HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL LAUNCHES
FIRST INTERACTIVE RECRUITMENT WEBSITE
Hertfordshire County Council has this month launched the first fully
interactive recruitment website in any council in the UK at www.hertsdirect.org/jobs.
As the largest employer in an area with a population of over one million,
the website will process applications for permanent and temporary
positions in all types of departments within the Council, from fire
& rescue to catering and healthcare services. The Council aims
to have at least 50% of candidates using the website for job applications
by 2005.
The launch of the website is in line with the government’s e-strategy
targets of making public services at national and local level available
electronically by 2005. Hertfordshire County Council’s recruitment
website will enable easier access for people applying for jobs and
speed up the applications process considerably. The fully interactive
recruitment site has a multiple ‘intelligent’ functions
from e-application forms, minute-by-minute updated job vacancies,
email back facilities and online CV and career advice.
This is part of Hertfordshire County Council’s recruitment and
retention strategy to become an employer of choice, remain competitive
and optimise the use of IT.
The technology has been developed and provided by private sector partners
Manpower, who have customised the interactive solution specifically
for Hertfordshire County Council. The Council has been outsourcing
its recruitment centre to Manpower since 2000. The contract has already
reduced direct costs significantly through improved supply chain management
and is on track to cut HCC’s 7-figure recruitment budget by
5% in its final year. The launch of the website makes use of Manpower’s
leading edge private sector technology which will fill 10,000 full-time
vacancies and over 3.5 million hours of flexible vacancies over the
5-year life of the contract.
Alan Warner, HCC Director of People and Property said: “I have
absolutely no doubt in my mind that in future e-recruitment will be
the only way of getting people into our organisation and this latest
development is an important step in our quest for continuous improvement
in the way we do things.”
Manpower is a leader in providing on-line web-enabled training programmes,
which are available to the temporary staff supplied to HCC. With its
Global Learning Centre, the company offers all its staff access to
over 2,000 training courses in subjects as diverse as leadership,
communication and customer service, as well as a wide range of IT
skills.
In early 2003, Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) was ranked as ‘Excellent’
by the Audit Commission in its Comprehensive Performance Assessment
(CPA), its new performance management framework for councils in England.
For further information, please contact the Manpower Press Office
on 020 8870 2214. Or you can e-mail us by selecting Press Office
from the Contact
Us page.
