Suggest what ASIO could have done to ensure that their recruitment and selection choices matched their current and future needs.

Case Study: ASIO and intergenerational challenges The Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation [ASIO] is the federal government agency responsible managing the protection of Australians from the danger of spies and terrorists. Since the terrorist attacks on the USA Twin Towers in New York, the Bali bombings and other international acts of terrorism, ASIO has undergone a major revamp including an extensive growth program. This has led to a major recruitment drive andan expansion of staff. According to Tom Hyland, International Editor of the Sunday Age, “ASIO is putting young, inexperienced officers in senior jobs, as the domestic spy agency struggles to absorb an influx of recruits hired in an unprecedented expansion of the organisation”. [Sunday Age 7/3/10]. ASIO has doubled its staff over the past six years with more than 50% having less than five years experience. The training of intelligence officers takes time. They work in complex, secret and ambiguous situations and settings. Of the 1600+ staff, Hyland estimates that only 300 have more than ten years experience and a half have less than four years experience. Part of the problem is the major advertising campaign that brought an influx of Generation X and Y applicants. They came with different views of work, entitlement and opportunity and low levels of intelligence work experience. In addition, they fit the profile of young people who will need time to have and support families. Put another way, a lot of ASIO energy is being put into human resource management; not a core business activity of the organisation. So, while the recruitment campaign has been successful in attracting applicants, the campaign has also brought in its fair share of problems. The vetting process for security clearances takes time and this means positions can be left unfilled for long periods of time. Because ASIO is a public service agency it also has obligationswith respect to rules and procedures that apply to the federal public service. Read the Case Study ABOVE and, Question .Please suggest what ASIO could have done to ensure that their recruitment and selection choices matched their current and future needs.