Recruitment and selection

Introduction

The Council’s Recruitment & Selection Procedure sets out the Council’s expectations of all individuals involved in recruitment & selection exercises.  This Procedure should be read in conjunction with the Council’s Recruitment & Selection Policy. 

When recruiting and selecting staff, the Council is required to comply with all relevant employment and anti-discrimination legislation to ensure we are recruiting within the law as well as complying with the Council’s Equality of Opportunity Policy.  The Council has adopted a proactive approach towards equality and diversity, therefore, where possible, individuals involved in recruitment and selection should put into practice action/initiatives to assist the Council in achieving its equality targets.

Individuals who are involved in recruitment and selection, are not required to have an in depth knowledge of employment and anti-discrimination legislation.  However, it is essential that they should have an awareness of the requirements of relevant legislation within the recruitment and selection process. 

1. Is recruitment required?

Managers are expected to conduct a review of each post as it becomes vacant - whether it needs to exist in its current form, whether changes are required, or whether it needs to exist at all. 

Changes to the Role Profile

Managers should review and ensure the Role Profile reflects the requirements of the vacant post. Where a Role Profile is to be re-evaluated for grading purposes, managers should factor this into any time-scales for recruitment & selection exercises as advertisements should not be placed until the post has been correctly evaluated under the appropriate Job Evaluation Scheme.

Where a Role Profile is reviewed and only minor updates are made, it is unlikely that the role will require job evaluation.  However, the manager should use their judgement on this and if there is any doubt, should liaise with Human Resources & Development about the need to re-evaluate or not.  

2. Options for filling a vacant post

Redeployees

The Council is committed to supporting redeployees to seek and secure suitable alternative employment.  Harrow redeployees must be given priority consideration to vacancies ahead of other applicants. Each redeployee may have a different priority over other redeployees (e.g. maternity, disability rights).

The principles of the Recruitment & Selection Procedure must be followed when redeployees are being considered for vacant posts.  It should be acknowledged that redeployees may not have the exact match for vacancies within the council. However where transferable skills can apply and/or training and support given to a redeployee can provide them with the knowledge, skills and experience required for the role, this should be taken into account when assessing them against the role. 

Redeployees have a statutory entitlement to a 4-week trial period.  Where a specific training need is identified for the employee, the trial period may be extended to a maximum of 12-weeks for retraining purposes.

Harrow Council Redeployees must be considered for vacancies before other options are considered for filling a vacant post and ahead of other applicants for the post, if applicable.   

In the event that a number of redeployees are seeking redeployment to the same job and are equally suitable, the redeployee priority order should be applied as outlined below:

1. Women on maternity leave who are under notice of redundancy (assuming they have not been slotted in within their own structure).  Same rights apply to employees on additional paternity leave and adoption leave.
2. Employees with a disability who are unable to do their job due to their disability.
3. Employees who have received their Notification of Redundancy letter.
4. The following groups should then be considered, in no particular order, prior to consideration of other applicants:

• Employees notified that they are at risk of redundancy (i.e. but not yet under notice)
• Employees no longer able to carry out their current role due to health reasons (but who do not have a disability)
• Employees under threat of dismissal due to some other substantial reason.

Fixed-term vacancy

Managers should confirm with the Recruitment Team on the end date of fixed-term contract requirements of a fixed-term vacancy e.g. the rationale for it being fixed-term including if it is funding related/time limited task/maternity cover. This information will be needed for the advert and for Payroll/contract purposes.

See Temporary and Fixed Term Employees Policy for more information..

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships are mainly work-based training programmes, designed around the needs of the service and also provide apprentices with the opportunity to gain recognised qualifications.  Vacancies should be considered for apprenticeship, if a suitable work-based training programme is available.  Further information on apprenticeships can be obtained from the Economic Development & Enterprise & Research Department.

Hard to fill posts

There are some posts within the Council that are hard to fill.  The Council recognises that fluctuations in the labour market may result in periodic problems in recruiting and/or retaining staff in specific jobs or work areas.  In such circumstances, managers may consider the payment of ‘market supplements’ subject to the criteria as set out and in accordance with the Payment of Market Supplements Policy.

Managers may also consider the payment of ‘relocation expenses’ for certain posts subject to the criteria as set out in accordance with Harrow’s Relocation Scheme.

The payment of either of the above must be considered and approved at the outset of any recruitment activity prior to advertisement.

