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Recruitment and retention issues in better neighbourhood services fund programmes

SUMMARY

Background

1. The Better Neighbourhood Services Fund (BNSF) was established as a 90 million 3-year (2001-04) programme aimed at delivering real and substantial service improvements in twelve Pathfinder areas in order to help narrow the gap between disadvantaged communities and the wider population. There are fourteen Pathfinders in total as two areas have more than one Pathfinder. An additional 31.2 million was provided in 2004/05 to extend the programme for a further year. From 2005/06 the BNSF (and Social Inclusion Partnership) programmes will be replaced by the Community Regeneration Fund.

2. This topic report considers what specific staff recruitment and retention issues have been encountered by the Pathfinders, how they have been addressed, and how have they impacted on the development and delivery of BNSF services and projects. The topic was identified by the Pathfinders.

3. The report is based on desk research - a review of Pathfinders' Annual Reports - and telephone interviews with Pathfinder staff. The interviews were structured using a topic guide. As the report is based primarily on the results of telephone discussions with Pathfinders it largely reflects their experience and interpretation of the impact of recruitment and retention difficulties. The research was carried out during February and March 2004.

Recruitment Difficulties

4. Recruitment difficulties were experienced by all but one of the Pathfinders, i.e. in 13 Pathfinders. The exception was a Pathfinder which had a capital only programme and thus did not recruit staff.

5. Six Pathfinders experienced what we would describe as minor recruitment difficulties. The number of projects affected within these Pathfinders was fewer than five in all cases and the most common problem was a delay to recruitment. The BNSF programmes of these Pathfinders experienced some delays but were not significantly affected by recruitment problems.

6. Seven Pathfinders experienced rather greater difficulties. The number of projects affected by recruitment difficulties was not greater but the effect on the projects was more substantial in so far as adjustments to service delivery were made. However, even these Pathfinders did not anticipate that the level of recruitment difficulties would adversely affect the outcomes of the BNSF programmes as a whole.

7. We estimate that 35 different positions were affected by recruitment difficulties and over 130 jobs ¹ were difficult to fill - many of the positions advertised had more than one job available. ² From discussions with the Pathfinders we also estimate that approximately one fifth of jobs connected with BNSF were affected by recruitment difficulties.

8. Delays in the recruitment of key staff at the outset of the programme significantly slowed progress in some Pathfinders. This resulted in the need for an extensive catch-up period in Year 2. This could have been avoided had staff been appointed more quickly and had there been a formal lead-in time for the programme.

9. Youth work and social work were the professions most affected by recruitment difficulties. Six Pathfinders experienced difficulties recruiting youth workers and four Pathfinders experienced difficulties recruiting social workers. BNSF experience reflected wider national shortages in these professions. Other positions affected were: community safety staff; health professionals; programme management/administration staff and education staff.

10. The vast majority of recruitment difficulties related to positions created by local authorities using BNSF funding. Local authorities were the main employers in the BNSF programme, and the professions which were most affected were ones where the local authority was most likely to be the employer - for example social work staff.

11. Virtually all BNSF positions were temporary contracts. The temporary nature of the contracts was considered by all Pathfinders to have been the single most important cause of recruitment difficulties. The temporary contracts offered by Pathfinders made it difficult for them to compete against employers who could offer permanent positions. The competing employers included the local authority itself and other public organisations.

12. Two Pathfinders found a solution to this problem by offering permanent positions. In both Pathfinders the posts involved were social work posts. The candidates were employed by the main social work department but placed temporarily in the Pathfinder positions. This was possible because the shortage of social workers is such that the two authorities could be virtually certain that they will have vacancies for social workers at the end of their BNSF programme - the risk involved was minimal.

13. Secondments were potentially a good method of filling temporary positions. BNSF advertised positions were generally open to secondments and there were examples of successful recruitment through this route. However, secondments were not always easy to secure.

14. Although higher salaries might have been a way to offset the disadvantages of temporary contracts, this was generally felt not to be feasible because employers were reluctant to offer different salaries for jobs with similar job specifications. In only two instances were salaries adjusted. However, it was felt that BNSF could in some cases compete on quality rather than salaries as the experience offered by BNSF was seen as more innovative and thus offering opportunities for professional development.

15. A shortage of applicants was the most common recruitment difficulty. In many of the cases where difficulties were experienced, the number of applicants was extremely low, and often in single figures. In 6 of the 35 positions affected by recruitment difficulties there was a shortage of applicants, but an appointment was still possible because a suitable candidate was found. In the other 29 posts, further action, such as re-advertising had to be taken. There was some - but much less - evidence of Pathfinders facing additional difficulties because applicants lacked either the experience or qualifications necessary to undertake the job.

