Resources for Hiring Managers

The Government has committed to improving cross-sector mobility and keeping public servants in jobs wherever possible. In future, change programs that might affect people's ongoing employment will need to ensure that impacted employees are given the best opportunity to move into vacant roles elsewhere in the public sector before they can be declared as excess.

The WMP team helps agencies connect employees with open roles right across the sector. All vacancies will be notified to the WMP team before advertising. For many vacancies, there will be a 5 day delay to advertising to test all placement options. A key feature of the program for hiring managers is the ability to fill vacancies quickly with people with the right transferable skills from other agencies.

As employees have already been assessed for their substantive role and grade, there is no formal assessment or interview required for mobility placements. Employees can be moved quickly, easily and confidently into at-grade roles, making it easy for agencies to implement change while limiting the costs of redundancies and the ongoing employment of the impacted staff.

For hiring managers and recruiters, WMP provides a pool of suitable talent able to step into roles and hit the ground running. The WMP team will provide you with a shortlist of employees whose skills and experience are matched to your vacancy requirements. Using the WMP process means:  

• fast turnaround time from request to shortlist and placement  
• access to career driven talent  
• our team do the hard work for you 
• you will be supporting employee retention and development 
• no formal interview process required.

Yes. All vacancies of 12 months or longer must be notified to the WMP team (via your agency mobility team) and held for 5 days to allow excess and mobility matching before they can be advertised or filled by alternative means.

If suitable employees can be matched to roles, hiring managers must consider them and, where they meet the role capabilities, they must be transferred under the mobility provisions of the Government Sector Employment Act (2013). A summary of how suitability was determined will be shared with hiring managers when a match is made.

The full details of the WMP process are set out in section 5 of the Workforce Mobility Placement policy.

The steps below outline the typical WMP process:  

1. Agencies advise the WMP team of vacancies they intend to fill, with an overview of the roles and any key skills or essential criteria that must be met.  Most roles will not be able to be advertised for 5 days to test if a mobility option is possible.
2. The WMP team will review available talent for matching at the classification/grade of the vacancy. 
3. When there is a suitable match, the WMP team will liaise with recruiters and case managers to progress the placement.  
4. Where suitability is confirmed, the employee and hiring manager are introduced. Any matters raised for consideration after the introduction will also be addressed.  
5. Where the match continues to be suitable, the placement progresses to service checks and the use of mobility provisions is agreed to transfer the employee between home agency and the hiring agency.
6. Once the transfer is complete the referred employee completes their engagement with the workforce mobility placement team and continues their ongoing employment at the new agency.

The steps below outline the typical WMP process:  

1. Agencies consult with the WMP team on their intended change plans and the number and types of employees they expect will be impacted. 
2. Once the change program identifies impacted employees, the agency sends their details to the WMP team for matching at classification/grade.
3. When there is a suitable match, the WMP team will liaise with recruiters and case managers to progress the placement.  
4. The hiring manager and the employee will have an opportunity to consider the match that’s been made and any matters they would like considered will be addressed.  
5. Where suitability is confirmed, the employee and hiring manager are introduced. Any matters raised for consideration after the introduction will also be addressed.  
6. Where a match continues to be suitable, the placement progresses and will support the use of mobility provisions to transfer the employee between home agency and the hiring agency.

Once the transfer is complete the referred employee completes the workforce mobility placement and continues their ongoing employment at the new agency.

No. Cross-sector matching is priority and agencies must not advertise for 5 business days to allow for roles to progress through the matching process in their recruitment plan. 

Some exceptions do apply for specialist or high volume vacancies, which need to be agreed in advance with the WMP. The WMP team can still refer suitable candidates to those roles where matches arise. 

Yes, the placement process builds upon the equitable and merit based selection used to recruit employees into the public service. A key benefit of WMP is the reduction in the time taken to recruit, as there is no requirement for assessment or advertising to transfer or second employees through workforce mobility placement.

A merit process was held when the employee was appointed into their ongoing role and, as employees are not matched outside their current grade, their transfer already meets the standards of equity and merit-based selection.

Many roles can be delivered from anywhere in NSW, and regionality will not be a factor if the role does not have specific on-site or other practical location-based constraints. Specific requirements for roles will be noted in the vacancy detail, and only suitable matches will be presented.  

If you don't believe a suggested matched employee is suitable for the role you are trying to fill, you must demonstrate to the WMP Team, in writing, how the employee does not meet the capability requirements of the role, or that the impacted employee will not meet them within a reasonable period of time.

These decisions will be reported regularly to Secretaries and the Secretaries Board to help improve the matching process, highlight trends or concerns, and provide transparency of decision-making.