Better, Faster: streamlining recruitment in the APS

Appendix: Diagnostic tool

A recruitment process can be efficient, but it won’t be effective if the best candidate is not attracted and recruited.

Following the process mapping exercise, this diagnostic tool can be used to ask key questions that will determine the future direction of your recruitment function. They will help to identify issues and brainstorm improvement ideas. These questions are suggestions only and are grouped according to potential ‘areas of concern’.

Area of concern	Key questions
		Tactics	Stakeholders	Priority
Strategy...
Broad strategy	Is the process running well—can it be improved? How large is our annual recruitment need? How can we better integrate recruitment activities with our workforce plan? How prevalent is recruiting for the current job as opposed to future needs? Are we getting the right organisational fit? Do we consider cultural fit as well as technical competence? What are our ‘legacy processes’? Are they still necessary? What are held to be ‘agency must do’s’—and what myths can we bust and how? Do our managers see recruitment as just ‘filling a job’ or as an important procurement exercise that ultimately affects the performance of their team and the agency? How do we stack up against important benchmarks (eg time to fill)?
Recruitment support	What is the role of the recruitment team? What should it be? What skills are needed? What level of support should be provided to managers? In what aspects is recruitment done well in the agency? In what aspects is it not? Where in the process is overachievement unnecessary? How can the recruitment team get a better understanding of the agency’s business? How can we better collaborate with line managers? Do line managers understand the background tasks that have to be completed? Where should line managers be involved? Where shouldn’t they? And what do they think?
Technology & systems	How can we leverage existing technology? How would new technology change our process? What aspects of the recruitment process can be redesigned to support the integration of data? Do we have a business case for new technology?
External assistance	When is testing appropriate? Should we have a more formal relationship with a recruitment agency? When and for what kinds of role?
Performance measures/return on investment	What key recruitment statistics do we collect? What are they telling us? What other key recruitment statistics should we collect? How slow is ‘too slow’? What is our recruitment process costing us? How does it stack up in terms of value for money (metrics include time-to-recruit, cost-per-recruit, offer-acceptance rates)? Do we measure and publicise the cost of turnover? In what ways can we measure the quality of recruits (e.g. retention rates, performance levels, promotion rates)? How do we communicate expected timeframes/benchmarks for each step in the process?
Define...
Planning	How much planning is undertaken at the beginning of each recruitment exercise? Are there appropriate checks and balances in place prior to commencing recruitment exercises (e.g. manager sets timelines with clear end date, selection team is formed, planned interview date is set, scribe is arranged prior to advertising)? Is budget agreed up-front?
Recruitment method	What recruitment methods do we currently use? What recruitment methods should we trial? When should we make use of alternative recruitment methods (e.g. movement at level, secondment, bulk, non-ongoing)? How efficiently do we use merit lists/groups?
Attract...
Value proposition	How easy is it to attract the right people? How are we positioning ourselves in the marketplace? How well do we sell the benefits of our agency/roles? How seriously do we take the ‘contact officer’ role? Do contact officers create a positive image of the agency? What is the current reputation of our agency as an employer? What do our preferred candidates expect from an employer? Who are our main competitors, and what do they offer? How many unsolicited resumes are received because of our name or reputation?
Job design and documentation	Do we routinely look at job design to ensure we can reach untapped areas of the labour market (e.g. part time, job share, work from home)? Do we critically assess the need for security clearances? Do our line managers know how to communicate what they are looking for? Is there too much reliance on old sources of material? Does job documentation realistically identify responsibilities and required key skills/ abilities/knowledge/experience? Is there a clear relationship between work value statements, capabilities and any selection criteria? Is a reliance on rigid selection criteria leading us to miss the best candidates? Does job documentation take advantage of the opportunity to communicate our ‘value proposition’? How well do we use current support materials (e.g. capability frameworks, Get it Right, Cracking the Code, etc)?
Advertising	Where are our best candidates coming from? What is the cost/benefit of different advertising avenues that we have used? What alternative avenues can we try? Do we know the best places to market? How can we get better at finding passive candidates? Do we make good use of existing networks? Would employee referrals work for us? Are the benefits of our agency/role coming through in the advertisements and application packs? How can we improve the way we work with advertising deadlines?
Application process	How can we make the application process quick for candidates? How can the application format be simplified? What should be the deadlines for the application process? How do selection criteria relate to work value statements and the capability framework? When should we use selection criteria? How broad can we make them? How many should we limit them to? What information should we collect to help in the shortlisting process? What streamlined approaches could we try—where can they be piloted? When should we favour more streamlined approaches (e.g. CV and letter of interest)? Could we assess selection criteria at interview rather than at application stage? Are we capitalising on available technology?
Select...
Selection team	How skilled are our managers at recruitment and selection? What tools and training do they need? How can we better support them? How can we assist the selection team in making good decisions? Who needs to be part of the selection team? Do we need a HR representative on every selection team?
Candidate screening	How are we qualifying good candidates? Are we getting them into our process quickly? How can we streamline/improve the time taken to qualify good candidates?
Selection process	Is an interview always necessary? How should the interview process be structured? Is too much weight given to the ‘40 minute interview’? How frequently are our interview offers accepted/rejected? Does our use of scribes support or hinder a streamlined and speedy process? Are we using behaviourally-based interview questions? Are we using a variety of assessment options? How are we matching assessment options to the skills we are testing for? How can we speed the report writing process? How can we streamline/simplify the reporting pro-forma? Who are our delegates? Are current delegations too restrictive? How can we access delegates more quickly? How can we involve delegates on the selection team to ensure speedy signoff ? Do we routinely place good candidates on a merit list/group?
Candidate relationship management	How well are our candidates treated? How do we know? How often do we contact candidates? How often should we contact candidates? How do we build a personal relationship early on? How do we ensure we project our professionalism? How seriously do we take the ‘contact officer’ role? Does the contact officer use this opportunity to build a relationship with potential applicants? Why do candidates fall out of the process, and typically at which stage? Do we consider the needs of external applicants and people with special needs during the process? How? Do we offer feedback to all applicants? How constructive is it?
Offers and acceptances	How frequently are job offers accepted/rejected? How positive is the message in the letter of offer? How bureaucratic? Given the letter of offer is a defining document in the decision making process, how can we improve it? Are we willing to allow the candidate to commence during the ‘review window’? Are we willing to allow the candidate to start in the position while conditions of engagement are arranged?
Induction process	Induction is another opportunity to reinforce the ‘value proposition’—how is induction happening? How effective is our induction process?

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Better, Faster: streamlining recruitment in the APS

Appendix: Diagnostic tool