16. Pathfinders' experience of the length of time taken to recruit staff varied considerably - the minimum period was three months while the maximum was 15 months. In those cases where recruitment difficulties had been experienced, our estimate of the average time taken was 5-6 months - a significant period for a three year programme.

17. Where new positions were created which were different from existing positions, there might be extended negotiations on grading and how the positions fitted into existing structures. In some cases, the need for positions to be approved by Council Committees or NHS Boards delayed the placing of adverts. In some Pathfinders, standard approaches to advertising vacancies were felt to be unhelpful.

18. Although accepted as a necessary step, security checks also added to the timescale. The average length of time for the security checks to be undertaken was six weeks but there was some experience of longer delays of up to ten weeks.

19. The view of almost all Pathfinders was that the qualifications stipulated in the advertisement and job specification were appropriate to the positions and therefore a necessary requirement. In only one case did a Pathfinder identify a BNSF funded position where, with the benefit of hindsight, the qualifications specified may have been higher or more specific than necessary.

20. Where an appointment was not made from the first advert, the responses included re-advertising, review of job specification, short-term holding measures and alternative delivery. Re-advertising was by far the most common response when a post was not filled after the initial advert. 21 of 29 positions not filled first time were re-advertised. In a small number of cases re-advertising was accompanied by a review of the job specification.

21. There were examples of Pathfinders implementing short-term holding measures to help cover ongoing vacancies. These generally involved the positions being covered by existing staff. This limited the overall impact of recruitment difficulties in the BNSF programme, but may have resulted in some displacement from other activities.

22. Where recruitment difficulties resulted in unfilled vacancies, in a few cases an alternative delivery mechanism was considered - for example changing the type of support offered to young people to one where skills shortages were less. A particularly effective solution in one Pathfinder was to appoint social work assistants to carry out logistical tasks for an under strength social work team.

23. The three rural Pathfinders' experiences were sufficiently varied to prevent broad conclusions being drawn about difficulties in rural areas. Two of the rural areas experienced difficulties which were attributable to the 'thinness' of the labour market, while, perhaps surprisingly, a third very rural authority did not.

RETENTION DIFFICULTIES

24. Although all but two Pathfinders experienced staff retention problems, retention was less of a problem than recruitment. Seventeen different positions and 56 associated jobs were affected. Our view and that of Pathfinders is that staff turnover was not unreasonable relative to the scale of the programme, and the programme has not, as yet, been adversely affected by staff retention difficulties. There are, however, concerns that the level of vacancy may rise as the programme draws to a close and vacancies become more difficult to fill.

25. The professions most affected by retention/turnover issues were similar to those positions affected by recruitment difficulties. The reasons why staff left varied. The most common reason was the temporary nature of the BNSF positions - 18 of the 56 jobs affected became vacant when staff moved to more secure employment. Not all of the new moves were to permanent jobs - some people moved to other temporary jobs.

26. Some Pathfinders had anticipated that staff retention might be more of a problem than it proved in reality , given the nature of some of the jobs created. For example, greater retention difficulties had been anticipated with demanding frontline jobs such as neighbourhood wardens than were actually experienced.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

27. The main problems were a shortage of applicants which Pathfinders suggested was affected by temporary contracts and the tightness of the labour market for certain professions.

28. The evidence gathered from Pathfinders and presented in this report suggests that recruitment difficulties resulted in a slower or delayed start for a number of projects. Pathfinders were generally confident, however, that these difficulties would not impact on the delivery of the outputs and outcomes projected for the programme. To date, retention difficulties have been much less severe, but there is a risk that retention issues will become more prominent as the programme reaches the end of its funding. Although difficult to quantify or cost, recruitment and retention difficulties must have absorbed a fair amount of staff time in relation to certain Pathfinder programmes.

29. There are a number of issues which have arisen from this topic report. Those involved in developing and delivering similar programmes and associated projects and services may wish to consider:

• taking into account the likelihood of skills shortages and their impact when designing interventions
• whether the existing pool of labour across partners, including the voluntary/community sectors, can be used on a partial and/or temporary basis to deliver services and projects. This might for example involve offering part time or sessional staff additional work rather than creating new posts.
• The use of cross-partner protocols agreed at the outset to reduce the time taken to establish new positions.
• The provision of accredited training to add to the pool of skilled labour.

30. In addition the Scottish Executive should:

• consider the implications for recruitment practices of annual approval of funding for time limited programmes.
• ensure that clear and timely guidance on the stated end dates for programmes is provided.
• work with Pathfinders to monitor the ongoing staff retention situation and review the evidence produced by the individual Pathfinder evaluations.

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