Recruitment Practices

ACAS provides guidance on:

• How employers should recruit and the laws they must follow.
• If an employment reference has to be given and what they can say.
• The difference between a ‘conditional’ and ‘unconditional’ employment offer and what you can do if a job offer is withdrawn.
• What to do if you’re told you can’t apply for a job, or are rejected for it (for example, after a job interview).

NVCO provides guidance on essential aspects of employing paid members of staff, including:

• An introduction to employment law.
• Guidance on what to include in employment contracts.
• Ensuring the right policies and procedures are in place to employ and manage staff.
• Setting salary structures.

CIPD highlights the key checks that most organisations will carry out during their recruitment process, including right-to-work checks, criminal record checks, medical checks, reference checks and online and social media checks. The guidance also includes case studies that outline the considerations that need to be made when conducting pre-employment checks.

CMI provide a checklist that focuses on planning and undertaking the initial stages of the process. The time and effort invested in planning the process of recruitment with care will help to ensure that the right person will be appointed, reducing future staff turnover and increasing competitive advantage.

Charity job have created a guide showcasing industry best practice tips for every stage of the recruitment process for charities. It inspires you to rethink your recruitment process – to take a fresh look at the skills that you’re lacking, to understand what would most appeal to your candidates in a job ad in a post-Covid world and to implement important changes to the way you interview candidates and onboard new hires.

Watch a video where recruitment agency – Osborne Thomas, join with the Good Employment Charter for a good practice power hour and share some quick tips on how to approach the whole recruitment process to capture and recruit the best candidates. https://youtu.be/jwKKjlxQdFA?t=1356 (22.36 – 36.51 minutes)

Third Sector share some tips to ensure you select the right person while minimising recruitment errors. They include:

1. Reference the job description at every stage
2. Evaluate whether an interview or work-based test is best

3. Eliminate unconscious bias

4. Assess the importance of experience

5. Don’t rush to hire

6. Invest in your employer brand

7. Spend time on the onboarding process

Values-based recruitment is an evidence-based approach that enables employers to understand a candidate’s values, behaviours and attitudes, and assess whether they align with the values, culture and expectations of the workplace. Skills for Care have a toolkit which maps out a step-by-step approach to develop and implement effective values-based recruitment and retention within your workplace.

In 2023, people with experiences of the criminal justice system shared their stories as part of the Changing Futures multiple disadvantage programme. They talked about how DBS criminal records checks hadn’t just blocked their ability to give back through roles in public services, but had retraumatised and stigmatised them.

Inspired by these experiences, a project group brought together as part of the Good Lives GM System Shifting Experiment has gathered good practice from multiple Greater Manchester employers that gives people a fair say in DBS checks. These resources explore the what and why of how DBS checks can be done better during the application stage, when something is flagged during a check, and following whatever decision is taken about it.

Download the resources now:

• Infographic
• Key stages of the process
• Good Practice Examples

CharityJob’s Fairer Recruitment Self-Audit Tool is designed to help people recruiting in charities to assess their recruitment practices and get practical tips on how to make recruitment processes fairer.

Charity job has lots of guidance and tips for fair recruitment. It’s important that applicants have a fair chance throughout recruitment processes. Using consistent and fair processes will help to reduce discrimination and bias so that all applicants get an equal opportunity to succeed.

Writing a good job description is the gateway to reaching top talent and your organisations first impression on potential candidates. Charity Job has done extensive research into what actually makes a good job description, analysed their top-performing job ads and gathered valuable insights from candidates.

Read their blog about seven simple steps to create appealing and engaging job descriptions that attract top-quality talent.

Within the first weeks of employment, the actions of employers have a statistically high correlation to team members’ lifetime success in the workplace. Statistics show that most turnover occurs within the first weeks of employment. The more time that you’re willing to spend on initial training and orientation, the longer team members tend to stick around. Read Trust radius’ blog on 10 best onboarding practices to improve retention levels and build a more positive onboarding experience all around.