Contact Officer: Jarlath Brine (Organisational Development and Learning Advisor, Equalities and Apprenticeships); 01865 252131, email jbrine@oxford.gov.uk

The Head of HR and Facilities submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended). This presented some headline analysis of BME applicants to the Council at shortlisting and appointment stages. Simon Howick (Head of HR and Facilities) and Jarlath Brine (Organisational Learning and Development Advisor, Equalities and Apprenticeships) attended the meeting and presented the report to the Committee.

The provided the following additional information to the Committee:-

·         Many people struggle to make a good application for employment – this is not limited to BME groups;

·         Applicants have a significant level of qualification; but too many applications fail because they miss the target. The Council needs to consider how it writes and targets its advertisements;

·         The Council receives many “scattergun” applications which are not directly related to the job on offer;

·         Some applicants are capable of making a good application, but perform less well when it comes to practical tests;

·         The Council needs to consider where, when and how it  advertises its jobs. It needs to look beyond what it normally does and seek fresh avenues – for example, placing adverts in the Leys News. Greater creativity in advertising is needed;

·         The Council also needs to think about how is words job descriptions for entry-level jobs;

·         Currently, HR is reviewing how it profiles recruitment for the next apprentice cohort.

Committee Observations

·         There is a huge failing on the part of schools which are not teaching young people how to present themselves well, either through their CV, application form or at interview;

·         There is a need to couch our adverts for vacancies in different terms, even if that means going far from what has become our norm. Then we might attract different people;

·         If we want to see change, we need to put specific measures in place;

·         Could we offer more volunteering/work experience opportunities in order to give people a taste of work here, as well as helping to mentor them and prepare them to make a full application?

·         There is still the perception amongst some BME groups that working at the Council (or the University) is not for them. This perception needs to be changed;

·         There seems to be some apprehension amongst applicants about the type of place the Council is – and we need to explain properly what the Council does and how potential employees can get involved and so help their community;

·         Some places make small payments to staff if they recommend a vacancy to another person, and that person is subsequently recruited to the firm.

Response from Officers:

·         Agreed that schools are, generally, failing to prepare young people to make good applications for employment. However, the Council intends to help people and coach them before they apply;

·         60% of the last apprentice cohort was from the BME community;

·         It would be very useful if the Scrutiny Committee could support the idea of advertising in different ways and in different, non-conventional places;

·         The Council tries to do as much in-house recruitment as possible, but it will consider looking at outside recruitment;

·         The Council was considering creating a group of young apprentices that would go into schools to talk about their role and act as advocates for recruitment;

·         The Council does not have the resources to replicate the Careers Service, but it can form stronger contacts with key schools. It would also be useful to develop links with local employers to discuss issues of mutual concern;

·         Luke Nipen (from Communities) will be working with HR on initiatives around recruitment, especially from BME communities;

·         It is intended that HR will give feedback to every candidate;

·         The negative perception of the Council has been recognised, and HR has looked at creating a myth busting video about working in local government.

Resolved to recommend the following to Councillor Price, Board Member for Corporate Governance, Strategic Partnerships and Economic Development:-

(1.) To support the use in job adverts of a variety of brandings and styles, rather than the rigorous application of the “Corporate Brand”, in an effort to engagement widely with target groups.  To provide money within the Human Resources budget to support this and test the effectiveness of these methods;

(2).For the Council to offer a greater number of meaningful work experiences places focused on BME groups to allow potential applicants to build a better understanding of the Council and be better prepared for selection processes;

(3)  To build on the success of appointing a significant number of apprentices from BME groups and use these staff as mentors and ambassadors.  For this work to be part of the training offer as a development opportunity;

(4.)To consider and bring forward ideas to break down the perception of some BME groups that “the City Council is not for us”.  To consider within this how current employees can be used within outreach;

(5.)To show our commitment to addressing the anomalies within the selection process by providing some initial investment money to prepare candidates or potential candidates from BME groups for the selection process, and to consider outcomes from this to support future investment in this area.