Recruitment and hiring

Patricia Anne Medina Paule

HIRING decisions are perhaps the most important decisions made by a school, as personnel costs are likely to claim the largest share or your budget.

Accomplishing this mission is dependent on having the right staff. For these reasons, it is essential to include someone that has experience in making personnel decisions in the hiring process.

The basic steps involved in an effective recruitment and hiring process are: develop the position description; post and/or advertise the position; receive and screen applications; interview applicants; check references; make a hiring decision; and establish an employment contract.

The Human Resources Manager has to seek the best appointees for the school. He or she must use processes that ensure new staff members are able and ready to help advance school development. Likewise, he or she should plan the steps in advance needed to work through around staff appointments.

The manager will most likely want to have a hiring committee of three or more people, to insure input from multiple stakeholders. Your committee might include, for example, the Director, teacher(s), parent(s), and student(s).

Know and use the school induction processes to help the new staff member adapt to the changes involved in a new place of employment. Details of appointment processes and a range of templates are available from the Department of Education on School Employment. Here, you can understand the annual staffing cycles and whether you are in a position to offer a teaching position.

Timing is also important. If at all possible, the hiring process should be designed to ensure that staff is identified mid-year. Earlier is preferable. Where budgets allow, new schools should consider hiring staff several weeks before the school actually opens, allowing them adequate time to prepare.

--oOo-