The benefits of a Professional Employment Strategy

The organising of staff for a child care centre may possibly be the most stressful part in any Director’s day. Not knowing whether you are going to have the correct amount of staff for your centre can be a constant worry. This is where the use of a Professional Employment Strategy such as the forming of a trusting with a recruitment agency can be invaluable.

Recruitment Agency’s provide a range of different services which often include the recruitment of permanent and casual staff, up-to-date market information and a number of training options for your current staff. An agency’s purpose should be to provide the best possible staff for your centre, allowing you more time to focus on the families and most importantly the children.

What are the benefits of utilising a Professional Employment Strategy for
Permanent staff?

The value of a good working team cannot be underestimated. The key to successfully recruiting a permanent staff member into an existing team requires an intimate understanding of the dynamic of the team to ensure the potential new member is the right ‘fit’.

Consultants spend much of their day talking with candidates either in the workplace, attending events such as careers fairs or visiting training institutions. This constant contact gives them an in-depth understanding of the candidate market and an intimate understanding of candidates changing expectations. Through this knowledge the consultant can help you to become an attractive employer or ‘employer of choice’ and give you the best chance of attracting the highest quality candidates in this tight market.

Another benefit is the time that is saved through the using of a specialist recruiter. A consultant’s role is to manage the entire process from advertising, interviewing and screening suitable applicants, reference checking and then sending only a handful of candidates that they feel would be a suitable ‘fit’ for your team.

Further to this is the ‘no placement, no pay’ agreement which ensures that you only pay when you are totally happy with your new staff member. Often centres will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on advertising only to then turn to an agency. It certainly makes more financial sense to pass on the advertising risk to the recruiter and ensure you get a guaranteed return for your expenditure.

The successful placement is then further supported by a guarantee period offered to ensure you are totally happy with your staffing choice. Any reputable recruiter will offer a minimum 12 week period to give you and your new staff member time to settle. Throughout this period the consultant will visit your centre to assist, and remain in constant contact with your centre and new staff member to further support the transition.

Alternatively a trial period, where a potential new employee works in a similar capacity to a casual employee, can be the ideal proposition for both worker and centre. Sometimes an initial casual arrangement can give both the new worker the opportunity to immerse themselves in their new environment, whilst simultaneously relieving the centre of having to make a permanent recruitment decision without actually having worked with the potential new employee.

How about casual staff?

Forging a strong relationship or ‘partnering’ with an agency that you trust is an essential safety-net for any centre. Being short staffed is not only stressful on management but on the existing staff who bear the extra workload. An all too common occurrence is a Director late at night feeling stressed about whether they will have sufficient staff for the next day. By establishing a trusting relationship, Directors’ can have confidence that when a permanent staff member is to be temporarily replaced by a relief staff member, the quality of care within the centre is not compromised.

Ideally if a centre is able to maintain a casual pool of high quality candidates, then this is the most desirable scenario. Unfortunately due to the nature of the unpredictable levels of demand, underemployment is an all too common factor for relief workers and the system breaks down. In some circumstances though, a mix of maintaining a casual pool and having your agency as a back-up can work well.

Other advantages of partnering with your chosen agency include having consistent relief staff work within your centre. This consistency is great for the children and overall standard of care. Further to this, casual staff have been known to be a great source for future permanent employees!

It is important to note that the level of service and quality of staff supplied varies greatly between agencies so make sure you are totally happy with the overall service you are receiving.

And candidates?

Candidates are attracted to a recruitment agency for a range of different reasons including the degree of flexibility and number of job opportunities agencies can offer. Candidates are able to specify the area in which they would ideally like to work, the salary range and certain other preferences, only to have the recruiter actively do the searching for them. The candidate is then only presented with opportunities that match their specifications, whilst also having the option of doing casual work until that perfect position comes up.

Many new graduates are attracted to an agency for the flexibility it can offer. Often new graduates only want to work for a three to six month period before taking an extended trip to Europe or elsewhere. Being in the awkward position of not being able to commence full-time work, an agency can offer them a variety of options such as a fixed contact or casual position which will provide them with both valuable experience and the opportunity to save for their trip.

Wrap-up

It is clear then that the employing of a Professional Employment Strategy will provide a sound platform from which to make informed and timely employment decisions. Importantly the outsourcing of this function need not be expensive; rather the cost should be measured in-line with the amount of perceived value received by the centre. Note that charges vary considerably and ‘shopping around’ is strongly advised.

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