Posted by: Many agencies have made huge strides in reducing the time to hire over the past year – a key goal of the directives that President Obama laid out in order to compete with the private sector for the best talent. The average time to hire has declined from 160 days to 105, and agencies have made progress in streamlining job descriptions and moving away from KSAs.
While a streamlined hiring process helps attract candidates that may have found the process burdensome before, retention strategies need to play a larger role in quality hiring. To attract top talent, agencies must build up their image as a desired place to work. One way to do this is by promoting the most appealing parts of public sector work. Job stability, good onboarding programs and development opportunities are key retention factors to consider promoting on websites and job descriptions. In Emily Long’s recent article for Government Executive, she gives three key examples of successful onboarding: “teach new hires how their jobs relate to the overall organizational strategy, connect them with colleagues and mentors, and provide early informal feedback well before the standard six- or 12-month review period.” Cutting down hiring time is a great first step in a larger program agencies should implement to attract and retain top talent.
What has your agency done to keep employees engaged and happy? Have you seen benefits of changing your agency’s hiring or onboarding strategy?
Tue, May 3, 2011
Federal