It’s no secret that many municipalities have an image problem. This is made worse by factors such as impending budget cuts and ageing populations. The western part of the province of Noord-Brabant acknowledges these issues. Efforts to find an effective answer date back to 2005, when the region started to look for ways for municipalities to work together in their approach of the labour market. Participating municipalities soon discovered that working together could also be a positive impulse for their recruitment efforts. Thus, the Regio West Brabant network was born, a collaborative effort that has since developed into a far-reaching network offering candidates and municipalities a convenient way to connect with each other. Regio West Brabant uses the Connexys Branding and Connexys Technology solutions.
Standing strong together
In 2005, the regional network opened a career website and a career centre. It was the first labour network to gather vacancies from participating municipalities and publish them on one single vacancy site. As the years went by, the regional network grew more mature, offering an increasing amount of convenient functionalities. The number of participating municipalities also increased. Since 2007, the network consists of eighteen municipalities in the western part of Noord-Brabant, plus the municipality of Tholen, the regional environmental service and the Brabantse Delta Water Board.
Connexys is West-Brabant’s partner in job mobility and vacancy publication. The latter is supported by the so-called market place module, which allows the network to publish assignments for recruitment and selection agencies. Every vacancy, however, is first distributed through the region, in order to limit third party hiring costs.
Making choices
Jos Poiesz is one of the driving forces behind Regio West-Brabant. He is also its project leader. Last year, the network decided that it was time to change. Poiesz: ‘Our vacancy site lacked flexibility and we were under pressure to reduce third-party hiring. We were looking for a suitable system that could meet all our demands. Both Breda and Roosendaal were already working with Connexys; their positive experience was a decisive factor.’
Regarding regional networks
Regional labour market networks make it possible for local governments to flexibly adapt to changes in the labour market. Poiesz: ‘There really was a need to work together. Only by collaborating can we compete with private businesses. But other factors also played a part. According to our collective labour agreement, our people are entitled to career advice. You can really only fulfil that obligation by working together.’
For more information about the regional network, please visit www.werkeninwestbrabant.nl
The solutions used by Regio West-Brabant are made possible by Connexys, Nétive and Online Talentmanager.