As agencies are now reviewing their employee management costs in response to Budget targets, the requirement for Premier's Department approval before engaging recruitment consultants is removed.

Chief executives must be alert to Government policy which demands reduced spending on unnecessary consultancies as well as on corporate services. The engagement of recruitment consultants is to be approved only in exceptional circumstances and only as a last resort. In the light of the Government's policy commitment, the exercise of this delegation will be subject to possible review.

In terms of filling vacancies, chief executives are reminded that under the Public Sector Management Act 1988, they bear full responsibility for choosing the person with the greatest merit from among applicants. CE0s are also responsible for compliance with Government policies on equity, equal employment opportunity for target groups, and cultural diversity. These responsibilities are binding in all situations. They cannot be devolved and are not waived by contracting out.

Some considerations which may assist chief executives in exercising this authority are

appended.

This Circular applies to all agencies listed in Schedule 1 of the Public Sector

Management Act 1988. It replaces PEO Circular 95-21.

C. Gellatly
Director-General

Issued by: Strategic Policy & Reform
Contact: John J Howard, telephone 02 9228 4770, email [email protected]
File number: OPM/01563
Date: 13 JUL 1997

THE ROLE OF RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS

(Addendum to Circular No 97-45)

Some of the matters which might be considered in deciding whether to engage recruitment consultants follow.

The list is not intended to be exhaustive.

1. The use of recruitment consultants is to be restricted to exceptional circumstancesand approved only as a last resort. Generally, there will need to be demonstrable benefits for the agency in terms of lower costs or substantially superior outcome.

2. The recruitment market is competitive and agencies can be selective if they chooseto use consultants. Nevertheless, the industry is still immature. Some more prominent firms overemphasise selling and revenue. The international executive search firms are generally reputable and professional, as are some boutique consultancies, especially those with industry specialisation, few clients and areputation for adding value.

3. Consultants may be justifiable for some positions critical to the agency, or thoserequiring specialised or scarce knowledge and skills. The merits of such cases need to be carefully examined in the light of Government policy. Firms need to be scrutinised for what value they can add, such as specialised industry knowledge or sophisticated information technology.

4.Situations where an advertised vacancy is expected to result in a large number of applications may justify engaging consultants if this will lead to cost savings without threat to Government policies.

5.In deciding whether to engage consultants, agencies need to balance the costs of the recruitment against the value which the agency can gain or lose as a result of a successful or unsuccessful outcome.

6.Agencies must ensure that potential consultants are fully briefed on Government policies in relation to equity, equality of opportunity and cultural diversity. The responsibilities of the agency and of the consultants must also be clearly defined in writing. If recruitment consultants are engaged they must be contractually bound to meet Government requirements, and agencies must carefully monitor compliance.

7.When information and telecommunications technology are employed in the recruitment process, agencies must ensure that potential applicants lacking the technology are not excluded from access.

8.When recruitment consultants are used, they are to be fully briefed on the requirements needed for the position. Determining these requires the special knowledge of the line manager in collaboration with internal or external recruitment specialists.

9.Further advice on engaging and contracting consultants can be found in Guidelines for the engagement and use of consultants (Premier's Department, 1996, ISBN 07310 6498 4), which is available for $5 from the Government Information Service,telephone 02 9743 7200.