13.4 Recruitment

From: Chapter on Managing staff vacancies, UNECE Guidelines for Managers (🔗)

Good recruitment and selection process are based on a clear definition of specific capabilities and classification requirements to meet business needs. Any vacancy management process must be executed in consideration of the efficient and effective use of available budget. It is considered prudent policy and good practice that managers should consider internal options, such as re-allocation of responsibilities, before proceeding to external recruitment. To obtain the best pool of capable applicants, external recruitment advertising must offer a reasonable opportunity for all eligible community members to apply.

The principle of merit, which requires assessing the aptitude of applicants to perform the functions identified through a competitive selection procedure, should apply in external and internal recruitment and selection procedures. This principle should be implemented even if, a priori, the skills of an internal candidate seem to match the requirements of a vacant post.

Since NSOs are part of the government administration, their respective HR policies, including recruitment, follow the government recruitment policies. For example, the UK’s GSG Competency Framework speaks of it as set out “what members of the statistical profession are expected to achieve in addition to the competencies set out in the Civil Service Competency Framework”. In some cases, the recruitment and selection procedure for NSO staff is limited to a roster of candidates resulting from a general competition for jobs in the administration.

Specific examples of recruitment practices in NSOs are provided hereunder:

• Mongolia. Global Assessment Report for Mongolia (2014) (🔗)

  According to Mongolia’s Law on Statistics, the Chairperson of NSOM is appointed by the Parliament on the basis of nomination by the Speaker of Parliament. The Chairperson, in turn, appoints the heads of statistics at aimag, district and municipality (Capital-City) levels. The Treasury Officer who comprises the statistics capacity at soum level is appointed by the sitting government, as are the Governors at bag and khoroo levels.

  According to Mongolia’s LS, Article 15, the Chairperson of NSOM has the right to appoint the Statistics Department heads and divisions of the Capital-City and districts, and the aimags. Furthermore (Article 15bis, paragraph 1), the General Manager of NSOM has the right to recruit, promote and dismiss staff.

  However, in practice, recruitment in NSOM is managed according to Mongolia’s Law on Civil Service, which stipulates that the Civil Service Central Authority manages the recruitment of all civil servants, thus including staff of NSOM.

  Accordingly, candidates that meet the requirements of each job position at NSOM are sourced from a labour pool by the Civil Service Committee and recommended for the position. The pool comprises candidates who have passed a general civil service exam. Although vacancies can include requirements specific to the functions at NSOM, the Civil Service Committee decides whether any of the pooled candidates meet the requirements. If no qualified candidates are found, the post is advertised, and applicants must pass the standard civil servant exam to be considered for the post. The Civil Service Committee makes the final selection decision and the decision is sent to NSOM.

  Recruitments at the territorial level are managed by a sub-committee of the Civil Service Committee. Like the Civil Service Committee itself, this sub-committee does not have a particular mandate related to statistics posts but oversees recruitments in all professions at the territorial offices.

• Philippines

  In the Philippines, civil service eligibility is a basic requirement in applying for government positions. Aside from the civil service eligibility, the applicant for a statistical position must also satisfy the minimum qualification standard for the position set by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), e.g., education, training and work experience. In the screening stage, the NSO evaluates the applicants based on the core competency skills, e.g., communication skills and data management, for entry positions. For higher positions below Division Chief level, Trade test is also given to applicants while Division Chief applicants have to undergo management/leadership skills test. In some instances, the CSC reviews the credentials of the newly hired employee before their appointment in the government takes effect, especially if the government organization/NSO is not yet accredited to approve the appointment of the newly recruited staff.

13.4.1 Recruitment-related issues and processes

From: Chapter on Managing staff vacancies, UNECE Guidelines for Managers (🔗)

Guidance to managers on managing recruitment issues and processes:

• Choosing the right person using the right selection process

  • At the initial identification stage, it is valuable to re-assess role capability requirements, by referring to Work Level Standards, the work program, and updating the role description if required. From this point of view, continuous maintenance of a skills register (better if integrated into a database system) is required, considering both the evolution of professional profiles and emerging new skills.

  • Then, critically assess work needs and the team structure, to manage through internal options such as work distribution and a selection process not required.

  • Consider the available salary and consider flexible working arrangements such as part-time optio ns to meet requirements.

  • Upon identifying the need for a new employee, consider which staff engagement strategy is most reasonable to pursue.

