5 Ways To Improve Staff Recruitment for Your Charity
Are you looking to hire some new staff to work in or for your charity?
If so, you may be wondering how to improve the hiring process for your charity. Finding the most suitable people for different roles within your charity isn’t easy and comes with a unique set of challenges, depending on what your charity does.
In this article, we’ll describe 5 ways to improve the recruitment process for new charity staff and volunteers.
1. Plan your recruitment process carefully
The first step is to structure how your staff recruitment process will work. For this, you will need to map out the different stages and write up policy and procedure documents to define them.
During this stage, you can set out safeguarding policies, if needed to protect children or vulnerable adults. You can also plan a schedule for recruiting new staff and volunteers for your charity, including dates for final applications, interviews, and appointing candidates.
You can also write up the job descriptions for the vacancies. Don’t forget to plan the interview questions too, so you can find out whether the candidates are right for the role.
2. Place job ads in relevant places
The next step is to actually advertise the positions and roles that you are recruiting for. The cost of job advertising can quickly mount up, so make sure that you are very focused about when and where you are going to advertise. Set a budget and stick to it.
For instance, social media platforms may be a good place to advertise as you can reach a lot of people and it is relatively cheap to place ads.
Job seekers increasingly look on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for new job openings, so make sure to take advantage of these platforms.
You should also list any vacancies on the website of your charity and if you send out newsletters by email or post, you can mention them there too. Finally, it’s often a good idea to ask existing employees and colleagues for any referrals or recommendations.
3. Don’t forget about equal opportunities
Under the guidance of the Equality Act 2010, all employers need to treat job candidates fairly and without prejudice. It is illegal to discriminate against people when recruiting for any job role.
There are 9 protected characteristics that are protected against prejudice by law and they are: age, sex, gender, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion, sexual orientation, and pregnancy or maternity.
You need to make sure that your job posting and advertisements do not contain any discriminatory language and any recruitment decisions you make are based on merit and suitability for the role only.
4. Pay attention to employment law
Whether you are employing paid staff or volunteers, you must pay close attention to employment law.
You should research laws and regulations such as health and safety legislation, pension law, and payroll guidelines including minimum wage payments.
5. Request criminal background checks
Many charities are required to run criminal background checks on potential employees and volunteers. In the UK, criminal background checks are referred to as DBS Checks and they are processed by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
DBS Checks can help charities to decide whether the applicant is suitable and safe for the role. If the role involves working with children or vulnerable adults, then a higher level DBS Check, Standard or Enhanced, will be needed.
Other background checks may be necessary too. If the job involves handling the charity finances, then a credit check may be a good idea, to make sure they are not in a personal financial crisis.
You should also make sure to get references from past and present employers to get an overview of the applicant’s character and skills. Most employers request at least two references.
Summary of staff recruitment for charity
The most important thing about staff recruitment for charity is to make sure that the correct rules and regulations are followed and that you have policies and procedures in place. Most charities are required or choose to run DBS Checks on potential recruits.
To find out more about staff recruitment for charities and DBS Checks, get in touch with one of our advisors today.
