{"id":47,"date":"2013-10-14T15:31:38","date_gmt":"2013-10-14T14:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/fitforthefuture\/?p=47"},"modified":"2013-10-14T15:55:29","modified_gmt":"2013-10-14T14:55:29","slug":"rethinking-recruitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/fitforthefuture\/2013\/10\/14\/rethinking-recruitment\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking Recruitment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rethinking Recruitment within Older Peoples’ Services<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rhiann McLean – IRISS Associate<\/p>\n

I met a support assistant about 2 months ago (in my life outside of work) who said that her position in care was a\u00a0privilege; her pride and her calling. She said that she couldn’t imagine doing anything else on earth. I briefly googled human cloning before abandoning that idea in favour of reshaping recruitment to help people find people like her…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Recruiting and retaining committed staff is a huge challenge for the independent sector.\u00a0Each recruitment cycle is a huge drain on resource; from the cost of the ad to the time spent shortlisting and interviewing participants. A number that is often cited as an estimate is that it costs over three thousand pounds per position, including induction and training.<\/p>\n

Independent care at home organisations are experiencing increasing pressure to grow and meet demand; not surprising, giving the national drive for older people to stay at home longer. Some of these agencies are in a constant recruitment process, finding it difficult to find the right staff and keep them.<\/p>\n

This in turn affects the stability and continuity that the people who access these services value, and also makes it difficult for providers, as employers, to invest in their staff\u2019s ongoing development. \u00a0It’s also difficult for staff, who may \u00a0not be able to establish robust team working – and may lose morale.<\/p>\n

Why values?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Values can be the common thread that links employees, employers and people who use services. They bridge the worlds of ‘informal’ and ‘formal’ care. They are vital to building and sustaining relationships with people who use services.<\/p>\n

The way in which support is shaped and delivered is changing (for the better!)<\/em> And providers are looking for staff with the values that are needed to embrace their changing role. This means:<\/p>\n