Finding the sweet spot: How to attract talent to the public service

By Melissa Coade

February 11, 2022

parliament-house-coat-of-arms-
The public service should be implementing sexual harassment policies now. (Image: Adobe/Rafael Ben-Ari)

The latest independent survey into employer brand research ranked the public sector in 12th place across three main areas. How do these square with the focus on areas of improvement at the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC)?

Based on survey responses from more than 190,000 respondents, Randstad Australia analysed how attractive 75 of the largest employers were to workers. 

The local employee market reported that the top drivers for what is known in human resource parlance as an ‘employee value proposition’ (EVP) for public service jobs were:

  1. A COVID-19 safe work environment
  2. Financially healthy workplace
  3. Job security

According to Randstad’s public sector recruiter Matthew Chilko, the brand analysis also placed the public service jobs in the top group of sectors for awareness and at a mid-way point for attractiveness. 

“What people are looking for in some departments and agencies — because some do better — are the ones that offer a good work-life balance, the ability to work in a blend of working from home and...

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