Recruiting and retaining qualified staff at
Statistics Finland
Elina Pääkkö
Workshop on HRM and Training in Statistical Offices
5-7 September 2012, Budapest
Competence management at Statistics Finland
Aims
 to identify and anticipate changes in competence needs
 ensure sufficient core competence
 correctly direct competence to the core processes and
their supporting activities
 enhance the capacity of personnel to cope with
challenges of work
 New tools
 Group recruiting
 Career planning

Group recruiting – a centralised recruitment of
experts
several (5-12) employees are sought at the same time with one
advertisement
 The new experts will be placed in different statistics departments but
the competence needs of the whole organisation are emphasised
 Competence needs are especially linked with the stages of the
production process of statistics
 Posts are basic level expert positions, previous work experience in
statistics not necessary
 The demands of the post should be quite similar
 The process is mainly centralised into the personnel and legal services
unit, and is performed in co-operation with the statistics department
 First round autumn 2010

Survey of needs
• Inquiry among management: anticipation of exit to retirement and other staff
turnover, acute staff changes and needs arising from them
• Tasks suited for group recruiting and related competence needs
Selection criteria
• Definition of desired competence and educational background based on survey
of needs
Job advertisement
Applications
Interviews
Selection
• Open vacancies are not itemised in job advertisement -> applicant does not
apply for a certain post but the task of a statistical expert in general
• First screening of applications by HR
• Amount of applications 200-350
• Same interviewers (two statistics directors, one recruitment specialist throughout
the whole process)
• Around four interviews per one open post
• Selection based on criteria defined in job advertisement
• Selected persons are placed in departments according to proposal
Good
employer
image
Aims of
group
recruiting
Quality
• Emphasises competence needs
of the entire organisation
• Enables equal and wide
comparison of the applicants
• Professional, documented
process
• Summing up competence that
can be recruited from outside
organisation and competence
bottlenecks
• The candidate applies to all open
posts with one application and one
interview
• Interviews and professional process
create an image of a good employer
• Part of branding of state
administration as an employer
www.valtiolle.fi
Efficiency
• Centralisation saves time and
costs spent in recruiting
• Statistical units are able to focus
on their core functions
• Process takes about 2 months –
several new employees can be
hired
Experiences






After 4 group recruiting rounds, experiences are good.
During two months period several experts can be recruited in similar kind of posts
In each round quality of candidates good
50 per cent of statistics experts were recruited by means of group recruiting in 2011
in SF.
21 of 37 persons recruited (2010-2012) with group recruiting were women
After recruitment: Training Programme in Statistical Skills (TPSS), Career plan for newcomers
Time of
recruiting
Applications
.
Open
vacancies
Applications /
open post
Interviews
Autumn 2010
354
12
30
32
Spring 2011
252
8
31
40
Autumn 2011
217
12
18
40
Spring 2012
219
5
44
22
Career planning at Statistics Finland

Career planning improves the opportunities of the personnel to broaden and
deepen their expertice

Matches employee’s career ambitions and employer’s needs

From the employer’s perspective, career planning can support and improve

Maintenance of core and strategic competence

Multiple competence and mobility

Personnel’s job satisfaction and commitment
Attraction of employer image
From the employee’s perspective, career planning can support and improve
 Required development of competence
 Performing of tasks best suited at each career stage
 Maintenance of eligibility on the labour market
 Discovery and exploitation of own motivation and enthusiasm


• Draws up a career
plan (takes part in
coaching /
independently
using online
material)
• Orientation,
deepening and
broadening of
competence
• Responsible for
own development
• Coaching and
support
• Develops and
maintains
competence
management and
career planning
processes
• HR planning
• Supports and
discusses with the
employee and work
community
• Encourages
• Monitors, evaluates
• Personnel planning
within working unit and
team
Employee
Supervisor
HR
Management
• Defines goals in
accordance to
operational and
competence
strategies
• Creates and offers
opportunities
• Strategic personnel
planning
Three careers
Expert career
Management
career
Team leader
Supervisor
Manager
Senior adviser
Project manager
Expert
Professional
career
Persons in professional
tasks
Specialist
Senior expert
Leading expert
Careers are open, movement between careers is possible
Tasks at Statistics Finland
Information technology
Statistical
work
Management
Information
service
Administration
Tasks are open, movement between tasks is possible
Instruction
guidance, studying
Model for career path of experts
Co-operation, networks
Consulting
Development
Projects
Leading expert
Basic task
Senior expert
Specialist
Expert
Researcher
Planner
Senior Statistician
Senior Researcher
Senior Planner
Senior Adviser
Leading Expert
Skills requirement
levels 9 - 10
Skills requirement
levels 11 - 12
Skills requirement
levels 13 - 14
Skills requirement
levels 15 - 16
Work process –
command of work
Development of
products and processes
Networks
New ideas, overall picture
Networks
Creativity
Here and now
Tomorrow
In future
In future
Career planning process
1. Identification of
competence
4. Finalised career
plan and its
implementation
and monitoring
Discussion
between
supervisor and
employee
3. Elaboration and
evaluation of career
plan
2. Targets,
possibilities and
means for
development
Summary – group recruiting and career
planning as new tools for competence
management
Group recruiting: flexible way to direct competence recruited from
outside to core processes
 Career planning: helps to identify changes in competence needs
 Enables directing existing compentence and sharing competence
 Both support building of positive employer image
 Career planning is part of job orientation of new recruits
 Both enhance the capasity of personnel to cope with challenges of
work
 Supporting personnel’s flexibility and renewal capacity

Thank you for your attention!
Elina Pääkkö
HR Planning Officer
P.O. Box 3C
FI-00022 Statistics Finland
elina.paakko@stat.fi