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Local Authorities find Solutions on Recruitment

Last week, Kyle Hughes, Client Relationship Director at Premier Partnership held an online round table session with local authorities.

Here is his blog on how the session went:

Last week I had the tremendous honour of hosting another event in the Challenges and Solutions series for local authorities. With the series, my aim is to create a community for people to network, discuss challenges and share best practice, so it was fantastic to continue that with ‘Challenges & Solutions: Recruitment and Retention’.

Here are four key discussion points from the session:

1. As many local authorities are moving towards a values-based recruitment model, councils need to beware of several factor else they risk it failing. There needs to be buy-in at all levels, staff must understand the value of the change and those responsible for implementing values-based recruitment must be equipped with the skills to effectively deliver for the organisation. Click on the Case Study to see how we recently provided a client with learning solutions to support their move to values-based recruitment.
2. Several councils are faced with an ageing workforce that do not truly represent the areas they are responsible for. Therefore, skills and processes need to be developed to assist in recruiting diverse talent into not just local authorities, but the wider public sector too. Take a look at this insightful article 12 Ways to Improve Your Diversity Recruiting Strategy written by Brendan McDonnell, for ideas on how to overcome some of the common challenges faced.
3. Uncertainty about hybrid working, as we come out of the tiered lockdown, is causing great challenges in retaining talent and so focusing on definitive direction about hybrid working policy, staff engagement and individual incentivisation for those affected, is more important than ever. Hybrid working is going to be a topic that will be around for a long time and I found this article How to Navigate The Post Pandemic Workplace in the New York Times, a great insight into some of the more nuanced aspects of the move to the new working model.
4. Internal communication is a key pillar in being able to retain talent. Many organisations have effective initiatives in place such as mentoring schemes, the apprenticeship levy, technology and development pipelines. However, there seems to be a common challenge in getting that information to the right people internally and therefore organisations are suffering as a result. Here at Premier Partnership, we provide a multitude of learning solutions to overcome challenges just like this. We recently supported a client that needed to shape the communication culture of their organisation and so through analysing the strengths and weaknesses of their processes, found practical, relevant ways to improve.

Following the Challenges and Solutions event, I have been able to connect several participants with one another and provide others with learning solutions to assist in overcoming some of their challenges. If you would like to connect with your counterparts, or be signposted to L&D to support your organisational recruitment and retention policy, you are more than welcome to get in touch.

Finally I would like to take the opportunity to thank Martyn Spendlove and Jason Routley of Learning 2XL for accompanying me on the roundtable and supporting with their expert knowledge and insight throughout.

Kyle Hughes
Client Relationship Director