PRCA Public Sector Group event: How marketing communications can help address public sector recruitment challenges

Event Overview

Hear from two leading public sector communicators who are in charge of addressing some of the country’s biggest recruitment challenges. 

Gem Walsh, Director of Communications Group, Department for Education, the third biggest spending Government department and responsible for delivering one of only three No 10 priority communication campaigns. Gem has more than 18 years’ experience leading and managing communications and engagement in high profile, political, complex and changing environments, working at Board and Ministerial levels.  She is head of profession for the department and ALBs and established the government’s first group for public sector recruitment marketing, accountable for over £60m of government campaign spend.   Gem will give us an insight into the approach being taken to teacher recruitment and other campaigns.

Darren Aldrich, Strategy and Communications lead, Health Careers, the careers service for the NHS, at NHS Health Education England.  A communications and marketing professional for eighteen years, Darren has led numerous campaigns to encourage consideration of the NHS as an employer.  In the past, these have had limited budgets, but the NHS has recently launched two high profile recruitment campaigns to encourage people into nursing as part of the NHS70 celebrations. Darren will be offering insights into these and other campaigns. Darren has a post-graduate diploma from the CIPR and recently completed the Nye Bevan programme, an executive leadership programme run by the NHS Leadership Academy. 

This event is worth 15 points in the PRCA CPD programme.