Corrections_Today_Spring_2026_Vol.88_No.1

HUMAN RESOURCES

Figure 1: Total Number of Security Vacancies

simultaneously wanting to have a positive impact on people. We examined our job an nouncement and quickly realized we were highlighting the worst (and infrequent) parts of the job, such as staff assaults. Both the job announcement and interview questions were rewritten to emphasize the core skills needed for the job and alignment to our mission. We deployed a marketing campaign that highlighted the opportunities of working in corrections, featuring current staff who were passionate about their roles. We tracked and analyzed data on leads to inform our decision-making. After observing an increase in leads, we found that candi dates were most frequently dropping out of

Note: These figures include correctional officers, corporals, sergeants, lieutenants and captains.

our own way: we aimed effort at the wrong candidate, told the wrong story about our agency and made the hiring process more onerous than necessary. These realizations helped us to identify key areas of focus to improve our recruitment, hiring, onboarding and reten tion processes. 1. Improved data tracking and transparency At the beginning of the project, we had limited visibility into our recruiting data. Information was scat tered across spreadsheets, and we couldn’t determine which recruitment efforts were effective. We adopted a candidate tracking software solution and began visual izing the recruitment process as a “funnel,” starting with initial interest at the top and narrowing down as candidates moved through application, testing, inter view and medical clearance. This helped us pinpoint how long each step took, where we lost people and dig into the reasons. We identified early on our biggest issue was lead gen eration — getting people interested in correctional work. After a lackluster initial experience with an advertising firm, we partnered with second firm, who implemented a digital marketing campaign that consistently generated over 700 new leads per month. 2. Mission-driven recruiting Candidate research told us job seekers in corrections are interested in more than just their own job security, they are motivated by contributing to public safety and

the hiring process due to failing the written exam or be coming non-responsive to outreach from the HR hiring staff. This information guided our next effort: how could we make a tedious process more efficient while also keep ing candidates interested along the way? 3. Streamlined the hiring process Like other law enforcement agencies, much of our correctional officer hiring and background processes are determined by statute, but we capitalized on areas of latitude to make processes simpler and more ex peditious. We revised the aptitude testing to remove irrelevant content, streamlined the background investiga tion processes to reduce turnaround time and partnered with other agencies to obtain Peace Officer Standards Training (POST)-required documentation. We leveraged technology within our new applicant tracking system to engage with candidates more person ally through automated text and email communications. We built automated messages to not only remind candi dates about next steps but to tell a curated story about IDOC’s career potential and benefits. These automa tions significantly improved applicant responsiveness, helped move candidates through the process more quickly, and saved more than 80 staff hours in the first month alone. 4. Focus on retention and engagement Historically, we retained a high percentage of staff so targeted retention efforts had not previously been a focus.

Corrections Today | Spring 2026

36