Administrations dealing with needed changes in recruitment methods and practices

In the vast majority of countries, the issue of public-sphere recruitment is becoming ever more prevalent. All of them are confronted with the challenge of making the public sector appealing and matching candidates to the positions on offer.

Whether they use traditional competitive examinations (primarily in Spain, Greece, Ireland and Italy) or an application-based selection process, and whether they choose a centralised, pooled or delocalised method of organisation, countries are making every effort to modernise their recruitment procedures.

Innovative approaches are being taken, which are worth noting against the backdrop of each national context:

• In Germany, on the website die-unverzichtbaren.de (the indispensable ones), users can search for public-sector professions by indicating their interests and job preferences. In addition, 25 employees from all areas of the public sphere serve as ambassadors: they discuss their career path and why they chose their professions.

• In Belgium, "cross-media" job postings means that positions can be spotlighted and given greater visibility. They are published on the institutional website but also on social media, as well as in banner ads appearing on the homepages of popular job boards and professional sites. Customisation of the process can also include the "job-mailings" sent out to target audiences.

• in the US, Hiring Managers is a website for managers that provides virtual assistants to help with posting jobs, selecting candidates and workforce planning. It gives managers the tools they need to better target their staffing needs and organize the work of their teams.

• In Italy, the government has streamlined its competitive examinations (compulsory pooling and online pre-selection when there are too many candidates) and introduced professionalisation tests (digital skills and problem-solving questions), the results of which are given the same weight as the academic part of the exam.

• In the Netherlands, the focus is on staff development. A single set of guidelines governing skills and assessment facilitates the work of recruiters. The aim is to avoid bad "fits" and to be able to correct them where necessary. An application has been developed that allows users to make career projections.

• In the UK, the Civil Service has established "Success Profiles", a new selection method that focuses on behavioural skills and recognition of professional experience. This shift should make it possible to limit the number of "generalist" profiles in favour of specialists whose experience will make them better able to carry out key reform projects.

Finland has recently launched an initiative. Palkeet, the national HR service centre, has set up a unit of recruitment experts. They provide support to government departments that do not have the required skills or even enough in-house resources. Above all, the idea is for departments to gradually become more autonomous. To this end, the unit provides training in new recruitment techniques and on how to model procedures based on profiles and/or professions using innovations such as AI and behavioural science.

Having one's recruitment certified and obtaining external recognition is a step that some countries (Belgium, Finland, United Kingdom) are now taking.