This week we celebrated our first cohort of PBS Recruitment Partner graduates, who will now be actively involved in the recruitment of all our new starters.
Each of the eleven individuals participating in the 5 week course enjoyed a wide range of activities to help support them carry out their exciting new role. The recruits determined what they wanted from their support workers and have developed questions to identify these traits in an interview.
The project has filled the Social Care Exchange with peals of laughter and happy voices as the individuals have explored each area of their role. The training has also been challenging as we asked the participants to become more self-aware and begin to understand the experience of those being interviewed.
Participants also worked on methods of communicating with the interviewees, finding ways to be understood through use of Makaton and other adapted communication methods. This led to developing awareness that some interviewees may need support to understand Makaton.
Sessions have been really beneficial and enjoyable for all involved and have offered a real insight into recruitment from a service users’ perspective. Their thoughts have fed into our refreshed recruitment process, creating the core values and attributes we look for in all our new recruits.
The last session involved the participants practising their interview skills through role play, with some fantastic volunteers at the Social Care Exchange. They all graduated successfully and were issued with a certificate of completion and their new work identity passes.
The Recruitment Partner Project will run multiple times a year to allow more service users to be involved in this empowering project and we are currently reviewing the process to improve it even further for the next participants.