3. Recruitment Team Services

Harrow Council has appointed an external partner (Recruitment Team) to provide recruitment and selection services to the Council.  Unless authorised by a Corporate Director in order for a specialist search and selection to take place, all recruitment and selection activities should take place through this external partner.  

To commence a recruitment and selection exercise, the hiring manager will generate an order on the Online Recruitment System (see Harrow Council Permanent Recruitment Guide for Hiring Managers).  If the role the manager wants to recruit to is not listed on the online recruitment system or it has changed, the manager must contact the Recruitment Team before initiating the order.  

The Recruitment Team will then contact the hiring manager on the options and requirements to fill the vacant post.  Initially, this will be to advertise the post internally first unless it meets the criteria for an immediate external advertisement (see section 6).  Whether an internal or external advertisement, priority consideration must be given to Harrow Council redeployees ahead of any other candidate.

There are a number of packages available to the hiring manager from the Recruitment Team (as below).  The hiring manager will need to raise a Harrow Purchase Order to cover the cost of the package(s) selected.    

The recruitment packages include:

-       Recruitment Team to shortlist and interview on behalf of the manager

-       Recruitment Team to shortlist and a Harrow manager-led panel interview

-       Harrow manager-led panel to shortlist and interview

-       Any of the above plus testing

Each of these options has a different cost to the manager.

4. Selection Criteria and Methods  

If not already on the system, the Role Profile with accompanying Selection Criteria must be uploaded onto the online Recruitment & Selection system before the recruitment process can progress.

Selection Criteria

The hiring manager must ensure that there are appropriate selection criteria for the Role Profile and this criteria should be presented on the ‘Selection Criteria’ document.  Templates are available for the Selection Criteria of the Role Profile for Above and Below G11 grades.

The Selection Criteria document is a critical one in the recruitment and selection process and sets out the requirements which the person appointed should have in order to perform the duties of the post satisfactorily and against which applicants will be assessed.

The selection criteria must not unlawfully discriminate.

The selection criteria will be used throughout the recruitment process as an objective test of assessing candidates at shortlisting, test and interview stages. 

Method of Assessment

The manager and the recruitment team should agree the method of assessment for each of the selection criteria i.e. A = Application stage, I = Interview stage, T = Test stage.  These should be recorded on the Selection Criteria section of Role Profile which will be provided to the candidates.

The Recruitment Team can advise and assist in the selection methods including a range of testing.

Ranking

Each selection criteria should be numerically ranked in order of importance.  The most important criteria should be ranked highest relative to the other criteria i.e. the most important criteria be given the ranking order of 1, the next most important 2 and so on.  The ranking order should be recorded on the Selection Criteria section of the Role Profile.

Where two of more criteria are assessed to be equally important, they should be ranked the same i.e. both given the same ranking order of 1 for example.

Once the criteria and it’s ranking has been agreed at the start of the process, this should not be changed.  

Ranking should be used at the interview stage and is relevant when the total score for two or more candidates is the same.  The ranked criteria can then be considered to determine which candidate scored highest at interview (see Panel Interview Assessment Form) on those criteria given the highest ranking as previously determined.

Primary Selection Criteria

These are criteria which can be answered with a ‘Yes or No’ response e.g. holding a qualification / driving licence and will be asked as part of the candidate application submission process. The responses to these criteria can be scored or can be chosen as a de-selector i.e. those candidates that do not fulfil those criteria will not be able to continue with their application. Criteria that cover ’qualifications’ and ‘experience’ may fall under this category. The manager and the recruitment team will agree any primary selection criteria for the post. 

Secondary Selection Criteria  

These are criteria which require assessment of the response and for which the response will be in the form of ‘free-text’.  The manager and the recruitment team will agree specific questions around the selection criteria to be addressed by the candidate as part of the candidate application submission process.   

Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR)

In certain limited circumstances, it is lawful to discriminate in recruitment, training, promotion and transfer in a job for which the age, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, of the worker is a genuine occupational requirement (GOR).  In these limited circumstances, a manager may restrict applications for a vacancy in accordance with the requirement if the essential nature of the job, or particular duties attached to the job, calls for a certain limited circumstance.

Example: An employer may use a GOR where the holder of the job is likely to involve physical contact with women in circumstances where women might reasonably object to it being carried out by a man such as some caring or welfare jobs.  

