Advice for recruiting and keeping a great social enterprise workforce

Finding the right staff and keeping them can be tough, particularly in competitive sectors. Your business model might be attractive, but that in itself is not always enough. Read the ambassadors’ guide to getting it right.

1. Use your difference, but don’t rely on it
Don’t assume that your ‘difference’ will always get you the right people, says Claudine Reid, as your candidates have a variety of needs to be met and you might well be up against big players who want to recruit them too.

But, says Chris Allwood: “Our business model was the main reason people wanted to work for us at Auction My Stuff. And I saw candidates for some jobs at Tate & Lyle – who we worked with - increase 20 times when they went Fairtrade,” he says.

2. You don’t have to splash out on recruitment
Social enterprises are well-known for their sharp networking skills, so use your networks first for recruitment, says Chris. “We had several very good people recommended through Social Enterprise London and the Social Enterprise Coalition,” he adds.

3. All staff need to ‘buy in’
“Every member of staff is responsible for making the business work, and you need everyone to buy into the company’s ethos to create a culture of enthusiasm. People who buy-in work harder and stay in their jobs,” says Craig Dearden Phillips, who now runs Stepping Out – a company helping public services become social businesses.

“It definitely makes it easier when we can get people to understand what we do,” says Gill Coupland, who runs Angels Housekeeping, employing 50 staff. “We get them to read up before the interview as people often don’t naturally have an understanding. “

4. Show the team you value them
“Social businesses can often fail to develop their staff and allow them to burn out, or can’t afford to pay them competitive rates and they leave,” says Craig. “We did things like run an award scheme where staff won vouchers of up to £100 in recognition of the work they did above and beyond the call of duty. They were sceptical before they started, but loved them once they’d launched.

“Also give people time to go on courses, allow time out to do other things, and spot and deal with stress before it becomes a crisis,” he says.

Gill adds: “We train staff to understand how valuable they are in customers’ lives and this gives us very good staff retention rates. We also pay a high hourly rate and have flexible working hours,” she says.

“Support staff to move to different roles and areas, give them lots of opportunities, and support and allow them to feel they can talk to you. If you’re not engaged with them, they will not be as efficient as they should be, it’s not rocket science,” says Martin Kinsella, who employs 250 staff at his company P3.

5. Take time to recruit
“Always see people at least twice and don’t rely on written references, pick up the phone. And never hire because you’re desperate to fill a post. Getting rid of bad people is very, very hard work,” explains Craig.

Martin, who’s company topped The Sunday Times’ ‘Best 100 Companies to Work For’ list this year, adds: “Don’t judge someone from a bit paper, see people to find out if they have the right attitude and personality.”

Links:
- Martin Kinsella writes for Social Enterprise magazine on how to keep your workforce happy:
www.socialenterpriselive.com/section/the-business/management/20100519/the-horse%E2%80%99s-mouth-keeping-your-staff-happy

- Legal guide to employing staff for social enterprises:
www.diycommitteeguide.org/article/employing-staff

For other useful websites visit our links page here.