Public sector yet to get smart about workforce

Leatham Green of the PPMA and Jonathan Key of LabourXchange tell Jane Hancer of CC2i that public sector approaches to recruitment, retention and management are stuck in a pre-digital age It is well known that local authorities and other parts of the public sector face staff shortages in professional and less skilled roles, leading to significant expenditure on recruitment and agency fees. Yet hiring practice remains long-winded, bureaucratic and rule-bound, an approach that works neither for organisation nor candidate, and could change if the will was there, says HR specialist Leatham. Today’s technology allows for much greater flexibility in hiring people and enabling them to work when and where they are available says Jonathan, whose online platforms match small units of supply and demand and are about to be piloted with councils seeking new ways to plug a huge and growing care skills gap. ‘Digital’ can make ‘office-based’ roles more accessible to candidates with other responsibilities and allow organisations more flexibility but too many managers still want to see people ‘in the office’ and fail to provide the human support that is needed alongside the tech tools.