Penna | Overcoming recruitment challenges in the blue light sector

Recruiting the people running our emergency services behind the scenes is crucial to the safety of people all over the UK. From Finance Managers to Procurement Specialists, to strategic thinkers and operational managers, the people we need to fill these roles require a unique blend of skills, along with an understanding of public sector demands.

However, finding, attracting, and recruiting these people can be difficult. Not only do we need to find great candidates with the necessary skills and experience, but we must also overcome some tricky challenges, such as competing for specialist talent with the private sector and contending with deeply engrained misconceptions about public sector work.

At Penna, we’re experts at finding, exciting, and securing candidates for hard-to-fill roles. We’ve been reflecting on our years of public sector experience and thinking about the ways in which we can help. Here’s what we came up with.

Our first challenge is perception-based. To help tackle this; a refreshed employer brand can work wonders. There’s plenty to talk about: from the impact you can make in the sector, through to the positive aspects of the working culture, like the teamwork, the diversity, and the opportunities for professional and personal growth. A new, revamped employer brand could make it crystal clear what the sector has to offer, whilst helping to compete with any negative perceptions.

Next, we need to reach the right people with the right message. We’re competing for candidates with specialised skills, so a digital campaign that utilises social media platforms, job boards and LinkedIn would help us reach them. Tailoring that advertising is key too, highlighting the unique opportunities that come with working in a corporate role in the emergency services. Thinking about additional ways to reach underrepresented groups with our messaging will help us to tap into communities that are less likely to actively consider a role like this. This helps us to discover a new audience, while working to increase the diversity of the sector at the same time.

Finally, the recruitment process has to be streamlined, engaging and efficient. Starting with clear, appealing job descriptions that highlight the benefits and opportunities the sector offers. A user-friendly application system to apply throughout, plus responsive communication from the hiring team in the event of any queries. It all adds up to create a great first impression, which is key to getting candidates’ attention, and keeping it.

Candidate sourcing can be a great way to make this happen. Proactively finding candidates and engaging with them means we can reach both passive jobseekers, and those who might not have considered a role within the sector. We can also tailor our approach to ensure we’re speaking to the right candidates – which is more efficient for everyone. For those who are already interested, that personal touch can also make all the difference, as we guide candidates through the recruitment process and make sure they’re fully prepared for each stage.

Using a recruitment provider (like yours truly) can be a great way of getting support to tackle your recruitment challenges. Which is something East Sussex Fire and Rescue Services did recently. We partnered with them to recruit a number of new Finance Business Partners, following the redesign of their Finance service.

Together, we launched a digital campaign on LinkedIn, targeting finance professionals with keywords related to public finance management. We made sure job listings appeared on specialist finance jobsites, whilst our recruitment consultants and candidate sourcing experts worked to identify candidates with the right finance background, and public sector experience, for the role.

We managed the campaign end-to-end, freeing the Fire and Rescue Service from a time-consuming search process, and allowing us to bring our years of public sector recruitment experience to the table. The campaign ended successfully in the recruitment of four brilliant candidates, all with the right experience for the role.

It was a great example of how, with the right interventions (and a touch of strategic thinking) we can overcome many of the challenges to recruitment within the emergency services. Overcoming such challenges is crucial to the operational success and sustainability of the sector.

Thinking differently about blue light recruitment isn’t just about finding great candidates. It’s about finding great candidates who are passionate about adding value to a totally vital public service. And that’s exactly what we’re here to help our clients do.

Jon Dilling is Head of Business Solutions for Sourcing, and Anne Sullivan is Lead Client Partner at Penna. If you want to chat about your recruitment needs, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at info@penna.com.

Jon Dilling - Head of Business Solutions, Candidate Sourcing

Jon Dilling