Recruiting for Values in Social Care: a new toolkit for Employers

Taken from Department of Health Social Care Blog

' The National Skills Academy for Social Care, working in partnership with Skills for Care and MacIntyre, has just launched a new values-based recruitment toolkit for employers.

At present, employers in social care face two key challenges: how to find and attract sufficient applicants of the right calibre and how to check that they are suitable for the work and are likely to stay, develop and progress.

One way to do this is by adopting a values-based approach. Values like compassion, dignity, integrity, respect and responsibility are part of leadership and sit at the heart of the government's drive to transform social care.

There are ways, well-established in other sectors, in which employers can assess candidates for values. But although some larger social care employers are already using them, it's not invariably the case, and smaller employers and Registered Managers may not have the time or in-house HR expertise available to familiarise themselves.

This toolkit, which is being piloted over the next twelve months, aims to bring values-based approaches within everybody's reach.'