MANAGEMENT UPDATE.

KEYS TO BETTER PUBLIC SECTOR HIRING

In a new paper for The States Forum, author Robert Gordon executive vice president for state initiatives, provides advice for “Fixing Government Hiring.”

He doesn’t hold back on his critique of the status quo in many places, writing that: “Too often state and local governments get hiring wrong. They post turgid job descriptions in complex classifications that scare off strong applicants. They require archaic civil service exams that dramatically slow the hiring process . . . They select for staff on resume keywords that reward exaggeration, gaming and insider knowledge over expertise. They take so long to hire that individuals with options give up and go elsewhere. And they sort job roles into rigid compensation systems that aren’t sensitive to the labor market, making it impossible to recruit for some positions as others pay more than necessary.”

Clearly this litany of flaws in the hiring system are far from universal, and a growing number of entities are trying to change past practices in order to alleviate at least some of them.

Noting North Carolina’s problem with excessive vacancies, this report recognizes that the state has already started to address compensation, and hiring practices that “had fallen out of step with both the labor market and the needs of residents.”

This includes passage of a new law that provides agencies with more flexibility to offer competitive starting salaries and seeks to simplify job classifications so that agencies can better match candidates and roles. In addition, a second new statute has launched civil service reform, and a new application tracking system has been set up to better manage “recruiting and hiring workflows”.

At the heart of the paper are a series of recommendations to help other places to fill positions in a timely way with the best available candidates. Following are a handful of suggestions selected from the list:

“Modernize job classifications and write job postings in plain compelling English.”

“Allow multiple agencies to hire off a single posting.”

“Overhaul business processes and introduce an effective Applicant Tracking System to make the hiring process more efficient.”

“Create performance management systems that connect employee goals to organizational goals, define competencies critical to jobs, provide for regular feedback, fairly evaluate employee contributions, elevate and reward effective employees and swiftly improve or remove those who do not get results.”