Opening the door to the public sector
Released on 16 November 2010
Those looking for new roles won’t just be workers who have been made redundant. With promotion prospects and working conditions looking dismal in the public sector, it may not be long before many of the workers who survive the cull look to recruitment agencies to help them find opportunities elsewhere. With the doom and gloom set to continue, who can blame them?
The latest Economic Outlook Survey from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) recently revealed that pay freezes are still in place for 77 per cent of managers, and 69 per cent are feeling insecure in their jobs. On top of this, public sector morale has hit rock bottom, with 93 per cent of those in the sector claiming that spirits are lower now than they were six months ago.Although many workers will be looking, or indeed forced to look, for employment within the private sector, it is a simple truth that some employers will be less than warm to taking them on. Earlier this year, recruitment firm Ambition claimed that negative perceptions about public sector workers mean they will be shunned by private sector organisations. Although Ambition’s MD, Tim Gilbert, was referring to the banking sector when he made this statement, sadly, I suspect his words could ring true across other areas too.
The assertion that public sector workers cannot make it in the private sector is a misperception that has been reinforced by the media, especially throughout the first half of this year. During the media storm that surrounded the expenses scandal, papers reported that, under the Labour Government, public sector workers “had it easy”, “lacked cut and thrust” and “thrived on a culture of blame and buck-passing”. These stereotypes have created a stigma that could potentially harm people’s future job prospects and tempt organisations to consciously avoid recruiting public sector employees. It is these types of falsehoods that recruitment professionals could come up against when trying to secure opportunities for workers previously employed by the state.
It will be a difficult challenge, but one that must be addressed if recruiters are to benefit from the influx of ex-public sector workers coming through their doors. Of course, all sectors have, alongside diligent, hard working and talented people, their fair share of people who don’t feel hugely committed to making their organisations a success, aren’t particularly ambitious and have a tendency to opt for the easiest option when it isn’t always the right one. All those less desirable traits that workers within the public sector have been accused of having lately are just as evident within certain parts of the private sector too. So what can recruiters do to tackle this issue?
Firstly, professionals need to tackle any negative perceptions of public sector workers that they may have themselves. It is essential that recruitment professionals look beyond the public sector veneer – just because a person has always worked in one sector, does not mean that they are unsuitable for another. In a time when public sector jobs are few and far between, failing to recognise this would significantly reduce the jobs that a candidate could apply for.If recruiters need convincing, they only need to look to the many high-profile examples of people that have successfully made the transition from public to private sector. Anji Hunter, former director of government relations under Tony Blair, is a case in point. Hunter took the leap from politics to become director of communications at BP, before moving again to Anglo American. She is incredibly successful and disproves the theory that skills developed in one sector are not transferrable to the other.
What matters is that recruiters emphasise their candidates’ transferable skills. In fact, CMI’s Value of Management Qualifications research highlights that 97 per cent of managers develop transferable management and leadership skills that enable them to work in other industries. Recruitment professionals should take a step back and analyse a candidate’s CV in terms of the skills that particular experiences will have given them, rather than simply the job titles and organisations they have worked for that are listed on the page. People management, organisation, creativity and time keeping will be skills that could have been developed in any role.
These skills will be invaluable no matter what employees move on to do. In highlighting these attributes to potential employers, public sector workers can be presented as suitable candidates for a range of jobs, and this will significantly widen the talent pool on offer to clients. In turn, this will increase the likelihood of finding the best opportunities for both the individuals and organisations that recruiters may represent.Recruitment professionals are undoubtedly in for a challenge. Not only are some employers less than excited at the prospect of the private sector having to prop up its counterpart, there are many that believe that the collapse of the public sector is justifed.
The Comprehensive Spending Review will mean significant changes for the recruitment industry, but, if the issue is handled correctly, recruiters could be set to gain from the expected increase in redundancies and resignations in the public sector.
To read CMI’s latest Economic Outlook research and find out more about how UK managers are coping with the tough economic conditions visit www.managers.org.uk/outlook
