CORNERSTONE INSIGHT:
ATTRACTING AND RETAINING
TALENTED CIVIL SERVANTS
As the Civil Service gears up to meet the challenges of 21st Century government, new skills
and new capabilities are vital. Yet in a time of restrained public spending, attracting and
retaining skilled employees may seem challenging. To guide and inform Civil Service leaders
and HR professionals as they try to recruit and retain the staff they need, Cornerstone
OnDemand teamed up with Civil Service World to find out more about what motivates people
to join – and stay in – the Civil Service.
WHY DID YOU JOIN
THE CIVIL SERVICE?
How important were the following factors in your decision to join the Civil Service?
(Response percent: Important or Very important)
The factor which seems to have been most critical
to people considering a career in government is job
security. Nearly nine in ten of our survey respondents
say this was an important or very important factor in
their decision to join the Civil Service. After this a more
varied picture emerges: career development, pensions
and a public service ethos feature highly among other
reasons given for joining the service. But the brand of
individual organisations is not a big factor – just a third of
respondents say becoming a member of their department
was an important factor in their decisions to join.
Having a clear career
pathway
68.06%
Attractive coaching/
mentoring opportunities
44.98%
The pension scheme
Being part of an organisation that
provides a public service
80.43%
Becoming a civil servant
49.03%
69.82%
Job security
88.68%
Becoming a member
of my department
Training/learning schemes
70.25%
31.08%
Having the opportunity to
move across organisations and
departments
55.21%
Career development
opportunities
81.64%
SO HOW CAN WE
ATTRACT TALENT?
The importance of career factors in under 35s and those with
under 2 years service.
The importance of job security and
pension packages might seem like
a discouraging finding for recruiters,
since terms and conditions reforms
mean that the Civil Service offer is
no longer as distinctive as it once
was. However, career development
remains a key strength of the Civil
Service employment offer: since
2012, for example, Civil Servants
have been entitled to at least five
days of learning and development
each year. Making the most of the
training available to staff is a key
way to attract ambitious and talented
people to the Civil Service.
Most respondents also report that
employment security and pensions
were presented as key benefits when
they were joining the service – 68%
say job security was promoted as a
benefit; 59% remember being told
about pension schemes. By contrast
fewer than half (47%) say that career
development was presented as a
benefit and just over a third (35%)
were told about training and learning
schemes. Civil Service employers
might therefore make some fruitful
changes to recruitment campaigns
by re-focusing on the personal and
career development opportunities
which a job in government provides.
Given that much of government’s
current reform strategy focuses around
moving to a more digital workplace,
and the need to recruit digital
natives to effect this change, it’s also
encouraging that these factors around
career and personal development are
especially important for Civil Servants
aged under 35 or new Civil Servants
who have been in the service for less
than two years.
Career development opportunities
88%
85%
82%
Training/Learning schemes
76%
76%
71%
Having a clear career pathway
75%
73%
68%
Having the opportunity to move across
organisations and departments
70%
70%
56%
Attractive coaching/mentoring opportunities
53%
54%
45%
Key:
Under 35s
Under 2 years service
Overall
WHAT MOTIVATES
YOU TO STAY IN THE
CIVIL SERVICE?
Employment benefits again feature highly among the factors which keep people in the Civil Service, with 88% saying that job
security is important or very important, and 86% pointing to the pension package as important or very important. Providing
a public service features higher here than among factors influencing the decision to join the Civil Service – 72% say it is an
important or very important motivation for staying in the Civil Service; while career development opportunities are slightly less
important in encouraging people to stay in the service than they are in encouraging people to join. Further analysis shows that
new Civil Servants see job security and pensions as less important reasons to stay in the service - perhaps reflecting recent
changes to terms and conditions.
What motivates you most to want to stay in the Civil Service? Please rate the importance of the
following factors.
Response percent: Important or very important
Job security
The pension scheme
87.51%
85.55%
Being part of an organisation that provides a
public service
71.59%
Career development opportunities
69.01%
Having a clear career pathway
59.12%
Training / learning schemes
57.95%
Having the opportunity to move across
organisations and departments
56.11%
Being a civil servant
50.37%
44.08%
Attractive coaching / mentoring opportunities
Being a member of my department
42.74%
SO HOW CAN WE
RETAIN TALENTED
STAFF?
