Counties attract talent by stressing public service appeal

Key Takeaways

Recruiting employees in remote Mono County, Calif. is an uphill battle. 

Steve Rose knew that, coming in as the county’s new human resources director this past summer. The fourth-smallest population in the state gives him a small applicant base to staff the county’s roughly 275 jobs, 23 of which were open in early December. On top of that, being isolated in the Sierra Nevada mountains means fewer people are nearby, willing or able to commute up to Mono County.

Rose clears those barriers by tailoring his county’s talent acquisition approach to reach job candidates in different ways throughout their careers, and by exploring untapped potential in the county workforce.

“I think recruiters fail to understand the target audience,” Rose said. “A lot of early career workers think of counties as service providers, they don’t really see counties as an employer.”

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Perhaps they should. A total of 3.6 million county employees make up 2% of the U.S. workforce. 

It doesn’t get any easier for large counties, though; just different. Harris County, Texas may have more residents — it’s the third largest in the country — but it also has more employers, particularly in the public sector. Andrea Kimble Scott, director of talent acquisition for the county, points to the city of Houston, along with a number of independent school districts, as competitors for the county’s more than 30,000 employees.

“It is not uncommon at the same time that we’re looking for a specialized or targeted talent that some of our competitors are also looking for that same talent,” she said.

Standing out in that job market means making those listings — 139 in early December — more than a dry description.

“We’re telling the story of why you should come work for Harris County, why you should stay with Harris County, why you should continue to grow your career with Harris County,” she said. “We have to be able to tell our stories in a very dynamic, robust way, how we are valuable employers and that we provide a very unique opportunity to individuals to start, continue and grow their careers.”

That kind of targeted effort makes counties a more competitive employer, moving beyond job boards.

“The days of ‘post and pray’ are over,” said Ian Coyle, principal of Pracademic Partners and a former Livingstone County, N.Y. administrator. “Counties have a calling card as it relates to recruitment and retention that nobody else does except those in the governmental sphere: ‘Come to a job where you can advance your community.’”

The job fair up there

Rose has three options to fill his workforce in Mono County. Trying to attract job-seekers to the county creates a self-selecting pool of people who want to work in a remote county. He had to do this before, in Nevada County, Calif.

“If somebody wants to be in San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta or Orlando, that’s not going to work,” he said. “But if you want a lifestyle and a rural environment with the pristine alpine topography, this is the place for you.”

He can also try to keep young people in the county or at least keep them thinking about working for the county and knowing that the place they grew up is looking out for them and their futures.

“You want to reach people early,” he said.  “In Nevada County, we partnered with the high schools to do career days and to create a youth commission and bring those students that are interested in public service into the fold. That’s something we want to do here.”

He also emphasizes using public service loan forgiveness as a draw, particularly when recruiting college students.

“We can’t compete on salary, but when you look at our total compensation, including loan forgiveness, that helps us tighten the gap between a county and the private sector,” he said. “When you figure in the quality of life, the benefits and generous leave, it makes a county more competitive.”

Rose said that rural counties have a competitive advantage — most residents have a better sense that local government has a large and noticeable impact on the community, sticking in young people’s minds that counties are a chance to see their work in action.

He also sees opportunities for adults who show up to Mono County often in tow for someone else’s career. A few miles away from the county seat of Bridgeport, the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center draws military families. Though they may not stay long term, he sees a mutually beneficial opportunity in seeking out spouses to apply for jobs, and to accommodate their unique work histories in the hiring process.

“They’re used to moving around and rarely being able to work somewhere long term,” Rose said. “Many of them have a lot of valuable skills and experiences, but it’s often tough to articulate that on a traditional resume.”

While other employers may hesitate to hire short-term employees, Rose hopes to capitalize on opportunities to employ military spouses.

Coyle sees a growing number of what had been considered a nontraditional county government applicant entering the local government job market. That includes nonprofit professionals, education professionals, private sector managers and recently, displaced federal government employees. 

“It’s these nontraditional candidates saying, ‘Hey, I never really took a look at my county government, but I’m a financial professional and they’re recruiting for a finance director,’ and they give it a shot,” he said.

Building expectations

Coyle is seeing a cultural transformation in counties that may be a surprise to people’s conceptions of government work. While they’ll likely never occupy the free-wheeling atmosphere popularized by Silicon Valley startups, counties are moving away from a stodgy reputation. He also sees a growing focus on viewing county employees holistically.

“Counties are talking about things like professional development, leadership training, they’re talking about voluntary benefits and work-life balance practices,” he said. “I think a lot of counties embraced it and they say ‘We need to compete for the top talent across the country,’ whether it’s those that are going to work for a major Fortune 500 company or they’re going to work for the feds or the state or a nonprofit, they need to compete with everybody and the only way to do that is to kind of play the game, and not in a bad way.”

Scott said that being transparent about the realities of some of Harris County’s jobs is crucial to retention. 

“I think when we embark on these initiatives, there is some hesitancy to tell everything,” she said. “We varnish over some of the rough edges, but we want our employees to tell it all.”

That means leveling with prospective employees about the challenges that county employees face, particularly those who work in public safety, human services or disaster recovery. 

“The reality is that we are all going to have a significant population of employees who encounter our constituents on some of the worst days of their lives,” she said. “Those days are difficult, so it’s important to know what the job is going to be like. That’s where genuine discussion about our work is helpful.”