Recruitment Advertising Best Value Review

This was one of the first Best Value reviews in Clackmannanshire Council. It was completed in Autumn 1999.

The work of the review team has resulted in a number of recommendations for improvements which will yield a better quality service, more effective use of resources, and cost savings.

A key part of the work was a consultation exercise with managers which established a consensual view that:

the main objective of recruitment advertising was to find suitable applicants in reasonable numbers, from which they should successfully fill a vacancy at the first attempt.

In addition, recruitment advertising should target the right group through the correct choice of publication,present a positive image of the council
take cost into account and meet reasonable timescales for recruitment.

The group’s recommendations and action plan will:

enhance the advisory role to assist managers in decision making and raise standards of advice;
improve management information on costs / response times;
develop the roles of Personnel Advisers resulting in cost saving and development of a central node to improve the service;
simplify procedure (completed after process mapping)
internal Vacancy bulletin - regular production of one consecutively numbered per week and widen circulation;
review current copywriting style to ensure there is no unnecessary text and that concise language is used;
improve impact of advert by redesign including cost engineering of design;
review teaching advertisements with a view to bringing these in line with the corporate standards;
develop a standard recruitment pack with a 'fit all' style for information contained within the pack;
investigate e-communications to establish the best use which can be made of these not only for job advertisement but also recruitment pack and application form;
develop the use of the intranet for circulation of management information and the vacancy bulletin;
continue to use an Advertising Agency but make better use of free services;;
initiate a tender process;
communicate to managers what is available;
develop a long term sound response analysis for a wide range of posts - increasing the confidence of services in relying on a narrower focus for advertising at a considerable cost saving.

Some key features of our process are:

the advertising method(s) are selected in each case according to the type of vacancy involved;
activity diagrams which chart the main activities. The process maps were used to establish whether the procedure could be simplified;

Other staff costs were calculated as a proportion of costs from 1998 - 1999 budget and we established staff hours spent on recruitment advertising as a proportion of total staff hours available to the service.

The average time spent processing a job description for an established post is 10 to 15 minutes, whereas for a new post the average 3 hours plus.

There is no stated policy on the level of posts which are advertised in the national press rather than the local press. This is left to the discretion of managers and personnel staff. Whilst there is some correlation between the cost and nature / seniority of the post, the aim is to obtain a good response in each individual case rather than follow management guidelines.

The value of using an agency in preference to placing advertisements directly with the press was considered. A key issue is the 'Free' Services provided.
In the case of national publications, the cost via our current advertising agency is less expensive than placing advertisements directly, provided that prompt payment is made. In the local press, in some cases, it is be cheaper to place advertisements directly with the paper. It was recommended that we continue to work through an agency because of the advantages which it brings.

The use of an advertising cycle was investigated. An analysis was carried out of posts advertised in the national press for the financial year 1998 - 1999 (Appendix 5). The average in each of the two main publications was approximately two per month but there was no regular pattern. The analysis demonstrated that to make extra savings the cycle would have to be long and strictly imposed for all posts. The saving would be 45% for a composite advertisement. This would have considerable disadvantages for service provision and would in some cases lead to undue pressure on staff who had to cover the vacancy.

A survey of the recruitment advertising practices of other employers was undertaken. Eleven replies were received and analysed.

On balance, the advantages of a centralised budget do not outweigh the disadvantages.

A revised form (PT17) was designed, was well received and is now in use.

One member of administrative staff has been given responsibility for the collation and circulation of the bulletin. The new arrangements are working well.

Administration arrangements for teaching posts were historically in education but these will be carried out by Personnel staff from January 2000, freeing up more time for school support in education.

Personnel Assistants’ role as the main link will produce an improved awareness within this service of posts likely to be advertised. This will allow discussion about the possibility of holding back advertising where possible without jeopardising service and ensure best use is made of composite adverts.

The Recruitment Agency was asked to review the layout of our press advertisements. They developed a new design with the following advantages:

the rounded corners help pick out the advertisement from others surrounding it in the press;
the reversed-out service name is effective and does not detract from the post title, which is what potential applicants are looking for first;
the Council logo should remain at the bottom of the advertisement;
a map showing the location of Clackmannanshire was valuable as many people did not know our location; and only one problem was identified - when the map was printed small enough to fit, the word Clackmannanshire was unreadable.

When comparative costs were calculated the original suggestion was found to be approximately 12% more expensive than our current style. We cost engineered this with help from our Communications Unit and reduced the cost whilst retaining the same concept. They produced a new version at 6% more expensive than our current style. This style would only be used for advertisements placed in the national press. It achieves a key target - raises the profile of Clackmannanshire Council - as well as increasing our chances of attracting candidates from outside the immediate area.

In addition, it may be possible to offset the cost by use of composite advertisements and review copy writing style. In order to maintain a corporate style, this version could be used without inclusion of the map for local publications. The updated version has been agreed with service representatives. It is now being piloted. In addition, the style used for advertising teaching posts has been reviewed to assess whether this could also be brought within the same style as for the rest of the Council. It has been agreed to pilot the new corporate style for these posts.

For specialist and senior posts, it will be the responsibility of personnel staff to assist services in the preparation of specific items for inclusion as appropriate on a “one-off” basis.

Modernising issues

We intend to investigate whether applicants could complete forms on screen and send them down the line to Personnel and Training Services. Security implications may be a key issue.

In the short term the Internet is unlikely to replace newspaper advertising but could be used as an additional tool. The standard recruitment pack, specific job information and the application form could be downloaded by potential applicants. This would allow a saving in staff time and materials currently required to prepare and send out packs.

Education and Community Services Website is currently carrying information on teaching posts. It is intended to extend this to include the recruitment pack and application form which potential candidates could download.

Better management information has also become available since the start of the study. This will be publicised more widely.

The information which can now be supplied includes:

response analysis;
publications available and guidance on their use;
comparative costs;
target audiences of specific publications;
detailed costings on request via the agency;
pro-forma which are required for the placing of advertisements;

These highlight management attention on the effectiveness of recruitment advertising, which will be assisted by the provision of accurate information.