An employer would not be able to claim that a GOR applies if there are enough other members of staff of the appropriate sex to cover the duties in question.  

For further advice on applying a genuine occupational requirement, contact Human Resources & Development.  

Selection Methods

It is essential that any selection methods used whether internally or externally are compliant with anti-discrimination legislation.

Human Resources and Development and the Recruitment Team can advise on suitable selection methods. 

The purpose of the selection process is to enable candidates to demonstrate how their knowledge, skills and abilities meet the role and for the employer to effectively assess this.  The selection methods adopted should be the most appropriate to achieve this for the role.

A combination of selection methods can be used in addition to the interview to demonstrate the candidate’s evidence of their suitability. 

When devising the selection methods to be used, consideration should be given to any adjustments that might be required to accommodate the specific needs of a disabled applicant e.g. allowing extra time to complete the test.  Note – any specific adjustments required would not be known until after the shortlisting stage when the Panel are made aware of the shortlisted candidates.  

5. Authorisation to Recruit/Appoint

Where it is decided that recruitment is the most appropriate option for filling a vacant post, the budget holder (this may also be the hiring manager) must give approval on the online recruitment and selection system for the recruitment/appointment process to go ahead.

The budget holder will have registered with their log-in and password in order to access the online recruitment system and once they have authorised the recruitment and appointment to the vacant post no further approvals or signatures are required.  

There are a number of factors in relation to the post that should be considered before authorisation is sought to recruitment/appoint e.g. the reason for recruitment, the SAP position number, whether the post attracts any allowances. The Recruitment system requires a number of fields to be completed covering these. 

6. Attraction Strategies 

Hiring managers must ensure that all adverts are placed internally first giving redeployees priority consideration ahead of other applicants.  The Recruitment Team will ensure this priority is stated in the advertisement. 

All internal advertisements will give redeployees, other Harrow internals, Agency workers currently engaged with Harrow Council and applicants through the Council Jobs in London Scheme priority access to adverts ahead of external candidates. 

Once the internal advertisement has been exhausted, managers can consider external attraction strategies taking into account any local arrangements in place around recruiting/spend restrictions.

Hard to fill vacancies can be advertised internally and externally at the same time, where agreed a Divisional Director. Anyone, including redeployees and other internal candidates can apply through an external advertisement. The Recruitment Team will ensure that the external advertisement specifies that Harrow redeployees will be given priority consideration.  

In addition to advertising the vacant post in the most appropriate media, the Recruitment Team will also consider their Talent pool for any potentially suitable applicants.  

Disabled Candidates  

Harrow adopts the disability two-tick symbol which indicates Harrow’s commitment to a number of measures concerning the recruitment, development and retention of disabled people including offering a guaranteed interview to any disabled person who meets the minimum selection criteria of the job. In addition, placement of vacancies with Job Centre Plus and other specialist disability organisations and media should encourage applications from applicants with disabilities. 

In circumstances where disabled applicants are unable to complete the online application form and need support, an extension to the closing date should be considered.  

7. The Panel  

Harrow ‘manager-led’ Panels must have a minimum of 2 panel members who are appropriately trained in Harrow’s Recruitment and Selection procedures. The Chair of the panel is responsible for ensuring that the process is carried out fairly.   

The responsibilities of the Recruitment Team and the Panel at the relevant stages of the recruitment and selection exercise will be discussed and agreed at the start of the process and will depend on the recruitment package agreed for that particular exercise.  The Recruitment Team can provide advice throughout each stage of the process.  

8.  Candidate Response Handling

The Recruitment Team will handle any queries and responses from candidates.   

Candidates will complete their application forms online and these will be logged on the online Recruitment system.   

After shortlisting has taken place, the Recruitment Team will continue to liaise with the manager and candidates regarding interviews and the appointment process.  

9.  Shortlisting

Shortlisting should take place as soon as possible, as agreed in earlier discussions with the Recruitment Team and in accordance with the Council’s recruitment priorities – see Priority Considerations below.  

Personal Details

The Recruitment Team will ensure that every candidate’s personal and monitoring information is separated from their application form.  This information cannot then be used during the shortlisting stage.  Monitoring information will remain confidential from the panel and only used by the Council/Recruitment Team for anonymous monitoring purposes.  

