As a social care provider, your primary focus is on the consistent delivery of quality care. However, ensuring your teams are fully staffed with dedicated and skilled care workers is also essential to maintaining a high quality of service.
To help you get most benefit from our ‘tried and tested’ Cohesion recruitment process, we’ve curated a set of top tips from our teams. These tips will complement the recruitment efforts and ensure you’re getting the best out of your teams.
Tip #1: Workforce Planning
Plan your recruitment strategy by hiring above establishment levels. This approach helps maintain momentum in hiring, avoiding stop/start attraction efforts. It ensures a steady flow of candidates and reduces the risk of relying on costly agency staff.
Tip #2: Rapid Response Required
In today’s competitive market, candidates expect swift and flexible responses from employers. Delays in communication, interview scheduling, or offer decisions can result in losing potential hires to competitors. Encourage your teams to conduct interviews faster and make quicker decisions – there’s competition both within and outside the sector. Promote flexibility around interview schedules – regular confirmed interview slots will make a big difference.
Tip #3: Focus on Quality
With a higher application-to-job ratio, it’s more important than ever to identify candidates with the right values and qualities both for care in general and your organisation in particular. CVs can be unreliable indicators of a candidate’s potential, especially with the rise of AI-generated content. Ensure your recruitment team is equipped to screen effectively and that your core values are central to the interview process. This will help ensure you hire individuals who genuinely believe in delivering exceptional care.
Tip #4: Cater to Selective Applicants
Today’s candidates are more selective, seeking roles that offer a better work-life balance, career development, and a supportive working environment. Demonstrating your commitment to employee well-being and flexible working conditions will make your organisation more attractive to potential new staff.
Tip #5: Listen to Your Staff
A positive onboarding experience is crucial. Check in with new starters, conduct 121s, gather feedback, and ensure they receive a quality induction. Don’t forget your current staff—regular ‘stay interviews’ can provide valuable insights into how they’re feeling and what can be improved.
Tip #6: Recruit with the Wider Business in Mind
Sometimes, suitable candidates may not be the right fit for a specific role but could excel elsewhere within your organisation. Talent pools are invaluable for quick recruitment and future planning. Encouraging collaboration across services can help identify alternative opportunities for candidates – for example enabling managers of services close together to interview together. Provide constructive feedback to candidates, leaving the door open for future opportunities.
By implementing these strategies, you’ll not only improve your recruitment outcomes but also build stronger, more resilient teams, ensuring they’re equipped to deliver high standards of care.
If you’d like to explore these tips further or discuss how we can support your recruitment efforts, feel free to get in touch.
