Finding and retaining digital skills for the public sector

With resources under pressure from high inflation and a growing number of service users, the public sector is now in a position where a longer-term approach to spending and talent management is imperative. This is particularly true of the public sector’s technology workforce, where there is notoriously an ongoing shortage of skills, and perhaps more worryingly, a lack of learning pathways that lead to the roles employers are looking to fill.

The outcome of this for organisations is severely depleted talent pipelines – and this isn’t a problem that has an easy fix. The demand for digital skills is continuing to accelerate, with employers looking to leverage new technologies to improve the quality of the service they provide, streamline processes and enhance efficiencies. Finding new ways to successfully secure and – perhaps more importantly – retain these skills, will therefore be imperative. Slimming down and simplifying recruitment processes, providing as much flex as possible on pay, and being open to making roles entirely remote are all tactics that individual employers have deployed to fill their vacancies, but is this enough to address what’s clearly a systemic issue?

At a glance: navigating the public sector’s tech recruitment landscape

• Meet the expectations of tomorrow’s workforce
• Retain the positive impact of your staff on a long-term basis
• Lay the foundations for a sustainable talent pipeline

Organisations everywhere – not just in the public sector – are challenging themselves to better reflect the communities they serve through the building out of broader and more diverse workforces. We’re actively looking to address this challenge – as well as the issue of talent attraction and retention – with Skills and Learning, a registered flexi-job apprenticeship agency that creates paid job opportunities through custom-designed academies, training individuals with the specific and dynamic skillsets they need to meet an employer’s specific needs. We design our Skills and Learning academies with the intent of removing barriers and realising a collective aim: to help organisations identify and onboard high-potential, technically trained, diverse individuals from non-traditional backgrounds into their skills-short technology teams.

Closing the tech talent gap

Skills-shortages within the tech profession are, as widely publicised, overarching, but they are particularly debilitating in public services. As a sector with a history of perhaps underselling itself and the work it does, it has historically struggled to compete with private sector organisations on salaries and other benefits. This has meant employers must take an increasingly creative approach to promoting their vacancies to professionals who may be in the position of being able to choose between multiple projects and opportunities. Persuading private sector workers to defect to the public sector also has multiple potential benefits – it not only brings fresh ideas and different perspectives to an environment where change is often slow to happen, but also creates future ambassadors for public services and the work they do.

So what different elements of talent management do public service organisations need to get right in order to successfully navigate a challenging tech recruitment landscape?

1. Meet the expectations of tomorrow’s workforce

Whether it’s remuneration, flexibility, culture, mission, or ways of working, it’s become harder and harder to stand out as an employer in a crowded, candidate-driven market. This, coupled with the challenging location requirements often found when it comes to public sector vacancies, is proving to be a major impediment to attracting experienced tech talent at the levels needed.

However, tomorrow’s workforce has differing drivers, from social purpose through to sustainability, and public services provide unique opportunities that employers can turn to their advantage. The tumultuous events of recent years have changed what professionals see as crucial to a fulfilled working life. Civic responsibility – and the idea of helping, rather than selling – has become something of a prerequisite for many when it comes to a prospective role, which is an area where the public sector holds the higher ground. See also – flexibility. Whilst it’s true that hybrid working has become the norm for a great many professionals in recent years, the public sector was pioneering flexible working long before, and arrangements such as compressed hours and flexi-time were common.

With the market for tech skills in the public sector likely to be competitive for some time to come, employers in public services will need to highlight what they can offer that others can’t – whether it’s guaranteed funding, generous pensions, purpose over pay, family-friendly flexible policies, long-term security or the chance to be part of something bigger.

2. Retain the positive impact of your staff on a long-term basis

One of the biggest pain points for public sector organisations is not just acquiring the people who can make a positive impact from the beginning, but holding on to their value in the long term. What this means is that a culture of continuous learning is now essential for any organisation prioritising staff retention. Not only should upskilling be encouraged and opportunities facilitated for it wherever possible, but it should be made clear how new skills learnt can help professionals forge new pathways to progression within your organisation.

The programmes we build at Skills and Learning are designed with retention in mind, and successful candidates are considered full-time employees from day one. This means they not only receive full salaries, along with holiday pay and all other associated benefits, but those who complete the two-year programme are rewarded with a bonus of £10,000. Recruiting on ability, rather than experience, also showcases our commitment to helping people reach their full potential, which builds loyalty. Our goal is to create a learning environment that is inclusive to all – we actively look for people from different backgrounds and professions because we know such diversity fuels innovation.

3. Lay the foundations for a sustainable talent pipeline

Filling the vacancies of today is naturally at the top of the priority list for most employers in public services, and for many of them it’s a full-time occupation. But just as important is ensuring the skills of the future exist. As technology quickly evolves, alongside new tools, languages and frameworks, the ability to make effective use of these must follow, as well as a willingness to adapt to changes in demand. In many cases, however, educational institutions and training programmes are struggling to keep pace, particularly when it comes to highly-specialised knowledge. This is where academy programmes such as the ones created by our Skills and Learning team truly come into their own, providing bespoke training that equips the talent you want with skillsets that are tailored specifically to your needs.

But our concern is not only with helping you attract the talent you need today. For many employers in public services, draining money on high-cost, short-term recruitment solutions has seemed the only possible recourse – leaving very little budget or resource for future talent planning. Part of our purpose is to establish long-term skills capabilities and workforce succession planning, thereby empowering your organisation to grow a talent pipeline that will produce the people you need to lead through the challenges ahead.

If you’re interested in hearing how Skills and Learning Academy Programmes can help you tap into undiscovered tech talent, please get in touch.