Success in recruiting as well as retaining the right staff is at the heart of improving the well-being of children as well as a key factor in building a successful business. Within this area of the website you will find lots of useful information and tips on recruiting staff along with example job descriptions and retention strategies you may like to adopt. This new area has been formulated with the support Wiltshire County Council Childcare Development Officers, a DCFS publication ‘Recruitment & Retention; A good practice guide for early years, childcare and playwork providers’ 2003 as well as previous experiences of childcare providers within the county. We hope you find it a useful tool, helping you fill your staff vacancies more quickly and effectively.

Within this section we will look at the following areas:

§         Person Specification

§         Job Descriptions

§         Advertising

§         Selection Criteria

Person Specification

A person specification profiles the personal skills, experience and characteristics of the ideal candidate for the post. Writing a person specification and using it at the short listing and interview stage makes it easier for a decision based on fact rather than feelings. The 4 areas below may help guide you in developing a person specification:

1.Attainments:- education, training and qualifications, both essential and desirable
2.Experience and achievements:- whether paid or unpaid
3.Special skills:- refer to job description e.g. IT, languages, first aid, administration
4.Personality and characteristics:- e.g. good team member, calm under pressure

Within the person specification you will need to establish what essential requirements (qualifications, qualities, characteristics and experience) an applicant will need to possess to carry out the job effectively. You should also include any additional/desirable qualities you are looking for where the ideal candidate may have extra skills that could enhance the job performance.

Tip!
Don’t specify things that are not necessary to the job role, this is especially important as it may prevent some people applying who may be suitable.

Job Description

A good job description is vital to the whole recruitment process and preparing one helps clarify exactly what you want someone to do and why. It will also be invaluable when you come to prepare a job advertisement, draw up a short list of candidates and finally select the successful applicant. If you already have a job description it is important to check it carefully making sure it is both accurate and up to date. A job description is an outline of the main duties and responsibilities of the post and should include the following:

§         The job title

§         The pay

§         The hours of work

§         The purpose of the job

§         What the job holder will have to do – various duties

§         Who the job holder will report to

§         Supervisory responsibilities, if any

§         Any extra requirements/duties they would be expected to undertake

Checklist- When you have completed the Person Specification & Job Description:

§         Is the language clear and free of jargon?

§         Does it cover all aspects of the job role?

§         Does it take account of all aspects of Equal Opportunities?

Tip!
Avoid over-specifying qualifications do you need a level 2 or level 3 qualified person to meet the National Standards. If not, you may exclude people willing to train, those currently training towards or people who maybe considering a career change.

Advertising
Having decided what features you can offer, which make you a desirable employer, you are now ready to begin the search for a new employee. The job advertisement should contain essential information about the position along with the type of person you are looking for and include:

§         Settings name and location

§         Job title

§         Essential qualifications

§         Outline of what the job involves as per your job description

§         Main features of the person specification

§         Hours of work (whether flexible working/job share would be considered)

§         Pay scale

§         Additional benefits

§         How to apply

Tip!
Remember it isn’t just a job that people are looking for they want to know what benefits are available, it’s therefore equally as important to advertise and promote your settings unique selling points. This can often make a more eye-catching advertisement, describe your setting, its location, its values and how you support your staff e.g. training, perhaps you offer family friendly/flexible working or subsided childcare? – Sell yourself!

Review
Many settings have been in a frustrating position of finding the perfect candidate, offering them the job, and then have them turn it down. In instances such as these it is important to reflect and review your recruitment strategy, to find out, why they may have turned the position down, what they thought when they visited the setting or had their interview. It may also be useful to revisit your advert or job description to ensure you are clear on who you are and what you are looking for.

Selection Criteria

There are a number of different ways that you can collect information to help with the short listing process, these include asking people to complete an application form or sending a cover letter with CV as well as attend an informal visit or interview. This section will cover the following areas:

§         Application Forms

§         Short Listing

§         Interviews

§         References

§         Employment Checks

Application Forms

Application forms are probably one of the most commonly used selection methods as it enables employers to collect all the information they need about any potential candidates as well as ask questions which may help assess the applicant the person specification. Application forms should be, clear, concise, avoid jargon, but most importantly ask for information essential to the job role and allow space for candidates to list their experience and qualifications. At a minimum an application form should include:

§         Name, address, telephone

§         Education & qualifications

§         Current/most recent job

§         Space for work experience, training or additional relevant information

§         Reasons for applying

§         Name & address of 2 referees

§         Consent to Criminal Record Disclosure

Short Listing

If you have only received a few applications you may wish to follow them all up however if you have received a large number you will certainly need to draw up a short list of candidates. Example steps involved in short listing:
1. Discard all applicants who do not meet the essential criteria in your person specification.
2. Consider how well any remaining applicants meet the desirable criteria.
3. Rate each of the remaining applicants in order of priority – this maybe useful if you still have a high number of suitable candidates.

4. Invite each short listed candidate to an interview or visit prior to the setting.
5. Contact all candidates by letter or telephone, informing them whether their application has been successful. You may also take this opportunity to retain any details of potential candidates for possible future vacancies.

Tip!
Many employers find that sending out information packs and inviting interested potential candidates to an informal visit makes the recruitment process much easier and more productive.

Interviews
Interviews are often a standard part of the recruitment and selection process giving you the opportunity to explore statements that the candidate made within their application form, find more out about their experience and qualifications as well as give you the chance to asses how well they will fit into your team. From the candidates point of view the interview will provide them with an opportunity to sell themselves to you, find out more about your setting and determine whether the job is right for them.

Tips!
1. It’s a good idea for at least 2 people to conduct interviews, with one person ‘chairing’ and the other taking notes or recording details.

2. Plan how you will open and close the interview to ensure the candidate is put at ease and knows how the selection process will work.

3. Structure the interview around key questions, to determine how well the candidate fits your person specification and their ability to undertake the job role.
4. Agree in advance the questions you are planning to ask.

5. Try and keep closed questions, which require a yes or no answer to a minimum, instead concentrate on open questions which allow the candidate to draw on their own experience. For example: “Tell me about your last job”, “What experience have you had…..”

6. You may also like to include hypothetical questions to see how potential candidates would deal with certain scenarios. For example: “What would you do if…….”
7. Adopt a scoring system (usually 1 -5) which allows you to rate how each candidate has answered your questions, however be prepared to give extra marks for positive things that came out of the interview that you had not previously thought of.

8. Give candidates an opportunity to highlight what they feel they could bring to the job, for example: “What parts of your previous experience would you expect to be most relevant to this job?”

9. Always invite questions from the candidate.

References

References can prove very useful in checking a person’s identity, employment history, qualifications and experience. They can also reveal how well a candidate may fit into the new job. The importance of obtaining references is that they help employers spot the small number of job applicants who have given misleading information about their past or even may be using a false identity.

Tip!
Remember that a referee can only offer their own opinion so it’s important to also rely on your judgment on someone’s suitability for your job.

Other checks

As we have already seen checks are essential for child protection you should always make it clear a job offer will be subject to the references along with any other checks to ensure they are suitable to work with children – For further information please see the Employment Legislation Area