Priority Consideration – Internal Advertisement

Where shortlisting is taking place following an internal advertisement, candidate’s applications will be released (via the Online Recruitment System) for shortlisting  in priority order:

1. Harrow redeployees
2. Other Harrow internal employees including agency workers currently engaged with Harrow Council and applicants applying through the Council Jobs in London Scheme

Managers may wish to check with HRD on the current status of redeployees and agency workers as this may have changed following the submission of their application.

Priority Consideration – External Advertisement

Where shortlisting is taking place following an external advertisement, Harrow redeployees must be considered ahead of all other candidates.

Once applications from redeployees have been considered, all other applicants (internal, external, applicants through the Council Jobs in London Portal scheme) should be considered at the same time - there are no further priorities beyond redeployees.

Each candidate’s application form will identify to the Panel whether they are a redeployee, internal or an application applying through the Council Jobs in London Scheme.

Who to Shortlist

Only those that meet the selection criteria marked as being assessed at ‘Application’ stage can be shortlisted and invited to attend an interview or the next stage of the recruitment process.

Primary Selection Criteria:

As part of the electronic submission of their application forms, candidates may have already been assessed as meeting some primary selection criteria.

The online recruitment system also uses ‘burning glass’ technology as part of the candidate application submission process.  This technology will look at the candidates skills set in relation to the experience and qualifications set out in their application and match this to any relevant criteria identified for the post. A score is allocated to the candidate based on the relevance of the information in their application and to the selection criteria for the position.  This can be used to rank the candidates and make and informed decision of whom should be invited to the next stage of the recruitment process (See Harrow Council Permanent Recruitment Guide for Hiring Managers).  

Secondary Selection Criteria:

The candidate will have been asked to address these criteria in their application by addressing some pre-set questions in relation to the criteria.  The panel should make a decision on whether the candidate ‘met or not met’ the criteria.  

Where there is an unmanageable number, the panel should shortlist based on the highest overall profile score i.e. secondary criteria met plus the highest score in meeting primary criteria.  

The online Recruitment System must be updated by the Panel with those candidates who are shortlisted for interview.

Disabled Candidates

In accordance with the disability two-tick symbol, disabled candidates that meet the minimum criteria as outlined in the Selection Criteria of the Role Profile must be shortlisted and invited to interview in accordance with the priority considerations referred to above.  

Notifying the candidates following shortlisting

The Recruitment Team will invite the shortlisted candidates to the Assessment stage.  

10.  Assessment

Assessments include interviews and the other selection methods referred to above.

Interviews must be carried out as a minimum selection method for every recruitment and selection campaign.

Preparation for Assessments

To attract and retain the best candidates to Harrow Council, the candidate experience of the council should remain a key consideration throughout the recruitment process.

A suitable venue for the assessment should be arranged, which are free from interruptions and accessible for those with mobility problems.

Depending on who will be carrying out which stage of the assessments and what was agreed between the manager and the Recruitment Team will determine on who’s responsibility it is to facilitate the administration of this stage i.e. booking rooms. 

Interviews

The interviewers will conduct interviews on an objective basis and must only be concerned with the candidate’s suitability for the post and ability to fill the job requirements as stipulated in the selection criteria.

The main purpose of the interview is to provide the candidate with the opportunity to demonstrate to the interview panel that they meet the specified selection criteria and to provide the panel with enough information to make a decision on the candidate’s suitability assessed against the selection criteria. 

The interview also enables the candidate to obtain information about the job and Harrow Council.  The interview should leave all candidates with a positive image of Harrow Council.

Eligibility to work in the UK and other documentation checks

The Chair of the interview process is responsible for obtaining and certifying the candidate’s eligibility to work in the UK and any forms of documentation.  The Chair must ensure all reasonable steps are taken to ensure the validity and authenticity of the documentation and that they are signed to confirm the originals have been seen.  

Where a ‘manager-led’ panel, the Chair is responsible for ensuring the successful candidate’s documentation is scanned and attached to the online recruitment system so that it can be later used as part of the appointment process.

In order to comply with the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), ahead of the interview, the Chair is responsible for identifying any gaps in employment history or criminal convictions declared on the candidate’s application form.  In addition, the Chair is responsible for ensuring that these are adequately explored at the interview, taking into account the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates

Consideration must be given to the specific needs of disabled candidates to ensure that they will be able to participate fully and will not be disadvantaged by the selection method/s used or the administration, assessment or the nature and form of any tests.

Any reasonable adjustments sought from a disabled candidate must be made to any selection method used to accommodate their needs e.g. interview or test arrangements, materials or equipment required.

