Building Off Past Engagements
In our current phase, we are capitalizing on our successes and lessons learned from past engagements, which focused on building agencies' capacity to attract and retain talent in acquisitions and information technology.
To learn more about how we are leveraging these experiences to increase our impact with federal agencies in Phase Three of FedRecruit, read about our efforts to tackle a lack of entry-level acquisition professionals and find the right IT talent.
Questions?
Contact us at fedrecruit@ourpublicservice.org
FedRecruit Pilot Program
Hiring at many agencies is restricted or frozen, and deep budget cuts are the order of the day. Although your agency's ability to hire entry-level talent may be limited or on hold in this challenging environment, it is important to get the best candidates for the slots that are available and to be well-positioned to recruit and bring new people on board once conditions improve. FedRecruit can help.
FedRecruit is a three-year pilot program designed to assist federal agencies develop and implement custom solutions to address their human capital needs. In our final phase, we are seeking to partner with several dynamic agencies that are committed to addressing identified issues around recruiting and hiring entry-level talent, and measuring their progress. This is the last opportunity for agencies to participate in the program free of charge.
About FedRecruit
FedRecruit offers agencies an opportunity to participate in a structured, hands-on engagement with the Partnership for Public Service to plan for their talent needs. Engagements run between three and six months, and leverage our in-house expertise and networks to help agencies gain tactical advantages in recruiting and hiring talent.
Agency personnel are engaged in an interactive, five-phase program designed to make meaningful and lasting changes to their recruitment efforts. FedRecruit supports staff in tailoring and implementing a solution for the agency's needs and measuring its impact.
Two of our current areas of focus include:
- Brand your agency and student programs on target campuses
Establish your agency as an employer-of-choice at select schools using innovative and cutting-edge marketing and branding techniques that will help to recruit students. Maintain a presence on college and university campuses even when your agency is not recruiting or hiring.
OR
- Make a compelling case for the investment in interns at your agency
Using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data, prove to senior management that your agency will have a positive return on investment by recruiting and hiring interns, and develop a concrete plan for maximizing your agency's use of interns.
Benefits of Participating
Innovative agencies that are committed to developing or refining strategies to recruit and hire students and recent graduates are ideal FedRecruit partners. These agencies must meet our requirements for participation, which include gaining support from their leadership and assembling a dedicated team to work alongside Partnership staff. Key benefits associated with participation in this program include:
- A designated Partnership coach and senior advisor, as well as interactions with subject matter experts;
- A learning experience complete with benchmarking trips and workshops;
- Access to the Partnership's network of agency partners, private sector contacts, colleges and universities; and
- Involvement in a defined engagement, with a clear project management approach leading to actionable recommendations, products and/or deliverables.
Current Engagements
Partner: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs
Deliverable: An interactive workshop series for managers on attracting and hiring interns with disabilities, and a recruitment plan for this target population.
Status: Ongoing
In an effort to build a workforce that reflects the American people and comply with Executive Order 13548, federal agencies are focusing their attentions on recruiting and hiring individuals with disabilities.
While deep budget cuts and other persistent barriers are challenging human resources professionals to find innovative ways to bring this talent on board, now is the time for agencies to increase the number of individuals with disabilities in government. One way to ensure that agencies are equipped to attract and hire top talent is by developing and implementing a comprehensive disability recruitment and hiring plan for interns.
The FedRecruit team is working with the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs to build off of the agency's existing diversity and inclusion practices to design and deploy a strategy to effectively recruit and hire interns with disabilities, and to educate and engage hiring managers in these processes.
Partner: Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Deliverable: An assessment strategy for the agency's IT Program Manager Position.
Status: Ongoing
Federal agencies are receiving a record-breaking number of applications from candidates across the country, and continue to fill many important positions even though their ability to hire has been restricted by the current budget-constrained environment. Given these circumstances, it is more important than ever to fill vacancies with the best possible candidates. Making a mistake is not an option. One way to ensure that agencies are equipped to identify top talent is by selecting and deploying the right hiring assessment tools.
The FedRecruit Team is partnering with the IRS to design and deploy a strategy to effectively assess applicants for the agency's IT Program Manager Position; a mission-critical job that is central to the President's 25 Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal Information Technology Management. Together, we will build off of the IRS' existing assessment processes to implement an innovative approach for assessing candidates, winnowing down the IRS' applicant pool and selecting the right candidates for this job.
Partner: Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Deliverable: A guide to using student entry-programs to effectively meet DHS' workforce needs.
Status: Complete
As a result of Executive Order 13562, which introduced the Pathways Programs, there has been a renewed focus across government on recruiting and hiring students and recent graduates. Like many agencies, DHS has recognized the opportunity to capitalize on the release of the Pathways Programs, and particularly student-entry initiatives, to recruit, hire and train the talent needed to fulfill its mission.
The FedRecruit Team, along with an enterprise-wide group of DHS representatives, designed a guide to assist components in strategically using student-entry programs to address the Department's workforce needs. This tool conveys the importance of student-entry programs to closing critical competency gaps; assists offices in determining whether or not this type of program is the appropriate mechanism for filling jobs; and provides organizations with an approach to building these programs.
Partner: Emerging HR Leaders
Deliverable: An individual development plan model for Strategic HR Advisors.
Status: Complete
For nearly two decades, a growing body of evidence points to the increasing inability of human resources (HR) staff to support federal agencies in targeting, hiring and keeping the talent needed to effectively execute their missions. Now, facing deep budget cuts and an intensity of focus on government performance, agencies need to ensure that they are equipping HR professionals to better understand their agencies' missions and goals, and to effectively plan for and close mission-critical competency gaps.
The Strategic HR Advisor Results Project (SHARP) team, comprised of FedRecruit representatives and HR staff members from across government, defined the role of a Strategic HR Advisor; researched and identified the competencies needed to develop into this role; and validated them with other agencies and private sector companies. Together, the team created the following resources to assist HR professionals become Strategic HR Advisors.
- An individual development plan (IDP) template complete with a list of core competencies needed by Strategic HR Advisors
- A corresponding register of developmental activities and a key to help HR staff plan for their growth in these areas
- Instructions for using these resources
- A sample position description for agencies interested in formalizing this role
- Marketing materials to promote these tools to HR professionals and executives alike
Interested in learning more about these projects? Contact us at fedrecruit@ourpublicservice.org
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to revitalize our federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.
