LOOKING TO RECRUIT?
The DWP’s Age Action Alliance has produced an Employer Toolkit to help employers consider the skills, experience and attributes required to fullfil a role. Prime Candidate sit on the Central Government steering committee to support employers getting the right resources. Here we give a short excerpt from the toolkit that is free to access at the link below.
Recruitment
- Place adverts where older workers will see them, i.e. www.primecanddiate.org.uk
- Promote yourself as an age positive employer
- Evaluate candidates according to values, behaviours, competencies demonstrated and their ability to do the job
- Respect differences within the backgrounds and types of qualification which candidates possess
Why
- Older workers have talent, experience and knowledge
- Widening the pool of potential recruits can increase the quality and productivity of an organisation
- As people from mixed-age backgrounds develop and mature together, this brings benefits to the organisation through recognition of different experiences and shared learning practices
- Older workers are a growing demographic; they are your customers or service users, and soon a critical mass of the potential workforce. You cannot afford to ignore them
How
- When advertising and broadcasting employment opportunities, take active steps to reach older jobseekers
- Find and engage older workers through specialist sites
Advertising and promoting jobs
- Consider why older people may not be applying for the jobs posted; although many will be on social media and job hunting sites, many others will not
- Promote your company, its diversity and inclusiveness, to jobseekers, i.e. use the Champion Age Diversity mark
- When advertising, say that you welcome applications from people of all ages
- Hold recruitment agencies that you work with to the same standard
Evaluating and comparing candidates
- Focus on whether the candidate has the right values and behaviours, can manage the competencies required, not whether they match the existing age-profile of the profession, or previous post-holder
- Challenge unconscious bias and assumptions made
- Do not assume knowledge of an individual’s health or fitness based on age
- Do not assume knowledge of length of expected service
- Respect and embrace differences
Click our Age Action Alliance members badge to access the Employer Toolkit