Education law conferenceMarch 2017, ManchesterIs your recruitment strategy fit for the changinglandscape of education?

Is your recruitment strategy fitfor the changing landscape ofeducation?

Fine-tuning your strategy ensuring that you recruit andretain the best people

15th March, ManchesterEleanor Drabble, HR Consultant

Join the conversation #BJ_EDC

Recruitment Strategy – what is it?

A physical document that outlines your recruitment needsand goals and how you will achieve them.

Recruitment StrategyBenefits

• Can help your Trust to take a proactive approach to staffing issuesand plan ahead of time

• A chance to be more selective about finding the right employeesrather than scrambling to fill a gap

• Plan ahead for busy periods

• Proactive and structured approach to finding high qualityemployees

Recruitment StrategyShould include:• An analysis of your Trusts staffing needs and any issues or weaknesses

that are present

• A list of recruitment goals and how you plan to achieve them

• Where and how you plan to find new employees

• Seasonal fluctuations and how you plan to meet these

• A way to measure your results and determine whether the strategy isworking

Changing Landscape

So what is this? ...

Budget pressures

• Doing more with less

• Loss of experienced teachers via a need to restructure

• Rising costs of recruitment services provided by third parties

• Requirement to manage agency costs

• Rising living costs and impact on terms of employment forced to beoffered

Competition

• Competition from other Trusts

• Move away from STPCD and Green Book terms

• Higher performing schools/Trusts

Time to grow

• Shifting a mentality

• Forced growth to achieve sustainability and correct structure

• Duplication of roles

• Mobility of personnel

Business/Results Focus

• Shift towards more varied skills that have traditionally been moreprominent in the private sector

• Investing in existing staff v Bringing in new staff

• Strong emphasis on results based teaching and learning

• Need to retrain/refocus teaching staff

Teaching profession leavers

• 4 in 10 new teachers quit within a year of qualifying (Guardian,2015)

• Teaching is a profession that has become “incompatible withnormal life” (Mary Bousted, General Secretary of ATL)

What do you need to consider in your strategy?

Budget Pressure• What is our budget? Do we have a distinct one?

• What is covered by that budget?

• Is it sufficient to meet Trust need?

• Proportion of In house tasks v External services

Budget Pressures – Top TipsA more serious approach to sourcing talent

• Partnerships and negotiating preferential fees

• Consider whether you could cut costs by taking some of thework back in house e.g. running assessment days yourself

• Use social media (LinkedIn, Twitter) and ask staff to sharevacancies on social media – all free!

• Use your own website

• Buy in bulk (Total jobs, Monster etc.)

What do you need to consider in your strategy?

Competition• Being an employer of choice – employer brand

• What is being offered elsewhere locally?

• Whether the Trust wishes to remain within national terms oryou wish to offer more (or less)

• Reward

Competition – Top Tips

Find ways to attract candidates that are more attractive than otherlocal Trusts – be different

Consider working with, rather than against the competition:

• Informal agreements with other local Trusts regarding termsand conditions to be offered

• Create a common pool of skilled temp workers between Truststhat can be used to fill gaps to the benefit of all

Focus on Reward

Zero/low cost initiatives

• Opportunity for growth and career development

• Compliments scheme

• Focus groups in key areas

• Flexible working

• Job swapping/shadowing

• Mentoring

• CPD in excess of statutory

What do you need to consider in your strategy?

Time to grow

• Broad job descriptions

• Clear mobility clauses within contracts} fit for the future

• Speed of growth v sustainability timeline

• Clear review process for each vacancy as it arises

Time to grow – Top Tips

• Consider combining roles e.g. Receptionist/ General Administrator,TA/MTA

• Centralising recruitment so that oversight as one employer

• Ensure your documentation is constantly reviewed to reflect thechanging requirements of your employees as you grow

• Consider seasonal fluctuations and make sure you have built inresource to manage the recruitment process

What do you need to consider in your strategy?Business/Results focus• What types of skills are required from different role?

• What other sectors can you consider as your pool for recruitment?

• Will training of existing staff be sufficient or is recruitmentabsolutely necessary?

• What type of training is required for existing staff?

• What assessments will be used during recruitment to determinetheir ability to influence results?

Business/Results focus – Top Tips

• Carrying out a skills audit of existing staff to see what is requiredfrom new recruits

• Draw up a list of key skills for each role that could be transferablefrom other sectors

• Make sure your selection methods focus on the skills gap identifiedwithin your current workforce

• Consider a “grow your own” strategy

What do you need to consider in your strategy?

Teaching profession leavers

• What are your retention rates for teachers at different times oftheir career?

• Do these match others in the area?

• Why they are leaving and what can we do to stop this?

Teaching profession leavers – Top Tips

• Look at turnover rates for staff in the previous year so that you canplan and estimate the number of vacancies for the current year

• Identify the key reasons for staff leaving and work to address them

• An alumni approach

Any questions?

Find out more

www.brownejacobson.com/education

Talk to us

Eleanor Drabble | 0330 045 2108 | eleanor.drabble@brownejacobson.com

Please note

The information contained in these notes is based on the position at February2017. It does, of course, only represent a summary of the subject matter coveredand is not intended to be a substitute for detailed advice. If you would like todiscuss any of the matters covered in further detail, our team would be happy todo so.

© Browne Jacobson LLP 2017. Browne Jacobson LLP is a limited liabilitypartnership.