Somerset County Council
Recruitment: Code of Practice
In 2002/3 Somerset County Council used the EFA Toolkit in to support them in updating their recruitment guidelines. They have subsequently introduced a new Recruitment and Selection Code of Practice which will help ensure age neutrality alongside best practice in all diversity issues. The Code was written to assist managers in weighing up and identifying the risks of their recruitment activities. The review process highlighted to the HR function the need for a consistent approach. With the support of Council Members and Senior Management it was agreed that all employees involved in recruitment should participate in the Council's training course.
Jane Sherlock, Personnel Adviser explains. "We realised that unless we insisted that everyone who actively took part in recruitment - in sifting, short listing and in interviewing - was retrained, we were wasting our time". "We wanted to ensure that our commitment to equality was embedded in our employment practices. Going through this recruitment up-date has given managers and team leaders much greater confidence. We wanted to raise awareness of the Council's policy and alert our managers to the many pitfalls that can trap the careless recruiter. It's too early for us to measure the full impact of this initiative, but we know that we are well on the way to meeting our future obligations on age."
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Recruitment: Code of Practice
In 2002/3 Somerset County Council used the EFA Toolkit in to support them in updating their recruitment guidelines. They have subsequently introduced a new Recruitment and Selection Code of Practice which will help ensure age neutrality alongside best practice in all diversity issues. The Code was written to assist managers in weighing up and identifying the risks of their recruitment activities. The review process highlighted to the HR function the need for a consistent approach. With the support of Council Members and Senior Management it was agreed that all employees involved in recruitment should participate in the Council's training course.
Jane Sherlock, Personnel Adviser explains. "We realised that unless we insisted that everyone who actively took part in recruitment - in sifting, short listing and in interviewing - was retrained, we were wasting our time". "We wanted to ensure that our commitment to equality was embedded in our employment practices. Going through this recruitment up-date has given managers and team leaders much greater confidence. We wanted to raise awareness of the Council's policy and alert our managers to the many pitfalls that can trap the careless recruiter. It's too early for us to measure the full impact of this initiative, but we know that we are well on the way to meeting our future obligations on age."
Click icon to download a printable version of the case study
download pdf
