Keiron Broadbent • 9 December 2020
Hints and Tips on recruiting staff

We've all had to work differently over the last year and that includes how we recruit staff.
We are hearing that recruitment remains an issue for a lot of care providers so we have put together some hints and tips that we have picked up while talking to you
Look at implementing a refer a friend system . Incentivising your staff to refer friends/family for vacancies can have real benefits. Although you won't get the volumes you will get quaility as staff generally are unwilling to refer someone they don't trust to do the job as they feel it reflects badly on them. You can offer vouchers for example for referrals that result in interview or employemnt. You may choose to implement a system like Care Friends which we know some of our members are seeing real benefits from
Use application forms, rather than CVs . A candidate who takes the time to fill in an application form is likely to be more interested in the vacancy than one who is sending out multiple CVs. It also means you can be consistent with the recruitment information you require. Jobsites such as Indeed can support referring job ads back to your website for this
Do a short initial video interview . A short 5-10 minute introduction interview will filter out time wasters or no-shows before you conduct a more indepth interview
Talk to your Local Authority about using their Adult Social Care Staff . Many Local Authority Day Centres are currently closed and you may be able to utilise their staff as a temporary resource. This has the advantage that they are already familiar with care work. Talk to your commissoners whether this a possiblity (Walsall MBC are already doing this)
Speak to your local Job Centre about ways they can help . The quality of candisates from job centres is often criticised but Job Centres may be able to help with pre sifting candidates
Don't forget social media . Facebook now has a jobs facilty and these can be shared by staff members
We hope these are useful. If you have any useful recruitment tips you'd like to share, please let us know
We are hearing that recruitment remains an issue for a lot of care providers so we have put together some hints and tips that we have picked up while talking to you
Look at implementing a refer a friend system . Incentivising your staff to refer friends/family for vacancies can have real benefits. Although you won't get the volumes you will get quaility as staff generally are unwilling to refer someone they don't trust to do the job as they feel it reflects badly on them. You can offer vouchers for example for referrals that result in interview or employemnt. You may choose to implement a system like Care Friends which we know some of our members are seeing real benefits from
Use application forms, rather than CVs . A candidate who takes the time to fill in an application form is likely to be more interested in the vacancy than one who is sending out multiple CVs. It also means you can be consistent with the recruitment information you require. Jobsites such as Indeed can support referring job ads back to your website for this
Do a short initial video interview . A short 5-10 minute introduction interview will filter out time wasters or no-shows before you conduct a more indepth interview
Talk to your Local Authority about using their Adult Social Care Staff . Many Local Authority Day Centres are currently closed and you may be able to utilise their staff as a temporary resource. This has the advantage that they are already familiar with care work. Talk to your commissoners whether this a possiblity (Walsall MBC are already doing this)
Speak to your local Job Centre about ways they can help . The quality of candisates from job centres is often criticised but Job Centres may be able to help with pre sifting candidates
Don't forget social media . Facebook now has a jobs facilty and these can be shared by staff members
We hope these are useful. If you have any useful recruitment tips you'd like to share, please let us know
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