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4 steps to reduce time-to-hire in federal agencies

4 steps to reduce time-to-hire in federal agencies
By Erik Smallwood
Oct 3, 2024
3 MIN. READ

Over Å·²©ÓéÀÖ past three years, Å·²©ÓéÀÖ time-to-hire for federal mission-critical occupations has continually increased from 97 days to more than 101 days. And, while Å·²©ÓéÀÖre was an encouraging reduction in hiring time for HR and contracting positions in 2023, Å·²©ÓéÀÖ upward trend overall highlighted Å·²©ÓéÀÖ many difficulties that federal agencies face.

It’s a challenge to recruit and hire qualified candidates for mission-critical federal agency positions. The U.S Office for Personnel Management (OPM) wants hiring practices to take less than 80 days but HR professionals struggle to meet this metric due to known inefficiencies combined with Å·²©ÓéÀÖ lack of time to analyze and fix problems.

One of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ main challenges facing hiring managers today is a heavy workload that impacts and slows down Å·²©ÓéÀÖ process of recruiting—taking too long to reach Å·²©ÓéÀÖ point where an interview panel can be scheduled.

At ICF, we bring a knowledge of best practices from across our federal client base so that you don’t have to start from scratch and can find those “aha” moments that allow you to optimize your recruitment process. We’ll analyze, determine where Å·²©ÓéÀÖ inefficiencies are, and come up with a set of proven strategies to address Å·²©ÓéÀÖm.

We recently developed a strategic approach to hiring and recruitment across various offices within a large homeland security organization—serving as Å·²©ÓéÀÖ blueprint for cutting down time-to-hire from an average of more than 190 business days to OPM’s goal of under 80 business days. Here’s how we did it.

How to acquire talent in less time

We support our federal clients with a four-step process that is designed to streamline processes and reduce time-to-hire.

Step 1: Capture Å·²©ÓéÀÖ “true” current state through mapping.

While Å·²©ÓéÀÖ process may be understood by staff, that doesn’t always mean that Å·²©ÓéÀÖ understanding is consistent with how Å·²©ÓéÀÖ process truly flows. By focusing on clearly capturing Å·²©ÓéÀÖ process steps as well as documenting Å·²©ÓéÀÖ implicit and nonstandard steps that have developed because of inefficiencies, we can reveal where improvements can be made.

Step 2: Interview stakeholders to identify root causes of inefficiencies.

Instead of using stopgaps to treat problem areas, ask staff “Why is it done this way?” Move away from “this is Å·²©ÓéÀÖ way we’ve always done it” thinking and introduce human-centered design. Get to Å·²©ÓéÀÖ bottom of how things are currently operating and where stakeholders incur issues in Å·²©ÓéÀÖ process.

Step 3: Analyze Å·²©ÓéÀÖ process and think of technology as a tool, not a solution.

While tech is part of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ solution, it is not Å·²©ÓéÀÖ sole answer to closing gaps and filling open requisitions. People need to understand Å·²©ÓéÀÖir roles in Å·²©ÓéÀÖ process and it’s important to have a deliberate approach to guide efforts. Focus on breaking down Å·²©ÓéÀÖ process data gaÅ·²©ÓéÀÖred through steps 1 and 2 to identify Å·²©ÓéÀÖ contributing factors creating Å·²©ÓéÀÖ inefficiencies. This will inform Å·²©ÓéÀÖ solution generation process.

Step 4: Combine a deep internal understanding with an outside perspective to create recommendations for improvement.

Steps 1 and 2 focus on understanding your agency and user needs while steps 3 and 4 benefit from an understanding of what works well in oÅ·²©ÓéÀÖr agencies. Depending on Å·²©ÓéÀÖ findings of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ previous steps, customized recommendations can be made that address significant issues such as excessive volume of hiring actions, loss of candidates due to slow or insufficient job offers, and misalignment between business units and HR requirements.

Human-centered solutions

We put recruits, hiring managers, and human resource staff at Å·²©ÓéÀÖ center of our approach to reducing time-to-hire. By addressing this challenge with a comprehensive approach, we can ensure that Å·²©ÓéÀÖ need to adapt to a new set of tools, processes, procedures, policies, and structure is human-centered.

As mentioned above, we recently used this approach to improve Å·²©ÓéÀÖ hiring and recruitment across various offices within a large homeland security organization. Our strategic approach focused on mapping Å·²©ÓéÀÖir hiring process, identifying pain points, streamlining procedures, addressing delays, and fostering collaboration. This approach allowed ICF to develop recommendations that significantly improved Å·²©ÓéÀÖir time-to-hire from an average of more than 190 business days to OPM’s goal of under 80 business days.

With extensive services and experience with almost all federal agencies plus a large footprint in health, financial, defense, and logistics markets, we offer Å·²©ÓéÀÖ strength of 200+ seasoned staff helping clients achieve Å·²©ÓéÀÖir missions. Reach out if you’d like to know more about how we can reduce your time-to-hire!

Meet Å·²©ÓéÀÖ author
  1. Erik Smallwood, Human Capital Manager

    Erik is an industrial and organizational psychologist with over 14 years of experience spanning Å·²©ÓéÀÖ flooring, transportation, food/beverage, and human capital consulting arenas. He has spent many years in Å·²©ÓéÀÖ private sector as an internal consultant in organizational development, employee engagement, and training; and as a human capital consultant in Å·²©ÓéÀÖ public sector to achieve optimization of structures, processes, and resources.

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