Digitalising Care Recruitment

Professor Stephen Woods and Cohesion webinar: Digitalising Care Recruitment

Thank you to everyone who attended our event on digitalisation of care recruitment. We hope you found the content useful and informative. If you would like to see the recording of the event you can do so below.

You can also download the slide deck and notes: CC-presentation-handout.pdf (42 downloads)

We have an offer running throughout April – We are currently offering a trial of Care Character which you can use for your next two hires.

Once signed up for the offer, Cohesion will provide training so that the participating managers get the best out of the tool.

Please contact Amanda Marques on 07753 871 926/ 0121 713 8320 or at amanda.marques@cohesionrecruitment.com

Q & A section

We have included a summary of questions raised at the event.

Is there any evidence that the online applications improve diversity and inclusion of successful applicants?

There is a number of opportunities to improve diversity and inclusion with online applications. Diversity of applicants can be supported by using digital methods which helps to removes any bias. Using digital applications to remove identifying or demographic information is an example. Improving engagement for all candidates boosts inclusivity, as it ensures that candidates participate in processes to the fullest. Care Character is designed to broaden the scope of selection criteria and support candidates through interview.

Do you have any data on psychometrics for care workers? Does it put candidates off, lengthen the process etc? How is it measured?

We have seen a positive uptake of the assessment process, especially where the benefit of doing so is explained to candidates. In return for completing the short 7 minute assessment, they receive practical guidance that will support them to prepare for their interview and career in care. Most providers do not make the assessment mandatory and therefore it does not put candidates off. In fact, candidates who complete the assessment are three times more likely to attend an interview than those who do not.

Is the data gathered from domiciliary care, childcare or adults? Or a mix of these provisions?

The assessments are currently being used by a range of clients for their frontline workers; the majority of these being care home providers of varying sizes. The PhD was based on data from a range of care provisions; including domiciliary care, childcare and adult care.

We have been using Care Character and some candidates have scored with lower potential in inclusivity and respect- any suggestions for how we can improve this with our current team and new recruits?

Care Character can be used to begin the conversation by highlighting any weaknesses or areas for improvement and then be used as a development tool to support staff. The benefits in this respect are to provide a structured approach to identify development needs, and giving scope for helping people to change behaviour based on the seven qualities. For inclusivity and respect, this would tend to be around listening and communication skills, as well as perspective taking and learning about the backgrounds of others.

Can Care Character integrate into companies ATS’s or will it sit outside as a stand alone?

Yes, Care Character will integrate into a number of ATS’s.

Is this designed for all levels of roles within care or are there different variations?

Care Character is designed for care and support workers. We are looking at developing a similar tool for managers in the near future.

How often do you update/review the questions?

Care Character is a standardised assessment and the assessment questions have been developed through rigorous research so we would want to ensure that if these were updated the same process is followed. They will be updated periodically. We do take continuous feedback on the interview questions suggested for hiring managers and the presentation however and will look to update this regularly as required.

Do you have any data as to how successful Care Character is in rural areas, where we do not have a large pool of people looking for work in the Care Industry?

If you are utilising Care Character in hard to fill areas you are not only boosting candidate engagement and differentiating yourself from other competing providers. Values based recruitment should be practiced where appropriate across the board, but in particular in areas with less candidate availability. Care Character will support the interview process where recruiting to values.

Is the tool accessible to candidates on all mobile devices?

Yes, it is.

Is there any data on retention of candidates from this method?

Retention is an area we will be looking to measure as the tool continues being deployed in various care and support settings. We anticipate the tool will positively impact on retention from early feedback. People who work in jobs for which they are a good ‘fit’ tend to stay in those jobs longer, and Care Character helps to establish that.

Here are some links that may be useful:

Cohesion Recruitment

Cohesion are market leaders in social care recruitment. Their services and products include recruitment audits and research, full recruitment outsourcing, recruitment campaigns, individual role recruitment, early talent schemes, bank management, managed services, exit and retention surveys and psychometric testing using Care Character.

Visit Cohesion’s website