Recruitment and Retention

CMDT Workforce Support Packs 

The Care Market Development Team has compiled a variety of support packs designed to support Managers with their recruitment and retention strategies.
Select appropriate packs 

Recruitment Support Links

The following links are to free resources, platforms, and services that can help with your staff recruitment:

Local

• Social Care Hub - Recruitment Service for Care Homes 

• Staffordshire Jobs & Careers - Website managed by Staffordshire County Council Employment Brokerage Team which hosts Staffordshire jobs, training opportunities and apprenticeships in one place with a search facility  

• • Brokerage Support & Employment Brokers are available to support Staffordshire providers  
  • To advertise your staff vacancies on the site upload via Adzuna Portal FAQs for Employers (qwilr.com)

National

• DHSC made with CARE – The Department of Health and Social Care’s national recruitment campaign, ‘made with CARE’, aims to raise the profile of the adult social care sector as a rewarding and stimulating place to work, and support the existing recruitment efforts undertaken by the sector to help care providers recruit the dedicated staff they need. 

• Advertise your staff vacancies
• Access the Adult Social Care Recruitment Guide, the campaign toolkit includes free downloadable resources and tips on how to use them when recruiting staff 

• DWP find a job (Department for Work & Pensions) 

• Advertise your staff vacancies 
• By using the term "social care" in the job description and/or job title it will be visible to the DHSC made with Care job search (see above) 
  • Instructions on setting up an employer account and posting jobs
• Jobcentre Plus help for recruiters 
  • Contact the Employer Services Line for advice on recruiting staff 
  • Local DWP & Job Centre Plus contacts for assistance with recruitment including use of interview rooms

International Recruitment

• CMDT Webinars

• West Midlands Social Care International Recruitment Hub

Things to consider when recruiting staff

• Ensure you have a dedicated lead for recruitment. 
• Conduct exit interviews with any staff who leave, to understand their reasons for leaving. An exit interview may also be an opportunity to retain a valued member of staff 
• Regularly review your current and potential recruitment needs. You should have a clear awareness of your upcoming needs based on your predicted turnover of staff and how your current recruitment campaign is working 
• Benchmark yourself against other services  
  • Using the ASC Workforce Dataset 
  • Review job adverts from other services to see what they are offering 
• Ensure your service stands out when you advertise. Sometimes the gap between financial incentives is minimal, what makes a service stand out is the commitment to their staff. What can you offer that makes your service stand apart from others? 
• Be clear on responsibilities and tasks associated with the roles that you advertise, setting clear and honest expectations are a key first step to building trust 
• Try to look at the advert from the candidate’s perspective and ask yourself “would this job appeal to me?” 
• Consider: 
  • offering more flexible recruitment as this might appeal to a wider audience of people 
  • Use of a refer a friend scheme, such as Care Friends
  • a ‘signing on’ bonus as a financial incentive, potentially paid over a period of time 
  • widening your use of recruitment platforms (see above) if your existing approach is not proving effective 
  • using social media as another way to connect with potential staff 
• Utilise information and resources available through Skills for Care, such as: 
  • blogs and articles on recruitment and retention 
  • A webinar on ways to maximise recruitment. Listen to the recording, it could provide ideas on how to improve your own recruitment strategy 
  • Skills for Care Guide to Safe Staffing

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