done to some degree in the military with academy officers). Instances of these proactive strategies exist in the government, but they are all unusual. How common should they be? Just how aggressive should public organizations become?
4 EXHIBIT 3.5 Recruitment Innovations in Wisconsin
The state of Wisconsin has been widely regarded as an innovator in procurement practices. Like many organizations that have assessed their recruitment practices, it found that the major com- plaints from customers (both hiring agencies and applicants) were timeliness and flexibility. Three programs targeted these problems. The walk-in civil service testing program allows applicants to take almost any civil service test each week in 14 different locations across the state without having to apply in advance. This has cut down the waiting time for applicants by half and has reduced over- all administrative costs. The Entry Professional Program allows agencies to customize recruitment strategies for select entry professional positions, often deleting a multiple-choice civil service exam (which reduces the application time and applicant frustration) and substituting rigorous education and experience reviews and more extensive interview programs. Where applicable, this program allows interviewing of all eligible candidates, exceeding the normal top 5 or 10 candidates. Agencies must simply justify their rationale for adjusting standard recruitment procedures for those targeted professional positions. The critical recruitment program targets those positions in which fewer than 10 applicants are expected. Rather than require multiple-choice testing, the program allows use of evaluations of experience and training, job task checklists, or academic crediting schedules (Lavigna, 1996, pp. 428–429). Interviews are allowed immediately for all who meet min- imum standards. In some cases, it is possible for applicants to apply, be evaluated, be interviewed, and be offered a job all on the same day.
assistance for departments. A second approach is that agencies either have full-time human resource experts or coordinators with personnel responsibilities. These specialists provide support to operational units and monitor hiring practices. Finally, organizations may conduct much of their recruitment directly, especially for midlevel and senior positions. This has the advantage of increased buy-in and involvement from departments in the entire process; it also may mean that there is an opportunity for inappropriate practices if hiring units do not take the responsibility seriously or plan for it properly. Exhibit 3.6 is an example of the division of responsibilities in the state of Iowa.
Recruitment — 77
4 EXHIBIT 3.6 An Example of Dividing the Work of Recruitment in a Large System
The recruitment of qualified applicants for state employment is the joint responsibility of the following:
- Managers and supervisors
- Personnel officers (assigned to specific agencies)
- Employment specialists at the Iowa Department of Personnel (IDOP)
Departments’ recruitment efforts include the following:
- Review their affirmative action plans to understand the status of their progress.
- Project the number of upcoming vacancies and when they will be filled.
- Submit an annual and quarterly vacancy forecast to the IDOP.
- Identify exact recruitment needs (job title; class code; selective areas, if appropriate; job location).
- Contact all potential sources of applicants.
- Determine the best methods for informing applicants.
- Determine what resources to commit to recruitment efforts.
- Contact personnel officer and employment specialist for assistance.
Personnel officer’s recruitment efforts include the following:
- Be familiar with the department’s affirmative action plan and progress toward its goals.
- Assist the department in locating local, specialized recruitment sources for their specific needs to supplement the employment bureau’s list.
- Assist the IDOP Employment Bureau on recruitment trips and keep it informed of the depart- ment’s recruitment plans.
IDOP Employment Bureau efforts include the following:
- Determine relevant recruitment areas (local, statewide, national).
- Develop a comprehensive recruitment source list and keep it up to date.
- Assist departments and the personnel offices on how best to inform potential applicants of vacancies.
- Coordinate career days, job fairs, and information sessions and include the participation of departments and personnel officers.
- Mesh recruitment efforts with the overall employment process. SOURCE: Iowa Department of Personnel (1994).
Enhancing Recruitment Prospects: The Seeker’s Perspective
The basics of job seeking may be widely known but are not necessarily commonly practiced.
- The first suggestion is to know the recruitment process and know what resources are available. Reading this chapter accomplishes the first aspect. Learning where recruitment occurs in a targeted profession includes consulting with practicing professionals who can identify the standard trade journals, knowing the newspapers that carry the appropriate adver- tisements, and exploring to find additional sources through the Internet and elsewhere. Developing personal contacts—networking—can make an enormous difference in discover- ing good prospects. See Exhibit 3.7 for a discussion of networking.
78— P R O C E S S E S A N D S K I L L S : F R O M S T A R T T O F I N I S H
4 EXHIBIT 3.7 Recruitment for Job Seekers: Networking
The mantra for any job seeker is networking, networking, networking. Professional acquaintances help job seekers by giving them advanced notice of upcoming openings and agency needs. They can also act as advocates for those they would like to see fill positions in their agency or department or serve as references who can vouch for the job experience, performance, and personal attributes of job seekers. It is well known that jobs may have been wired for others; these people often had a network of advocates working for them. Most professionals belong to several networks. On the national level, for example, you may belong to a national association in your specific line of work. Other networks are statewide or regional associations for more in-depth or frequent interaction with other professionals in your field. And still others are local groups of all types, formal and informal. Networks are not built overnight. They are often the result of attending professional conferences for several years and building ties with similar professionals in other agencies. Such ties often are formed among those with similar professional interests, commitments, and values. Indeed, a basic, prerequisite skill for any professional is the ability to articulate these in a relatively concise and coher- ent fashion: People need to know what others stand for. How else do humans form enduring bonds? It is unclear how large a professional network needs to be in order to be effective, but most pro- fessionals who feel part of a network would know about 30 to 60 people fairly well and probably know a couple hundred by face or name. How do people get to know so many people? First, most individuals know more people than they realize and even more people who could introduce them to others if only they were asked to do so. Second, a large network requires a commitment to go to venues such as conferences where people meet others. Attending a conference once may lead to knowing only a very few others, but attending for 4 years may lead to knowing half the attendees. Maintaining a professional network requires an investment of time to keep others informed of your professional self. Third, another great way to network is to volunteer. Often people at lower levels in the organizations know what they want to do, but their job or boss does not provide for that. Volunteering for a nonprofit is a great way to gain experience and meet people. Doing good, pro- fessional work outside the scope of employment might even get back to a current employer who then may consider the volunteer “management material” because of the extra commitment shown. Having a strong network, and helping others in the network, brings numerous rewards. Networking is also helpful for other purposes such as to increase professional resources for doing one’s job (getting advice, help with a problem). Through networking, job seekers also learn about employers: Are they really as good as they claim? Are others happy working there? Or is the depart- ment a snake pit, best to be avoided? People in a network often have information about these mat- ters. Find out where people who have similar interests go. Join with them. It will be worth the cost.
