Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Recruitment & retention

Slow public sector misses out on top recruits

by Mark Crail 28 Nov 2006
by Mark Crail 28 Nov 2006

The quickest companies in the private sector can fill a vacancy in two weeks, while an average public sector organisation takes more than two months to do so, according to research by Personnel Today’s sister publication, IRS Employment Review.


The survey of more than 120 employers found that it took on average 7.6 weeks to recruit, from the moment a vacancy was notified to the point that the successful candidate accepted the job. But performance varied considerably between one organisation and another.


Among manufacturers, the average was 6.3 weeks and the longest wait was 12 weeks. In private sector service companies, the average was 7.5 weeks, while the longest wait was 13 weeks.


But in the public sector, even the fastest organisations took at least four weeks, while the average was 9.5 weeks. One public sector organisation admitted that it typically took 24 weeks to recruit – nearly half a year.


The research suggests a number of reasons for this: HR processes in the public sector tend to be more formal, making it more difficult to get authorisation to recruit more public sector posts require Criminal Records Bureau checks and it generally takes longer to recruit specialist staff.


The survey also found that the greater the role taken by HR in filling a vacancy, the less time it took.



…with authorisation the main blockage


The most time-consuming part of recruiting a new employee is the interview process, the IRS survey shows.


Overall, more than four out of 10 employers said the most drawn-out part of the process was either arranging (21%) or conducting (20%) interviews – with a further 15% getting bogged down in shortlisting.


But there were exceptionally clear differences between sectors. A massive 32% of public sector employers said the real delays came when they tried to get vacancies authorised, compared to just 9% of private sector service firms and 4% of manufacturers.


And one in five public sector employers (20%) said the most time-consuming aspect was checking references – double the number of private sector companies identifying this as a problem.


The study suggests this can be explained by differences in the way the sectors recruit: public sector organisations typically have a set day when all interviews take place, while in the private sector it is common to spread interviews over a number of days.


…while HR’s role is limited to early stages of process


While HR makes most of the decisions and carries out most of the work involved in the recruitment side of the process of filling a job – from agreeing the job ad to taking up references and sending out contracts – the balance shifts to line managers for selection.


In more than half the organisations surveyed by IRS, line managers agree the selection criteria, draw up the shortlist, put questions to the candidates and deal with any issues the candidates raise. In the majority of cases (85%), line managers also make the final decision.


The research concludes that this reinforces the importance of training line managers in recruitment and selection.



Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

 





 

Mark Crail

Mark Crail worked on XpertHR from 2001 until 2020, most recently as content director. He led the salary survey and HR data benchmarking services, overseeing the collection and publication of pay data through the Job Pricing tool and its wider HR research programme which forms the core of XpertHR Benchmarking.

previous post
National Skills Academy for Financial Services appoints Sylvia Perrins as director
next post
Global competition: How are UK employers competing on the world stage?

You may also like

How neuroscience can unlock employee recognition

22 May 2025

Workers ‘wait and see’ as companies struggle to...

16 May 2025

So what does the election of a new...

9 May 2025

Rumours during recruitment: how should HR respond?

9 May 2025

Teacher apprenticeship route to be tied to school...

9 May 2025

British Steel to resume recruitment

8 May 2025

M&S pauses hiring as it deals with cyber...

2 May 2025

Top 10 HR questions April 2025: increases to...

2 May 2025

Leading with honest feedback: A responsibility in recruitment

24 Apr 2025

Succession planning now ‘more of a priority than...

24 Apr 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+