Use your agency and team values to attract, employ and promote people who fit best with the job requirements.
After completing this section, you will have:
- identified how values can be used in your recruitment process.
Actions
- Design your recruitment process to elicit values:
- job descriptions: include values that provide context for applicants about how they are expected to deliver outcomes and the ‘lens’ through which they are assessed
- advertising: identify values that are a high priority for the job and describe how they translate into the work itself. For example, “In this role, safety isn’t just a catch phrase. We’re looking for team members who are constantly scanning the environment for potential hazards”
- application requirements: include specific values-based assessment criteria so you can screen early for people who can relate to the values
- responding to enquiries: ensure the person who is providing information about the vacancy discusses the importance of values to the job, and models the values in how they respond
- initial assessment of applications: screen applications for values alignment as well as skills and experience. Be aware of how unconscious bias can affect the assessment of an applicant
- candidate management: make sure all staff involved in the recruitment process model your agency values as this proves what’s different about working with your agency. For example, if “people first” is a value, recruitment assessors could role model this by adopting a personal approach, updating applicants throughout the process, starting an interview with an informal chat and calling interviewed candidates to provide feedback rather than waiting for them to call
- Further assessments: measure values in some or all of the assessment stages:
- using scenario assessments, role plays and group exercises can provide insight into a candidate’s personal values
- specific questions in the interview can focus on values, or questions can be designed to elicit how the candidate’s values have linked to past actions and decisions
- personality assessments can highlight a candidate’s orientation towards certain values or workplace traits, such as adaptability, resilience and sociability.
- Reference checks:
- Include values-based questions to obtain meaningful reference checks that provide further information about a candidate.
- Final decision-making:
- Review the evidence you have gathered throughout the assessment process to decide about a candidate’s alignment to the high-priority values in the advertisement.
