Recruitment

The recruitment process of the CDO Office talents is managed by RISA. As the need of talents is raised in the Ministries, CDOs report to RISA of the need, which will be in charge of planning the recruitment and the allocation of the talent to the ministry.

Even if recruitment follows public sector guidelines in terms of recruitment, innovative recruitment processes should be put in place to take account of the specific nature of attracting talent in the IT field.

Attracting talents can be done through renewed recruitment strategies:

Attracting top tech talents is a crucial step to achieve a high level of digital maturity. The high-level of competition from tech firms and other high-paying private sector actors makes this task particularly hard. The Rwandan public administrations can pursue renewed recruitment strategies through different means:

• Going where the talents are: Many tech talents, such as university students with relevant tech degrees, are often unaware that the public sector is a viable option to develop their careers. Going where the talent is, by posting job adverts in the right channels (tech recruitment platforms) and by exploring partnerships with key actors (job fairs and school visits to technical universities) can be an important first step in cementing government as an option for tech talents.
• Improving job descriptions: Rigid hierarchies in the public sector can tend to translate to unclear job descriptions with blurry terms and skills requirements. Going beyond the traditional names of roles in government and being clearer about the day-to-day tasks and main challenges can make them more attractive for candidates. Please refer to the Note on Talent Management to see an example of a tech job description.
• Through centralised recruitment teams: Having a central recruitment team can be beneficial in providing a coherent approach to recruitment, once the necessary technical skills and the right profiles are identified. Such teams could provide a whole-of-government vision to design better recruitment strategies, offer advice on government branding, and have access to government reserve lists and various teams’ recruitment needs. One way to achieve this could be hiring former tech company recruiters who know the language and culture associated with the sector.
• Deploying faster and more skills-based recruitment processes: Public administration can be notoriously slow at recruitment. Ensuring that the right candidates receive offers within a reasonable timeframe can ensure they are still available for the advertised positions. In addition, adopting a more “skills-based” rather than a “degree-based” approach to recruitment can help to:
  • Ensure that technical profiles have the necessary skills to perform the job, increasing accountability and efficiency
  •  Make jobs more attractive for candidates, who would have a better idea of the tasks they would undertake
  • Combat the existing bias in favour of higher education degrees, considering that technical skills such as coding, tend to be learned in more informal ways.

This can be achieved through different recruitment practices, such as:

• • Showing the salary or the salary scale for the position
  • Introducing technical skills tests or case studies in the recruitment process
  • Involve future peers and other team-members in interviews
  • Placing a greater emphasis on the technical skills rather than the educational background of candidates

•  Reducing bias in recruitment selection: it is important to consider the diversity of the teams public administrations will hire. Better, more specialised recruitment teams will be able to help to avoid using language in job descriptions that will discourage women from applying to positions, and avoid other kinds of biases in recruitment. This can help public administrations look like the people they serve and make working there more attractive.