Commonwealth of Kentucky is Filling Positions Faster with a Streamlined Recruiting Process

In April 2008, the Commonwealth of Kentucky won a "Best of Kentucky" award for their new Career Opportunities System (COS) at the Kentucky Digital Summit. Based on AMS Advantage Talent Management, powered by Kenexa BrassRing, COS was named "Best Application Serving a Public Organization" for its outstanding information technology contribution to the public sector.

"Recruiting was paper-based and centralized in the Frankfort office, which was not always efficient for citizens and recruiters," said Secretary Nikki Jackson, Personnel Cabinet. "With COS, we have transformed the recruiting process, making it easier for citizens to apply and more efficient for recruiters to manage."

Before COS, citizens drove to the Frankfort office, often hundreds of miles, to register for a position that may only be a couple of miles from their homes. In addition, the paper-based process meant information was not always up to date, so people could apply for positions where there were no openings "Today, up to date position information is available online," continued Jackson, "so it is easier for our citizens to find and apply for specific jobs where and when it is convenient for them." In fact, the Commonwealth has seen a 25 percent increase in applications with 51,000 applications submitted to date.

On the other side, recruiters were spending the majority of their time moving paper and updating spreadsheets. For example, it took a call from the applicant to have their name removed from the pool. Until new information was published, recruiters were calling applicants who were no longer searching for employment.

"COS eliminated the paper-processing," said Acting Commissioner Barbara Barnes, Department of Personnel Administration, "the redundancies and bottlenecks that delayed applicant processing. Recruiters now work from real-time information, reducing turnaround and man hours." Today recruiters are notified electronically when an applicant applies. The system is searchable, putting the right information in the recruiters hands when they need it.

"With COS our recruiters have shifted away from fielding basic job inquiries to actual recruiting responsibilities," continued Barnes, "So we are identifying more applicants with the right experience for specific positions which means we are filling positions faster for our agencies."

Just like many other state and local government organizations, the Commonwealth is looking at a retirement "bubble," with a large number of employees retiring in the next few years.

"With COS we are expanding our recruiting pool," added Barnes, "building a database of qualified applicants, attracting broader talent which positions us to address our recruiting needs better in the future."

As the "Best of Kentucky" award demonstrates, the COS system is having a valuable impact on the Commonwealth and its citizens, but with transformation comes change so communications was a top priority.

"To prepare ourselves and our citizens," said Barnes, "we produced outreach videos and sponsored hands-on labs across the Commonwealth. Today a centralized lab is still open to help walk-ins, but people are using it less and less. What we learned is that our citizens were more ready for the online experience than we thought."

So what is the next step for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and their recruiting process?

"We're looking at multi-lingual options and additional features that will allow the elimination of more paper-driven processes like correspondence," said Barnes, "but for now we've achieved our initial goals; a more efficient recruiting process end-to-end, that meets the needs of our citizens as well as our agencies across the Commonwealth."

Log on to http://personnel.ky.gov/employment/ and click on “State Job Opportunities” to view COS. Want to know more about AMS Advantage Talent Management? Contact your CGI sales representative or call 1 (800) 321-0267 today.