An insight report from the LINKS team
The LINKS Support Network is facilitated by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) and funded by the National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF). LINKS is delivered to over 120 organisations grant aided by the NLCF under the Empowering Young People’s (EYP) Programme. The aim of the LINKS programme is to facilitate shared learning, enhance practice and encourage the involvement of young people in all aspects of the projects.
The issue of the recruitment and selection of staff has been raised by several grant holder organisations within the LINKS support network in the one-to-one support meetings NCB has held with them. In these meetings, grant holders detailed difficulties in recruiting suitable staff with some candidates performing well at interview but then not being as effective in post as they seemed. More recently, competition for staff due to labour shortages has served to underline the importance of having effective recruitment and selection processes and procedures.
For youth work organisations, involving young people in these processes can help enhance them and potentially result in the appointment of more suitable candidates.
The purpose of this document is to:
- Explore messages from the literature regarding the benefits and challenges of involving young people in recruitment and selection
- Draw on young people’s experiences of being involved in recruitment and selection
- Outline experiences from LINKS grant holders who have involved young people in the recruitment and selection of staff in their organisations
- Summarise options for involving children and young people in recruitment and selection of staff, drawing on ideas and messages from the literature, young people and grant holders
- Share references and resources for further reading and support in this area.