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The latest CIPD (the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) /KPMG quarterly Labour Market Outlook survey of over 700 employers offers some less than encouraging reading for those either currently looking for a job or thinking about entering the jobs market in the near future. The main findings indicate that, across both the private and public sectors, the outlook remains bleak with no overall return to growth. Redundancies look set to double compared to the final quarter of 2009 with those organisations planning to ‘let people go’ expecting to cut on average 6.2% of their work force.

Driven by the uncertain future of many public sector organisations (-31% – down from -13% in the previous quarter), and in spite of some increase in staffing amongst some private sector companies (+12%), the overall balance between the percentage of employers expecting to recruit and those expecting to cut staff is negative to the tune of 5%.

Clearly times are tough. If you are about to embark on a job search, perhaps you are thinking about approaching specialist healthcare employment agencies such as doctors recruitment agencies or nurses recruitment agencies, it is important to take stock of your skills and abilities. It is now more important than ever to ask yourself what you can do to strengthen your chances of being offered the job you want.

Your training, education, natural ability, enthusiasm and experience of course all play their parts in helping a prospective employer choose you above other candidates. However, there is one particular attribute that is perhaps the most important skill to possess and if you have it will without doubt open more doors and more opportunities, especially within the public sector. That skill is the ability to manage effectively.

Ben Willmott, Senior Public Policy Adviser at the CIPD talks about ‘delivering more with less’. This is exactly what many organisations have to do these days as the recession is driving them to find additional value and to reveal savings and efficiencies. And the best way of achieving this for many is through shrewd management. The CIPD believe that it’s not the up and coming crunch that poses the greatest threat to public service delivery – it’s a ‘people management crisis on the front line.’

And it is this lack of management ability that presents new opportunities to anyone willing to step into the gap and sharpen their existing skills. A focus on strengthening your management skills could give you a vital job-winning differential.

Here’s why. Compared with the private sector, on average, public sector employers:

- are three times less likely to discipline staff

- rate their line managers’ conflict management skills more poorly

- take far longer to manage formal disciplinary and grievance cases.

Trust and confidence in senior management among public sector employees is low whilst dissatisfaction is high.

The public sector especially is crying out for quality management. If as part of your professional skill-set you possess strong people management skills and other managerial abilities, you drastically improve your chances of recruitment. Employment agencies as well as recruiters recognise this. So whether it’s a case of taking additional training or updating and improving your existing skills and accreditation, be sure to draw attention to your management abilities and use them to put you in the driving seat.