Transforming recruitment in Local Government: St Helens Borough Council

Public Sector and Government

Transforming recruitment in Local Government: St Helens Borough Council

Local government recruitment is often seen as overly manual and time-consuming. However, a major transformation is underway at St Helens Borough Council, where the adoption of Jobtrain as their new Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is modernising and streamlining recruitment processes across the council’s diverse public sector services.

As St Helens Borough Council progress through the implementation and training process, on camera, we caught up with Jenny Swift, Andrew Ferguson, Katie Cullen, Jane Ashcroft and Ste Rigby to understand how they and the team were finding the process. Hear directly from the team in the video below. Otherwise, read on for a summary of their journey and step-by-step breakdown of how they tackled transformation in their recruitment process and key takeaways for other local government organisations.

Here, they chat about:

00:00 – Introduction to the team

00:31 – The challenges recruiting with traditional processes

01:03 – Why they chose Jobtrain

01:35 – Hiring Manager experience now

02:06 – Partnership: two-way implementation and training process

02:36 – Feedback and engagement between Jobtrain and St Helens Borough Council

04:39 – Going live: empowering Hiring Managers, improving processes and data insights and utilising the Welcome Hub

06:30 – St Helens Borough Council’s final thoughts

Outdated and paper-based processes

Pre-Jobtrain, recruitment at St Helens Borough Council was time-consuming, manual and paper-based. As we hear from the team, it was inefficient for everyone involved and hiring managers and candidates often felt out of the loop. To manage their recruitment goals and bring everything in line with a modern strategy, they needed an ATS solution that would streamline the process while improving the experience for both candidates and teams. That’s where our Jobtrain ATS steps in.

Implementing a new way to recruit

Implementing our ATS to bring recruitment into the digital age, St Helens needed a system that was flexible enough to work across a whole variety of services and departments, from Ground Maintenance, Supported Living to Catering and Finance.

When the council goes live with Jobtrain, it will provide them with everything they need to recruit, onboard and report. It will provide them with real-time visibility, a simplified recruitment process and a better experience for candidates and hiring managers.

Why did St Helens choose our ATS?

The council’s commitment to modernisation and transformation is well supported by the features of our ATS, helping them to achieve their goals and vision for progress. With a wide range of services and departments to cater to, an ATS platform that can flex with their recruitment needs was at the heart of everything. From the very beginning, working alongside the St Helens team, we’ve focused on creating a system that enhances usability and fosters engagement, to ensure a seamless and effective experience for both internal users, like hiring managers, and candidates.

Seamless implementation – a truly collaborative process

The roll-out of our ATS was described as “nothing short of outstanding” by the team at St Helens Borough Council. So, what made it work?

Open communication: Regular contact between our own Client Success team, St Helens’ people team and their key stakeholders ensured the process stayed on track, ran smoothly and achieved buy-in from across the organisation.
Tailored training: A combination of virtual and in-person scoping and training sessions provided support and helped users feel confident with the new ATS.
Ongoing input: Managers and teams have been involved every step of the way throughout implementation and training, ensuring the ATS matched all their needs and more.

“It has been nothing short of outstanding…seamless from start to finish.”

Ste Rigby,
Operations Manager in People Management and OD

Transforming local government recruitment – a faster, smarter recruitment process

St Helens Borough Council will experience huge improvements across their recruitment operations when they start recruiting using our ATS. Processes will be more efficient, with shorter recruitment cycles, reduced administrative workload and better brand awareness of working at the council. Hiring managers will have greater visibility, with real-time access to recruitment data and onboarding updates, making their work more streamlined. Candidates will also benefit from a more engaging experience throughout the application and onboarding journey.

Moving forward, the council can now look forward to making data-driven decisions, thanks to advanced reporting tools that help measure success and identify areas for improvement. Additionally, features like social media integration and our Job Board Marketplace tools will enhance engagement and help them attract the right candidates more quickly and effectively.

Key lessons for local governments

What lessons can other local government and public sector organisations learn from the successes of St Helens Borough Council implementation? Here are some key highlights and important takeaways:

Focus on the user experience: Prioritise both your candidates and your internal teams – what goals do you have to improve their experience?
Engage your teams early: Involve key stakeholders, such as hiring managers, from the start to help drive adoption and success.
Use data: Measure before implementing the ATS and set the targets you want to achieve. Recruitment metrics through reporting features will help track progress and success as well as highlighting areas for improvement.
Start small, think big: Choose an ATS system that will scale and adapt to your organisation’s needs.

For local governments and other public sector organisations, moving away from outdated, manual processes can create a more efficient and engaging experience that benefits everyone – from candidates to hiring teams and their communities.

Ready to transform your recruitment process?

If you’re looking to modernise recruitment in your organisation, St Helens Borough Council’s journey is a great example of how technology and collaboration can make it happen.

Explore how our ATS can help you:

Streamline your processes
Improve the candidate experience
Support diverse departments with ease

Book a call

About St Helens Borough Council

Employing over 3,000 people, St Helens Borough Council is at the heart of the community, working hard to make life better for everyone in the area. Based in the historic Town Hall on Victoria Square, the council delivers vital services like education, housing, social care and keeping the local infrastructure running smoothly. They’re focused on modernising how they work, always looking for better ways to support residents by living up to their core values: Trust, Integrity, Collaboration, and Innovation.

The council’s team is structured around key areas of work, with a leadership group dedicated to tackling the challenges and opportunities facing St Helens. As a proud part of the Liverpool City Region, they team up with neighbouring councils to boost the local economy and deliver real benefits for the area. In recent years, St Helens Borough Council has rolled out exciting regeneration projects, breathing new life into the borough, improving public services and making the community an even better place to live.