Effective Recruitment
There is no one right way to recruit new staff, but there are many ways to get it wrong. Ronan McDonald, Esther Maxwell and Julia Green offer some tips to help you keep the process fair and legal.
National advertising has historically been considered too expensive for many jobs, especially in primary schools. Today, however, you can advertise on specialist education vacancy websites at a fraction of the former print cost. If your school policy insists that you advertise nationally for all posts, or for those of a certain seniority, online advertising will cover this.
You usually need just one candidate who can do the job well, perhaps with the potential to expand their role in the future. This may mean that several applicants could fill your vacancy or, on occasion, none. It is not helpful to attract hundreds, but you do need to find at least one.
If you have a vacancy for a primary teacher in an attractive area you want an advert that limits applications to the most suitable, while conforming to equal opportunities. Make it clear to unsuitable candidates that this is not the job for them. If it’s a maths or physics teacher for the inner city you must set yourself apart.
Attracting good candidates
Bigger is often not better, and is more expensive. The vast majority of candidates search online so it is more important that you include the most effective key words. Timing can be important, but few heads can recruit speculatively and good candidates can appear at unexpected times.
Here are some things that candidates find attractive:
• As much information about the school as possible in the advertisement
• An honest, detailed description of the school and post
• Downloadable application packs
• Electronic application – by email or through a portal
• Acknowledgement of application
• Easy online searching
Keep it legal
The employer has the legal responsibility to ensure that no unlawful discrimination occurs in the recruitment and selection process.
A job applicant can bring a claim against a potential employer for:
• Discrimination in the arrangements made for recruitment
• Discrimination by the employer in the terms of employment offered
• Discrimination as a result of a refusal or a deliberate failure to offer employment
• Harassment
Candidates can bring claims on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, disability, age, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender re-assignment, marital or civil partner status and trade union membership. Potential employers should ensure that the method of recruitment is fair and that there is evidence that any decision made is not based on a discriminatory reason.
The importance of training
Staff and governors involved in recruitment should be trained in the procedures to be followed, the documentation to be produced and the pitfalls of possible discrimination issues. A step-by-step recruitment policy may be useful to ensure the correct procedures are followed and the correct documents are in place.
Employers should always ensure that recruitment processes are carried out in accordance with any relevant recruitment or equal opportunities policy. Failure to follow an applicable policy will be taken into account by a tribunal if an employee or job applicant subsequently brings a claim. A tribunal will also refer to any relevant statutory Codes of Practice in assessing best practice in recruitment.
References
A reference proves:
• That the candidate has the experience they claim (e.g. that they were employed at a certain school, for a certain time, in a certain role)
• That the candidate is considered honest and does not have any competency procedures ongoing
• That the candidate’s attendance and punctuality has been acceptable
References do not really tell you much more than this. Referees should be very careful about exaggerated claims (either way) about the skills, competency and personality of candidates, as they may lay themselves open to claims of discrimination, defamation, malicious falsehood, negligent misstatement, breach of contract or deceit.
References are necessarily subjective. They are a very poor basis to decide on the selection of one candidate over another. If you really cannot make your mind up after your selection process, then you need to extend the process – sending away candidates who did not measure up. The idea that heads would call each other up, and discuss candidates in an untraceable way is clearly of dubious legality.
The primary purpose of the application and interview process is to determine whether each candidate is capable of the job offered. Maybe several measure up, perhaps just one, and sometimes none.
Published in the March 2010 edition of the National Governors Association newsletter ’Matters Arising.’
Ronan McDonald is a practising teacher and director of www.schooljobsearch.co.uk Esther Maxwell and Julia Green are from the education team at Foot Anstey Solicitors
Published 18/02/2010. The author of this article is Julia Green
