Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Define common cost-per-hire measure, require regular reporting, and share efficient recruitment examples
Conclusion
Most departments do not know how much it costs to recruit staff, or how they could be more efficient. 14 of the 16 main departments cannot provide full recruitment cost data. Only one department, HM Revenue & Customs, understands its recruitment costs well enough to be able to calculate its cost per hire, which is a standard metric for assessing the efficiency of an organisation’s recruitment processes. The Cabinet Office says it is developing a way of measuring and benchmarking recruitment costs consistently across departments. As part of this, it needs to specify how departments can estimate the cost of all staff time spent on recruitment activities, including that of line managers involved in hiring staff, given most departments struggle to report this cost. In addition, most departments 6 Civil service workforce: Recruitment, pay and performance management have not sought to learn from others how to make their recruitment processes more efficient. This is despite there being identified examples of good recruitment practice within the civil service, such as HM Revenue & Customs on recruitment costs and the Ministry of Justice on increasing the diversity of those it hires. Recommendation 3a: By the end of 2024, the Cabinet Office should define a common cost per hire measure that includes the cost of all staff time spent on recruitment, and require all departments to report to it regularly on their full cost per hire. b) The Cabinet Office should, within six months, share examples of efficient recruitment from within the civil service and external organisations, to encourage departments to identify improvements to their own recruitment processes.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to complete the recommendation within an additional three months, with the Cabinet Office committed to setting benchmarks, identifying best practice through data analysis and external research, and defining recruitment standards. Several discovery pilots are also underway to test new recruitment approaches.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. is provided to drive the required improvements. An additional three months (maximum) is needed to complete the recommendation. The Cabinet Office will set benchmarks and identify areas of best practice across the recruitment process through the analysis of the recruitment metrics data and researching recruitment practice with external organisations. This will support and encourage departments to identify and make improvements in their own recruitment practice. As the metrics are reported on and best practice is identified, the Cabinet Office will define a set of recruitment standards to set expectations of how recruitment should be enacted in the Civil Service, to encourage improvements and ensure recruitment is carried out to the highest standard. The Cabinet Office has initiated several ‘discovery pilots’ to test different approaches to Civil Service recruitment. Having different departments, functions and professions testing new approaches will support the development of a more effective recruitment system, with an ambition to reduce time to hire and improve recruitment outcomes.