  • Finally, determine what level of support and coordination the Human Resources Division (or if applicable the Recruitment Unit) can provide to help you scope out what resources are needed to manage a recruitment and selection process.

• External recruitment

  • When exploring the external market, the process selected depends on capability needs, the number of vacancies, time frames and budget.

  • Work with the Recruitment Unit from the beginning to establish what administrative assistance will be provided. They can help coordinate advertising and promotion, and for the time commitment from selection and placement panel members.

  • Maybe it is possible to use an existing order of merit from a similar selection exercise that is no more than 12 months old, use a secondment, or transfer at level from another agency. Filling a vacancy at level (ongoing or non-ongoing) means it is unnecessary to conduct a competitive selection; however, it must still be based on merit.

• Managing a selection process

  • Ensure that administration and coordination roles are clarified at the beginning of a selection process within the Human Resources Division (HRD), including forming a selection panel that will define appropriate selection method and provide recommendations after the completion of the selection process.

  • The choice of the selection method should meet the needs of the position that will select the most appropriate applicant(s). Examples include work samples, role plays, assessment, or based on application only.

  • The selection panel will conduct a systematic process to assess the relative merit of applicant’s, document decisions, report to the delegate and provide feedback to applicants.

  • Contacting referees is not a mandatory selection process requirement, however, it is essential when obtaining a fair and accurate evaluation of an applicant relative suitability to the role, team environment and organizational culture.

• Internal flexibility and inter-agency transfers

  • It is good practice to look at the internal options and opportunities within the organization and the Public Service.

  • For example, there may be a short term need to finish a project because a key project staff has left. Internal options may help fill the vacancy quickly and achieve project time frames. However, even if the vacancy is filled internally, it is still required to evaluate the work-related qualities of the person against what is required in the position.

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Links to guidelines, best practices and examples:

• Chapter on Managing staff vacancies, Guidelines for Managers, UNECE (🔗).

13.4.2 Managing integration of newly recruited staff (Induction/Onboarding)

Integration of newly recruited staff into the NSO involves a process (induction) where employees adjust or acclimatize to their jobs and working environment. The term ‘onboarding’ refers to the whole process from an individual’s contact with the organization before they formally join, through to understanding the ways of working and getting up to speed in their job.

From: Chapter on Managing staff vacancies, UNECE Guidelines for Managers (🔗)

Newly recruited staff must be provided with all information and tools required to become fully operational in due time, including orientation training and seminars.

However, managers themselves must take care of the integration of newly recruited staff within their organization. They could appoint more experienced people within the organization – or even the one the newcomer is going to replace – as mentors for newcomers, using mentoring as an informal tool for the newcomer to learn what he/she will have to know in his/her new position.

Managers could also support newly recruited staff integration by organizing knowledge-sharing events within their structures, during which information and documentation about working activities are circulated and shared. Documentation for newcomers could also be made available on an electronic form and made accessible on the web, in the form of digital storytelling, where the retiring person tells about meaningful experiences of his/her working life and share his/her lessons learned.

The first day (or the first few days or the first week) of a new staff can have a pronounced effect on the recruit’s attachment, respect, and dedication to the organization. An effective NSO will ensure that the following take place on the first day:

• The recruit finds a suitable place in which to sit and something definable to do.

• An accessible person is identified who will address questions and resolve doubts for the recruit.

• The organization conveys its willingness to consider the individual’s career in addition to the immediate job.

• An explanation is given of what the individual’s activities will be in the immediate and the near future, how they fit in with the organization of the office and what specific objectives they are designed to serve.

• A training plan is presented.

• Orientation is provided. Some offices, usually larger ones, have developed a tradition of organizing, at regular intervals (e.g., every month or every second month) an orientation day that is meant to give recruits a quick overview of how the organization is structured and operates.

Beyond the first day or first few weeks, a decision has to be made to deploy recruits to undertake a specific function and to the corresponding organizational unit. A few NSOs (e.g., Statistics Netherlands) have a system in place whereby for the first two years new staff are rotated across the organizational units for 4-6 months before a final deployment is made. Box 8 illustrates the concept of coaching.

Box 8: Coaching at Statistics Finland

An example from Statistics Finland. The changing role of statistical institutes requires a new type of management - a coaching leadership style.

