TMP Government: Digital Marketing and Media Solutions

Four Big Ways Federal Recruiting Changed in 2009
and the Challenges They Bring for 2010

A year ago, a push for change swept into the federal government, and the first wave hit recruitment. Over the year, our clients have singled out four areas where major transformations are happening now. Each has exciting possibilities as well as its own set of challenges.

Change #1: Government has become an employer of choice. Now what? In 2009, many agency HR departments have suddenly found themselves struggling to keep pace with an influx of resumes. Meanwhile surveys show that college students are more than willing to put fed jobs on their lists, ranking some agencies shoulder to shoulder with Google and Disney. Furthermore, the reasons behind the shift are likely to continue: The lack of private sector opportunities and the present administration's emphasis on service will continue to keep USAJOBS hopping.

The challenge: Quantity is a great opportunity, but it doesn’t automatically ensure quality for your requirements. Nor does it necessarily bode well for retention. Adjusting to abundance requires new strategies for workforce planning, branding, selection and the entire hiring process.

Change #2: Government 2.0 has arrived. Are you ready? In March, after nine months of negotiations, GSA signed service agreements with the first qualifying social networks. Others followed. While mindful of legal concerns, such as employee use for individual pursuits, a number of agencies have officially begun to friend, blog, tweet, post videos and link in. Meanwhile “Web.gov,” which is helping guide the transition has highlighted recruitment as a major application. TMP Government’s Digital Breakfast Seminar on Government 2.0, held at the Partnership for Public Service, drew leading Federal HR professionals, intent on finding the “green lights” for recruitment.

The challenge: Key issues surfaced at TMP Government’s Digital Breakfast on Government 2.0. Like any new medium, social networks and their numerous cousins have a learning curve. While appreciating the relatively low cost of social networking, agencies are discovering that the new tools require strategic thinking, messaging, creativity and measurement.

Change #3: "In-sourcing" enters the recruiter's vocabulary. The word wasn't common when government workforces shrunk while government contractors grew. The Obama administration is reversing a trend that goes back to President Eisenhower. Now government managers and HR must get more work done by Federal employees rather than contractors. Government acquisition has stepped up as the first prime example. In April, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that he would hire “as many as 13,000 new civil servants in 2010 to replace contractors and up to 30,000 new civil servants in place of contractors over the next five years”. This task involves shifting thousands of contractor employees to the government payroll. Gates feels getting more work done in-house is essential to restoring accountability to procurement.

The challenge: Even with upsurge in applications to government, agencies know that bolstering the acquisition workforce and hiring former contractors will not be easy. It strikes at the root of defining competencies and comparing experience to potential. To find qualified people, some agencies consider hiring and training technical and business professionals to become, as TMP's program for the Federal Acquisition Coalition puts it, "America’s buyers."

Change #4: Branding Uncle Sam and progeny. Although employer branding has been around for years (Simon Barrow of TMP Worldwide's UK subsidiary defined the term back in 1996), it hasn’t quite received Presidential attention. In fact, government agencies, however, in spite of encouragement from OPM, have been slow to make it a priority. But all of that is about to change. In October, Harvard's Kennedy School along with University of Maryland and OPM held a closed door meeting with members of the administration and Congress. OPM Director John Berry is taking key ideas garnered from the gathering to the President. As reported by The Washington Post, one of the hot topics is that "Uncle Sam should do a better job branding and promoting his work."

The challenge: Agencies have their own reasons for needing their own unique brands. The Post article states it well: "The Army and the Marine Corps know how to do it. Certainly money is a motivating factor for recruits, but the military, in part through TV commercials, has successfully branded itself as a place where young men and women go to become mature adults with a clear sense of mission."

In our next issue of the Edge, we’ll talk about the Big Four changes to expect in 2010.