In Conversation with Recruitment Advisor, Jamie Furer

Thanks for chatting today, I think it’s great we’re demystifying the recruitment process and what it’s like for new employees getting started. And I’ve recently been through it too, as you know. But first, has all of this changed in your time at BCHA? How long have you been in your position? 

It's coming up to eight years since I've been at BCHA. It's been really interesting to see some of the amazing progress that they've made in that time. My role, when I first joined, was very much recruitment focused, but it's progressed and it's expanded into a position where I'm able to not just recruit good people for the organisation, but really focus on their journey, their onboarding, and also work with different partners to ensure that BCHA are attracting the right people to the jobs. We want our staff to thrive in their roles, and ultimately that can only enhance the support and experiences of our customers – who we have an important responsibility to, including ensuring a Safer Recruitment process. We have a duty to protect our customers, but in turn that also protects and preserves our staff culture and the kind of environment we all want to work in. 

What’s the goal for the work that you’re doing, with HR and the People team? 

Our aim is to be an employer of choice. That’s a high status to aim for but we have commitment from the very top of the organisation now and I think we can reach it. I'm really proud to say that we've already made some great strides. And people want to work for BCHA, not just for the work we do within the community, but also for an impressive benefits package and competitive salaries. 

I’ve noticed that a lot, that there is real mobility to progress here. For me, being a relatively new starter, it’s a good sign of the culture and company when you come into a new working environment and see that. 

For external recruitment specifically then, how are you reaching potential new employees beyond the online job listings? 

We do a lot of work in the community and with partners. We do a lot of careers fairs and we work quite closely with the job centre, different arms of the job centre, such as Seetec. 

What’s Seetec? 

Seetec support people that have been unemployed for six months or longer back into work. And quite often when we go to their careers fairs, we meet with some fantastic people that are looking for work, but are struggling to find it for whatever reason that might be. 

One of our employees was even given Seetec’s Achiever of the Year Award recently. We recruited Sean as our clearance operative for BCHA Home around six months ago, and he immediately became a highly valued member of the team. It makes me proud to work for a company that gives people an opportunity because there are a lot of people out there that are trying to find work, but are struggling. And it's great that here at BCHA, we provide that opportunity for them. 

I feel like that’s so on brand for what BCHA overall as an organisation is driven by and aims to do. Sean was actually in the induction process with me too. Can you speak a little about onboarding and inductions? 

Yeah, the onboarding process here has also really progressed and changed, and that's something the people team and I are really proud of. Our three-day induction for new starters includes learning about safeguarding, health and safety. We talk to them about model of change, trauma-informed care, psychologically-informed environments, give them an overview of BCHA. 

We've seen that these inductions really help new starters to embed in their roles at BCHA. Whether you're joining us as a finance person or whether you're joining us as a support worker, you will attend the same induction. And we found that that's given new starters a really good grounding to get going in their roles. 

As I said, I only started six months ago, so I did the new induction and it really was such a great introduction to all the aspects of BCHA, especially for an organisation that spans so many services and a large geographical footprint too. What’s the response been like to the changes? 

We've seen the number of people that have left BCHA in their first year drop down remarkably since we started the new induction. And the feedback we get from people's onboarding is fantastic, like yours is. People really appreciate the time and effort that we put into training them in the induction. 

It really was invaluable. Also, I think just socially for starting a new workplace, to be in this environment where everyone is in the same boat, most of us are all doing different jobs and in different services – it’s a great icebreaker.  

Staff retention, which you alluded to, is obviously really important, and making staff not just feel but know they are valued is a big part of that. Once people are employees, what work are you doing for that staff community? 

Well, of course, at BCHA we want to ensure that our staff have access to competitive benefits. We've compared our salaries to organisations within our space and our salaries are competitive, which is a really important factor. Because of that I’ve been committed to pay transparency too, and we’ve recently joined a new initiative called Show the Salary Pledge to commit to that publicly – which is another great step. 

Our benefits are something else that we're always looking to improve on. We've had some great success with our EAP (Employment Assistance Programme) which offers discountsfor staff and also access to health and well-being support. People can access services, and get support confidentially, through the EAP App, and that's something that we are really proud of at BCHA. 

The app, I think, is another example of you and BCHA doing for staff what is also prides itself on doing for customers. Mental health is obviously an increasingly important focus for us, so to offer that kind of one-on-one support for staff is a game changer, really. 

Before we wrap-up, did you have any questions for me? 

I suppose I just want to ask what the recruitment and onboarding process was like for you? 

You know, it felt really connected. And by that, I mean I had direct contact with you from the jump, whereas in other application processes it feels the opposite and you will maybe get an automated email in response. That really set the tone for me.  

Yeah, I remember you reached out, before you formally applied for the role, to ask questions. And I invite others to do the same, it can help them determine if BCHA could be right for them and where they might go next in their career. 

Interested in a career with BCHA? Take a look at our jobs page at the button below.