This roundtable was chaired by Chris Shears, Head of Economy & Place, South Hams District Council & West Devon Borough Council. It gave councils an opportunity to share insights into how they are attracting a new talent pool, both in economic development and more generally. It also allowed for a discussion on how staff is retained within the sector.
South Hams and West Devon are in the process of recruiting a Marine Projects Officer and an Economic Development Specialist, made possible by funding from the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) and the Rural Prosperity Fund. South Hams and West Devon also have some fairly unique difficulties, such as having two sets of Councillors for one authority and being in challenging environment.
Despite the known difficulty of bringing people from the private sector to the public sector and the limited pool of specialists available the council has had some successes, with a few good applications received and some informal conversations taking place. This success could be down to the perceived difficulty of economic development not being a statutory function turned to an advantage, with it giving added flexibility to what these roles entail. Economic development also has the advantage of giving the opportunity to get away from the traditional public sector mindset, with officers able to become embedded within business communities. It’s also a role where the officer can have a clear impact on the local business community and economy.
Challenges
- Issues around the disparity between public and private sector salary in economic growth are becoming more and more important, especially with the cost of the living crisis. This is causing vacancies going unfilled and difficulties in retaining staff
- Lack of equal representation in the sector, especially in terms of gender, may be a barrier to some people joining
- Economic growth may not be seen as important to some younger people, with roles that appear to have more social value, such as in net zero and the green economy gaining more interest
- Many people in the sector want to be able to make an impact, which requires the opportunity to make decisions but members can sometimes be a barrier to this
- There can be a lack of a further career path once someone gets to the head of service role
- Some councils have fixed policies when it comes to recruitment, for examples prescriptive text on job advertisements, this can make roles seem less dynamic and limit applications
- Sometimes what economic development teams do isn’t well promoted, with some businesses and the public being unsure of what their role is
- Limited term contracts could be an issue for some, especially if a more stable permanent contract is available elsewhere
Successes
- It may be better to employee people with less experience and invest in their training and skills, these people are less likely to have the salary expectations of people with experience is economic development
- With local authorities set to take on the economic development role from LEPs (Local Enterprise Partnerships) there may be an opportunity for recruitment of former LEP staff
- Emphasising the green economy and creativity can help attract talent
Good Practice
Derby
Looking into colocation with the University of Derby and Chamber of Commerce. Hopefully this will create further opportunities for working together and ‘water cooler moments’ without costing any extra money.
Kingston on Thames
Have had some success advertising jobs as a ‘systems thinking apprenticeship’ which has been successful at attracting the right kind of people, partnering with universities has also helped.
Lancashire
Work with a contractor who has been successful at building up their own brand and embedding themselves in the business community, has been quite dynamic so far. However, questions have been raised about who owns what, where responsibilities lie and what happens if funding dries up.
Bristol
The Bristol One City approach has been used to pull together stakeholders to problem solve and communicate best practice. It’s also been used to educate and steer other professionals towards economic development.