Proactive recruitment in local government

Abstract

New ways of partnership working, new organisational structures, and new role and skill demands are among the challenges facing organisations engaged in commissioning and/or delivering services to local communities. Within this context, local councils have the additional challenges of an ageing workforce, and recruitment and retention difficulties in key service areas and leadership roles. As the pool of appropriately qualified and experienced people shrinks, a competitive market for key professionals has emerged, creating retention problems throughout the UK. Radical changes beyond the scope of individual councils have been required to tackle these shortages and workforce and succession planning have become increasingly important as a result. Supported by national activities, collaboration rather than competition is now occurring to increase supply locally and regionally. Individual employers are also reviewing their existing workforce and creating new pathways to progression in line with new ways of working. Examples of national activities and case studies from social care, environmental health and planning are offered as illustrations of these proactive steps.