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Why do you think experienced senior HR professionals from the public sector often struggle to secure interviews for private sector HR leadership roles?

Paul Peake

Is it a perception issue, concerns around commercial exposure, differences in CV language, or something else entirely?

As someone with experience across HR, organisational development, workforce capability and leadership development, I'm curious to hear the views of both recruiters and hiring managers who work across sectors.

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  • I was a part of a private company which took over a council owned/operated business many years ago, I'd suggest there are a number of reason.

    1.  Little if any commercial acumen.   Staff being paid extra hours, 'guaranteed' O/T .   Staff sharing out O/T when it would have been cheaper to bring in a P/T employee.  etc.,   "Well we didn't want to rock the boat" , sort of attitude.

    2.  Didn't want to do anything which might upset the Union.   "Well we've never really bothered to try to change XXX   as the union wouldnt, or might not  like it."

    3.  Archaic practices.  "Well we've always done it this way".   

    4.  Training which was never properly reviewed or assessed - or no longer needed, or/and out of date. 

    This of course is my own opinion and based on my experience only.

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  • I was a part of a private company which took over a council owned/operated business many years ago, I'd suggest there are a number of reason.

    1.  Little if any commercial acumen.   Staff being paid extra hours, 'guaranteed' O/T .   Staff sharing out O/T when it would have been cheaper to bring in a P/T employee.  etc.,   "Well we didn't want to rock the boat" , sort of attitude.

    2.  Didn't want to do anything which might upset the Union.   "Well we've never really bothered to try to change XXX   as the union wouldnt, or might not  like it."

    3.  Archaic practices.  "Well we've always done it this way".   

    4.  Training which was never properly reviewed or assessed - or no longer needed, or/and out of date. 

    This of course is my own opinion and based on my experience only.

Children
  • in reply to David Perry

    I came across a good example of this when still working in Finance.  I had been broght in as part of a team to try and save a privatised facilities management company who had TUPEd across staff from Local Authority employment.

    One issue was that the original contracts had a clause allowing for enhanced payments for working in unpleasant conditions, which included rain.  Fair enough for those 100% outdoors.

    However H&S had decreed that working in the rain wasn't safe.  The end result was that if it was tipping down the teams were paid time and a half (or whatever it was) to sit in the depot playing cards & reading the paper!