Improving recruitment and retention through joint posts
Posted: 11 October 2022
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Compton Care and Katharine House hospices worked together to jointly recruit for a vacancy, which improved cost effectiveness and gave new staff more opportunity for development.
Hospices all over the UK have been struggling to recruit and retain staff. Because Katharine House is a small hospice, it was particularly hard for them to attract new colleagues and give them development opportunities. Compton Care provided support to help overcome this problem, by recruiting for a joint post.
Outcomes
A Director of Care was recruited to work 4 days per week at Katharine House and 1 day at Compton Care. This enables the post holder to gain the experience and peer support of working in a larger hospice whilst enabling Katharine House to fill their vacancy.
Facilitators, challenges and advice
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Key facilitators
Compton Care and Katharine House already have a memorandum of understanding and work together regularly, with some key administrative tasks such as payroll being carried out by Compton Care.
Because both hospices put money towards the new post, the salary was higher than Katharine House had previously been able to advertise. This made the post more attractive to applicants.
Challenges
Hospice funding has been variable over the last few years and individual hospices can sometimes experience financial problems. This needs to be taken into account when there is a long-term joint financial responsibility.
Tips and advice
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When working in partnership with another hospice to employ staff, it’s important to have a formal memorandum of understanding to make sure you both have the same goals.
Future development
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The shared post has been very successful and the hospices will discuss the feasibility of collaborating when new vacancies arise.
