Involving individuals, their families and/or circles of support in the interview process
An important part of increased choice and control over the services and supports received by an individual is their ability to interview and choose their own staff.
Thought needs to go into how to involve individuals in the interview process in a way that works for them. The organisation will also need to review and adapt their recruitment processes accordingly.
Taking a person-centred approach in the interview process often means tailoring how, where and when an interview takes place. Ensure that the process of the individual choosing their own staff is a meaningful one by allowing for their specific requirements such as their communication and mobility needs, etc.
Tips
Talk through the interview process with the individual you are recruiting for. By becoming familiar with the process the individual may generate some of their own ideas about how and when they want to be involved.
Balance the requirements of the organisation with those of the individual you are recruiting for. This could mean having an interview stage that focuses on the criteria that the organisation has followed by an interview that focuses more on matching the candidate with the individual they would potentially be supporting.
Find out what the individual is looking for in a candidate and ask how you might incorporate these requirements into the process. This might provide you with some ideas on how you can involve the individual in a meaningful way i.e. if an individual is looking for someone who can support them with a specific element of their plan such as learning to cook or spending more time in the garden, an activity could form part of the interview process. This could be particularly useful if you are involving an individual who does not use words or other formal communication methods and you are relying on what is observed about how the candidate and the individual interact.
Remember that interviewing does not have to be formal; keep in mind the purpose of an interview by talking through different ways to achieve the same purpose. Not everyone will want to sit down for a formal interview with his or her staff, so be flexible. This may also work in bringing out the best in the candidate too. Some staff members may not interview well in a formal setting but may be perfect for the job.
Use one-page profiles as part of the recruitment process and share potential candidates’ profiles with the individual to assist with shortlisting. Individuals may want to ask questions based on the candidates one-page profile.
Involving individuals in recruitment is not just about people in direct service roles. Explore who is supported by your organisation and how they may like to be involved in interviewing other roles within the organisation.
Use the 4+1 questions to reflect on what has already been tried in relation to involving individuals in the interview process so that you can generate ideas based on previous learning.
If an individual is going to sit on an interview panel find out what interview questions they are interested in asking or what they want to know about the candidate as part of the preparation. This could be linked to the selection criteria if an individual has developed their own.
Additional resources:
- The Workforce Capability Framework.
- The disability career planner and capability framework implementation guide.
- Technique, tips and template – using one-page profiles in recruitment (employers)
- Technique, tips and template – using one-page profiles in recruitment (employees)
- Tool, tips and template – using the ‘donut’ to clarify roles and responsibilities
- Tips – supporting individuals, family members and/or circles of support to develop selection criteria when recruiting for a job role
- Technique and tips – developing recruitment interview questions
Definitions:
The term individual(s) refers to an individual with a disability and their family and/or circle of support.
The terms staff/employee(s) refer to paid or unpaid members of the workforce regardless of their employment relationship with their employer i.e. permanent, casual, full-time, volunteer, etc.
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