Community Lives Consortium

Recruitment

How will staff be recruited to posts?

• Details regarding this will be part of the feedback on April 6th. The person specifications will be finalised and this will be the basis of the shortlisting. The interview will take the form of an assessment centre approach with observations, role play and interview.

Will we need interviews for Support Co-ordinators?

• We will need to have a recruitment process one part of which will be an interview.

Is it possible to ring fence recruitment to network 6 staff?

• We will be ring fencing the recruitment.

How many Support Co-ordinators will be needed per service user?

• This will be confirmed once the reviews have taken place.

If the pilot is successful, will the Support Co’s need to re-apply for permanent posts or can they just be confirmed in post?

• The Support Coordinators positions are temporary for the duration of the pilot. We will need to review how the posts are permanently recruited to if the pilot is successful.

Will service users be involved in the selection?

• The service users can be involved at the informal interview stage. We may look to increase their involvement if the pilot is successful as we are developing a more inclusive recruitment process during 06/07.

Will the selection be for the Support Co role or a service specific post?

• The selection process will take into consideration both aspects. The job description will detail the general tasks and the person specification will detail the personal qualities, skills and knowledge for a particular service/service user.

Can the titles for the posts be changed?

• Yes – suggestions needed before May ’06.

Do Support Co’s have to have a full time contract?

• Not necessarily. This will depend on how many hours have been allocated.

How will staff be allocated to the various services?

• Support Coordinators will be allocated to the service where they best meet the service specification for that service.

Will staff be able to apply for a Support Co post in another service?

• Yes.

General Comments/Observations/Suggestions for Recruitment

Suggestions for Recruitment:

• Only apply for Support Co posts and remaining staff become support workers.
• View of Service Co and Contract Manager should be included
• Observation of past and current performance with criteria, which includes working well with the service users; willingness to cove shifts or take on extra duties/responsibilities; time keeping.
• Concern about possible grievances from staff if they are unhappy with outcome from selection process.
• Concern whether selection by observations will be fair as some staff may have been observed more than others.
• Clear criteria needed for selection, so everyone knows what is required.
• Length of service should not be a factor in selection for support co’s, but factors suggested were – showing an interest in the work; being able to lead; organisational skills; ability to accompany service users on holiday.
• Application will need to include details of all services previously worked in.

Elements to add to job descriptions:

• Modelling and teaching social skills
• Giving advice to service users
• Key holding
• Signing cheques etc
• Support Co-ordinators giving feedback to the service and team cos on competence and performance of support workers.