Note-taking  

It is important that clear and legible notes are taken during the interviews.  

11.  Making a Decision  

The Panel must only use information gained from the interview together with evidence of other selection methods and any previously agreed ranking to make a decision on who is the most suitable, or preferred candidate for the role. Each candidate must be assessed against the selection criteria for the post and never against each other.  

The panel should reach a consensus about selecting the most suitable candidate.  Where this is not possible, the Chair will have the overall decision and must be able to justify the non-consensus decision if this is challenged.  The discussions/decisions should be recorded on the Panel Interview Assessment form so there is a record, in the event this information is required at a later stage.   

Joint Panels with Other Organisations

Where non Harrow employees form part of a recruitment panel to appoint a Harrow employee e.g. representatives of partners, stakeholders or service users, then the joint panel must follow Harrow’s Recruitment & Selection Policy. 

12. Making an Offer

Once the panel have made a decision, the Chair must update the online recruitment system with the interview outcomes and/or feedback.

The Recruitment Team will contact the successful candidate and verbally offer the position to them, subject to references, medical clearance and other relevant checks e.g. Disclosure Barring System (DBS).

The Recruitment Team will then liaise with the manager and successful candidate regarding the provisional and agreed start dates, pre-employment checks (see below) and preparation in advance of the start date.  

Once all pre-employment checks are successfully completed and the start date is agreed with all relevant parties, the recruitment team will forward all the necessary information and corresponding documentation to Shared Services in order for the Statement of Particulars to be drawn up.  

13.  Pre-employment Checks

The Recruitment Team will liaise with the successful candidate in completing the on-line medical questionnaire.  The team will also request employment references and provide these to the hiring manager for their review and acceptance.

Where the Recruitment Team have carried out the interviews on behalf of the manager and the post requires a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check, a meeting should be arranged between the manager and the successful candidate in order for the manager to have sight of the original DBS documentation ahead of the manager completing the on-line DBS application.  

14.  Providing Feedback

It is best practice to offer feedback, and provide it when requested either in writing or via telephone.  Candidates can request feedback after shortlisting, testing or interview to find out the reasons why they have not proceeded to the next stage or why they were not appointed. 

Internal candidates, who are unsuccessful at interview, must always pro-actively be provided with feedback.

The Panel is responsible for ensuring that feedback is provided to those who request it.   

15.  Complaints  

All complaints relating to recruitment and selection will be investigated and appropriate action taken.    

If a job applicant, or a Panel Member states that they feel they were not treated fairly or not happy with the process (respectively) during any stage of the recruitment and selection process, they should write in, detailing their complaint, to the Director of HR at the Civic Centre. 

The Director will:  

·         Acknowledge the written complaint within five working days

·         At the same time notify the complainant that a full response will be made within 15 working days of the letter of acknowledgement

·         Nominate an individual to investigate the complaint

·         Arrange for the complaint to be entered in the corporate Recruitment and Selection Complaints Record

The Investigation

The Officer appointed to look into the complaint:

·         will receive all the paperwork relating to that recruitment

·         will treat all information confidentially

·         may speak to the Chairperson and members of the interview panel

·         may undertake a comparison of applications, including notes from interviews, tests, etc.

·         arrange, on request, for the applicant to receive copies of interview/selection notes relating to their own application.

The results of the investigation  

Following an investigation into the recruitment process, the individual appointed to look into the complaint should provide a response to the complainant within the timescales given above.  This response may consist of:

• An explanation that, following an anonymous comparison, the paperwork supported that the decision was fairly made 
• An explanation of the process which was followed and why there is no reason to take the  complaint further
• Justification of the criteria used or the ranking applied
• If appropriate, where their application failed to meet the criteria
• An apology and acceptance that procedure was not followed/discrimination took place and proposed action to rectify – advice should be sought from Legal if this occurs.

A complaint on the grounds of race, sex, disability, sexual orientation or religion may also be made to an Employment Tribunal within 3 months of the event (shortlisting or interview).  Any correspondence relation to an Employment Tribunal should be forwarded immediately to Human Resources for advice.

16.  Documentation

Managers and the Recruitment Team must store all paperwork securely and confidentially at all times.

All paperwork relating to unsuccessful applicants should be destroyed 12 months from the date of appointment.  However, if a complaint is received, paperwork will be held until the complaint is resolved.