Tom Wilkinson has joined Boden Group to develop and grow our public sector recruitment service. Tom is an exceptional professional, and we see him as a brilliant addition to the Boden team. He’s already applying his considerable experience and deep understanding of the public sector to our facilities management recruitment business.
Tom, who will be mainly working with the NHS and Universities, arrives at a key moment for Boden Group. We recently signed up to the CCS RM6277 public sector procurement framework, a clear signal of our commitment to public sector recruitment. We believe that with Tom’s knowledge and enthusiasm for the sector, this growing area of our business could not be in better hands.
About our Public Sector Recruitment services
As Boden Group serves both private and public sectors, its recruiters can pass candidates across to different desks according to individual strengths and preferences. This gives clients the outcomes they’re looking for, while protecting candidate relationships.
In addition to our core offerings, we provide 8 value-added services for your recruiting needs:
- Candidate Video Profiling
- Branded Marketing
- Performance Reporting and MI
- Pre-employment Vetting
- Skills Assessment Tests
- Personality Profiling
- DBS / Security Vetting
- Assessment Centre’s
Tom says: “I liked the idea of joining a specialist recruitment company. And I’ve always loved working with the public sector. So when Boden Group – with its facilities and estates management focus – offered me the opportunity to manage their public sector recruitment business, I snapped it up. They’re the biggest facilities management recruiters in England, and I think we’re a great match.”
Tom’s pedigree in public sector recruitment is impressive. He has a long history of working for leading public-sector recruitment firms. During that time, he discovered how much he enjoyed working in the sector.
“I’ve been working with some of these organisations for many years,” Tom says. “I understand how they work and I really like the people.”
Being part of the CCS framework means that Boden Group, under Tom’s direction, can extend its work with the NHS, Universities and government employers. CSS will give them confidence that everything we do meets the quality requirements of the framework.
Understanding what the public sector offers
Tom says: “Not everyone understands the attraction of the public sector, but most people love it once they join. Public sector employers are good at retaining staff. That’s partly because of amazing benefits like pensions and holiday entitlement. More broadly, they invest in their people on a long-term basis, with promotions and unbeatable training and education opportunities.”
Short-term and target-driven approaches to recruitment that are common in the private sector are almost unheard of in public services. At Boden Group, we understand how important it is for recruiters to share the long-term perspective of their public sector clients.
As Tom says: “If we can do a good job as an agency by finding the right candidate who shares that long-term view, that individual can expect to stay with the employer for a long time. And that means our client won’t have to recruit for the same job over and over again.”
The importance of honesty in public sector recruitment agencies
Tom is honest with candidates about both the benefits and realities of working in the public sector. “I would never lie about any job,” he says. “I describe the benefits in an honest way and make a judgment about whether the candidate is the right fit. Some people are more commercially minded than others, for example. So as a public sector recruiter, I have to make it clear that there may be more suitable opportunities elsewhere.”
Making the right move
Confident that he has made the right decision in moving to Boden Group, Tom concludes: “It’s a great atmosphere to work in – everyone is friendly, knowledgeable and hard-working. They’ve clearly put a lot of work into setting up the desk. That will give me a solid basis for developing the business side. The coming year is set to be a big one for recruitment in the public sector, for a number of reasons. We’re well positioned to give employers all the support they need to find the right people.”