Being part of an organisation
which provides a public service is
a particularly important factor in the
retention of senior staff – 46% of
senior Civil Servants see this as a
very important motivating factor to
remain in the service, compared to
26% of all respondents. Continually
reminding staff of how their work
contributes to public service goals
could be one of the most effective
ways to encourage retention as
well as engagement.
The importance of career factors
in retaining under 35s and those
with under 2 years service.
However, employers might be concerned
that while career development
opportunities attract people to the service,
they do not appear to have such an
impact in motivating people to stay.
49%
39%
30% 32%
26%
23%
20% 20%
23%
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6
Being part of an organisation that provides a public service
SC
Career and training opportunities
are also important, especially
among under-35s and new staff,
but one factor in particular stands
out: the ability to move across
departments. Over three-quarters
(76%) of Civil Servants aged 35
and under say this was important
or very important in motivating them
to stay, compared to 56% of all
the survey respondents. Improving
secondment opportunities was
a key focus of the Civil Service
Reform Plan, but one which
has sometimes been tricky to
convince managers of the benefits.
If managers understand that
secondments are a way to keep
key staff in the long-term, it could
help to drive forward this important
agenda across the service.
What motivates you to most want to stay in the Civil Service?
This could suggest that the Civil Service
is not delivering the career development
and training opportunities which its staff
want. Reforms to training and investment
in building capability across the service
must focus on responding to staff
expectations as well as organisational
needs if the full retention benefits of
learning and development are to
be realised.
Another important strand of the Civil
Service reform plan is the drive to create
a more unified approach to various
aspects of workforce management across
government. Civil Service HR is now
much more joined-up across departments,
with a cross-service capabilities plan, for
example, and centres of expertise such
as Civil Service Resourcing providing
support to departments. Our survey
shows that being a civil servant is a more
important factor in retention than being
a member of a particular department –
50% of respondents say being a civil
servant is important or very important in
motivating them to stay in the service,
compared to 39% who believe being a
member of their department is important
or very important. With this in mind,
cross-government training or HR schemes,
and continued work to create a strong
Civil Service brand, will be important
in ensuring that government keeps
the talented people it needs to meet
challenges which lie ahead.
Key:
Having a clear
career pathway
Career development
opportunities
Training / learning
schemes
Having the opportunity to
move across organisations
and departments
Attractive coaching /
mentoring opportunities
Very Important
Important
Other
Overall
24
43
45
16
14
31
43
10
17
43
41
39
44
34
56
Under 2 years service
48
40
32
37
12
31
42
22
29
36
44
22
27
34
44
Under 35s
38
36
46
40
26
34
44
32
24
39
17
44
37
18
43
CONCLUSION
What can the Civil Service do to attract talent?
Job security and pension packages are still important for those looking for a role in the civil service.
However, recent changes to terms and conditions mean that this offer is not as distinctive as it once was and therefore
recruiters need to attract top-talent by focusing on the personal and career development opportunities which a job in
government provides. This is particularly pertinent to under 35s – a key demographic for government recruiters.
How can the Civil Service retain the talent it already has?
Employment benefits again feature high in the results on how to retain talent.
However, new civil servants see job security and pensions as less important reasons to stay in the service – perhaps
reflecting recent changes to terms and conditions.
Being part of an organisation which provides a public service is a particularly important factor in the retention of senior
staff, so there is a need for a strong employer brand that reflects this core value.
Career development opportunities do not appear to have such an impact on retention as attracting people in the first
place so it is absolutely key to improve or reform training and investment in order to fulfill the expectations that led
recruits to apply in the first place. Potentially, this could have a substantial effect on increasing retention, particularly
for a younger generation of employees.
Internal mobility is also of vital importance to retaining the best talent – again specifically for the under 35s. Internal
mobility is of course a complex challenge, and requires a joined-up approach that unites recruitment, career and
succession, performance and learning and development processes. This means that when a civil servant moves to either
a secondment or in fact a new position, they are prepared for its challenges and well-matched to the new role. Unified
process also means that there is someone – either internally or recruited externally – to fill the gap. And in turn they are
the right fit, and can onboard quickly.
Simon Levy
[email protected]
+44 (0) 20 3700 2904
www.cornerstoneondemand.co.uk
About Cornerstone Ondemand
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