Developing a coaching leadership style is essential for the productivity of a modern statistical institute. Coaching leaders motivate and support their team to develop their skills and expertise and work together more successfully. This type of management involves giving experts room for independent problem solving and developing new solutions, for example, through experimenting. It is important to encourage people to grow and develop their capabilities. Continuous change calls for joint discussions on the direction of work and how to reach common goals; it is important to encourage interaction between various teams within the institute. To this end, managers with their teams prepare a development map to describe the current status and the desired future vision for the team. This will help the team to focus their activities and skills development.

13.4.3 Workforce planning (or Strategic personnel planning)

Workforce planning is a process of analysing the current workforce, determining future workforce needs, identifying the gap between the present and the future, and implementing solutions so that an organization can accomplish its mission, goals, and strategic plan. It is about getting the right number of people with the right skills employed in the right place at the right time, at the right cost and on the right contract to deliver an organization’s short and long-term objectives.

Workforce planning processes can:

• reduce labour costs in favour of workforce deployment and flexibility;

• identify and respond to changing customer needs;

• identify relevant strategies for focused people development;

• target inefficiencies; improve employee retention;

• improve productivity and quality outputs; improve employees’ work-life balance; and

• make recommendations to deliver strategic value through talent.

The outcomes of this process inform:

• HR policies and practices, such as organizational design and development;

• succession planning;

• work-life balance initiatives such as flexible working arrangements and well-being;

• recruitment and selection;

• retention planning;

• talent management;

• job design;

• career planning;

• learning and development focus; and

• reward and recognition.

The main steps in the workforce planning process can be summarized by the diagram shown in Figure 14.

Fig. 17 Diagram of workforce planning process

Fig. 18 Five steps to conduct strategic personnel planning

An application of workforce planning, also referred to as strategic personnel planning, from Statistics Netherlands, is provided in Chapter 2 of the HRMT: Compilation of good practices in statistical offices, UNECE (2013). In this example, the aim of Strategic Personnel Planning is to gain insight in the number and type of personnel needed in the short and long term, taking into account developments in the labour market. Strategic Personnel Planning helps to translate policy developments into HR-policy issues concerning the in- through- and outflow of personnel.

Drafting a Strategic Personnel Planning requires comprehensive data about the workforce. To that end, a computerized personnel information system should be filled with up-to-date data. Secondly, it requires a strategic vision of the organization, so the organization goals and ambitions can be translated into HRM and training policy (and HR-instruments).

A general approach in five steps to conduct a Strategic Personnel Planning (developed by KPMG consultancy) is illustrated in Figure 15.

Strategic personnel planning, as described above, is, unfortunately, not always possible for NSOs. Public sector hiring is often a tedious process involving multiple authorisations, which political considerations may influence. In Croatia, for example, each public body at the beginning of the year proposes its hiring plan. The plan has to be well-argued and documented. Typically, it takes at least six months until the government approves the plan—usually in reduced numbers. Thus, the strategy taken is to overstate to receive the needed number.

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Links to guidelines, best practices and examples:

• CIPD workforce planning factsheet (🔗);

• Human Resources Management and Training: Compilation of good practices in statistical offices, UNECE (2013) (🔗).

13.4.4 Other recruitment practices

To get the right number of people with the right skills, NSOs can look into:

• Investing in an internship programme to attract future statistical staff;

• Inbound/outbound staff mobility and staff exchanges;

• Part-time staff sharing between NSOs and other research organizations.

For example, in some United Nations organizations, interns (typically those who are yet to complete their post-graduate degrees) are recruited to provide targeted skills needed. The fields of social media and communication, data analytics and IT are areas that would be useful for NSOs and attractive to potential interns.

Examples include: NSO experts having a part-time academic position at university, NSO staff spending a medium-term research visit at a foreign research institute; a senior academic researcher spending a sabbatical with the NSO.

Considering the increasing difficulties that NSO encounter in recruiting and retaining experts in highly demanded fields, all such alternative channels are likely to play an increasing role in building and maintaining qualified human capital within the organization.

Recruitment need not be limited to the market of new graduates or young professionals; NSOs should also be bringing in experienced professionals and/or scientists working in research organizations or the private sector.

The challenge in attracting these high calibre experts is that NSO traditional posts are typically not attractive enough to them. NSOs should deploy more agile forms of engagement other than permanent full-time recruitment.