The Home Office and Government Digital and Data have been jointly awarded the 2024 Commissioners’ Mark of Excellence.
The award recognises government organisations for innovation and commitment in recruiting external candidates who may not have previously considered a role in the civil service.
First civil service commissioner Gisela Stuart said the joint winners both demonstrated “exceptional commitment” to attracting, encouraging and retaining external recruits.
The Home Office won for its strategic approach to recruiting more women into frontline roles and outstanding work to support external candidates at different stages of the recruitment process.
GDaD won for its innovative regional tech partnerships to secure senior digital talent on secondment to contribute to the work of government.
Baroness Stuart said both the Home Office and GDaD “tried new and different approaches” within the Commission’s recruitment principles, which ensure appointment on merit after fair and open competition.
She said the Home Office’s work to provide tailored support for external candidates in bulk campaigns using information events, chatbots, call centres and videos, demonstrated “real impact” – delivering 22,000 applications for these campaigns alone in 2024, with a high proportion from female and ethnic-minority candidates.
And she said the GDaD entry “impressed the panel with its professional collaborations across the sector to bring in senior tech specialists on secondment”.
The first civil service commissioner added: “Digital is an area in which the civil service can struggle to recruit; their cross-government secondment programme develops the civil service’s capability in an ever-evolving digital landscape and builds greater understanding of government work.”
The commissioners' Mark of Excellence, which is now in its third year, aims to showcase the most innovative and thoughtful initiatives that departments are using to attract strong and diverse fields of candidates for civil service jobs.
Winning organisations are entitled to display the Mark of Excellence logo on all their recruitment advertisements for one year.
The 2024 Mark of Excellence judging panel included Stuart and fellow civil service commissioners Tony Poulter, who was a PwC partner for over 25 years, and Liz Walmsley, who held senior roles at chemicals company ICI and a private-equity firm.
There were 27 applications from departments and agencies in 2024.