Resources to help you #RecruitRight

Getting your recruitment approach right is so important in finding and keeping the best people for your team. We have resources that can help.

We know that recruitment and retention is one of the biggest challenges for social care employers and managers.

While our latest data shows that the number of vacancies in adult social care has decreased on last year and filled posts are up, vacancies do remain high and we know that employers can struggle to find and keep the right people for their team.

Dedicating a lot of time to getting your recruitment right may seem too time-consuming or costly when you’re busy, but getting recruitment right from the start is key to long-term success in building and keeping the best team.

We have resources and support which can help you with your recruitment strategy to support you with growing your team for now and the future.

Values-based recruitment support

Values-based recruitment means prioritising finding candidates whose values fit with your organisational values. Questions and tasks throughout the application and interview process focus on assessing these values, rather than previous qualifications or experience.

Employers who use values-based recruitment have told us it’s supported with lower staff turnover, better staff performance, and a better return on investment.

You can find out more about values-based recruitment on our dedicated webpage.

Later this month we’ll also be launching a new values-based recruitment toolkit which will support you in recruiting for values. This will be available on our #RecruitRight spotlight page.

We also offer seminars and tailored support programmes to make values-based recruitment work for you. These comprehensive programmes include a range of elements such as practical seminars, peer support, and one-to-one support to equip you with everything you need to boost your recruitment.

Find out more about values-based recruitment.

International recruitment support

Since the care worker role was added to the Shortage Occupation List in February 2022, there’s been a notable increase in care staff being recruited from abroad. Our data show that in 2022/23 around 70,000 people were recruited from abroad into direct care-providing roles – this is around 50,000 more people than the previous year.

International recruitment can be one solution to finding high-quality candidates to join your team, but when recruiting from abroad there’s vital processes to follow to ensure you’re recruiting safely and ethically in a way that will benefit your new staff and the people you support.

You can find out more about international recruitment on our dedicated webpage.

We also have a new international recruitment toolkit coming soon, which you’ll find on our #RecruitRight spotlight page.

Find out more about international recruitment.

Safe and fair recruitment support

With all recruitment it’s important to follow safe and fair recruitment processes to ensure you’re hiring legally and ethically. One important part of this process is in obtaining and providing references to make sure you’re safeguarding the people who you support. The Better hiring toolkit can support you with completing the reference process correctly. Our Safer employment webinar for registered managers also covers the importance of effective references.

There are also particular groups of people where there are further processes in place to ensure safe and fair recruitment. One of these groups is people with a criminal conviction. Having a criminal conviction doesn’t necessarily mean someone isn’t suitable to work in social care – many people with a criminal conviction come from disadvantaged backgrounds and their conviction is in no way related to their suitability to work in a support role. Some recruitment practices may exclude people with a criminal conviction meaning it’s not a fair and open process. Our Safe and fair recruitment guide provides support on how to safely employ people with a criminal conviction.

Recruiting younger people

There can be misconceptions about whether you can hire people aged 16 and 17. It’s not only legal to hire 16 and 17 year olds, but it’s important to attract more younger people to start a career in care.

Hiring people aged 16 or 17 does involve some additional processes to ensure safe and fair employment. Attracting more younger people into care roles is vital in developing the workforce of our future, and so it’s important that employers understand the process for employing younger people and feel encouraged to do so.

Our guide to employing 16 and 17 year olds can help you with recruiting younger people.

Recruitment and retention webinars and podcasts

Our Maximise recruitment and Maximise retention webinars have both been created with Neil Eastwood, founder of social care recruitment app Care Friends and author of ‘Saving social care’. They share comprehensive expertise on how to attract and retain the right people to work in social care.

Later this month Neil will also be appearing on a live episode of our ‘The care exchange’ podcast, where he’ll be sharing lots of practical tips and advice on how you can find more of the best frontline care staff and how to keep the ones you have.

Find out more about the live podcast.

Apprenticeship support

Apprenticeships can be a good way to recruit new people and support them to develop a lifelong career in care, including younger people.

As well as being a way to bring new staff into your organisation, apprenticeships can support your existing staff to gain qualifications and grow into new roles in your team – meaning they’ll stay with you for longer.

Find out more about apprenticeships.

Support for recruiting personal assistants

If you’re an individual employer (IE) we have a host of resources available to support you with recruiting and retaining your personal assistants (PAs) and care team. This includes how to use values-based recruitment, information on available funding and induction guides. You can find all these resources in our IE recruitment round-up.

We also have resources to support PAs through the recruitment process and guidance for organisations looking to support individual employers to connect with PAs.

Secrets of success report

Our Secrets of success report is research we conducted with employers who have a turnover rate of less than 10%, about how they recruit and retain staff. This report provides evidence-based insights and tips into how employers are carrying out the recruitment process to find the best-quality candidates, and what processes and culture they have in place in their workplace to support and encourage staff to stay with them long-term.

Read the report.

Find more resources, blogs, articles, and further information about recruitment with our #RecruitRight spotlight page.

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