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• Leading schools
  • Managing schools
    • Helping schools use resources well
      • Securing the best for less
      • The principles of school finance
      • Financial planning and budgeting
      • Strategic financial management and budgeting
      • Financial monitoring, reporting and evaluation
      • Cash management
      • Evaluating financial resource management
      • Creating capacity for strategic and operational leadership
      • Procurement
      • Personnel and benefits management
      • Leading learning and teaching
      • Managing the organisation
      • Effective use of resources: case studies

Personnel and benefits management

How to recruit and select job candidates, plus an overview of personnel management issues including induction, employment policies and procedures and employee benefits.

Recruitment and selection

When a job vacancy arises, it is an ideal opportunity to review the job in question and decide whether the post should be filled in its current form, or whether its scope should be redefined with a new job description. The recruitment and selection process is made up of the following stages:

• Job description: provides a list of the main tasks involved in the role. It enables the person specification and advertisement to be written and provides the criteria for shortlisting.
• Person specification: describes the human characteristics necessary for successful performance of the role. It should include details such as education, training and any special skills required for the position.
• Advertisement: the advertisement should provide sufficient information to attract suitable candidates and should be promoted internally as well as externally.
• Application pack: applicants will need a pack containing information about the school and the post, including the job description and person specification, salary scales and information about the selection process. This will help them to prepare their application which, depending on your requirements, could take the form of a CV and letter or a completed application form.
• Monitoring and safeguarding: guidelines on eliminating discrimination in employment recommend that applicants are monitored on the basis of their gender, ethnic group and disability. It is also vital that recruitment and selection processes determine a candidate’s suitability to work with children.
• Invitation to interview: the first stage of the selection process is to prepare a shortlist of candidates who will be invited to interview. Shortlisting should be based on applicants’ expertise and experience in relation to the job description and person specification.
• Interview: the purpose of the interview is for the interview panel to obtain and assess information about the candidate that enables a valid prediction to be made of their future performance in the job. You may ask candidates to engage in a number of selection processes during the day, such as making presentations or taking part in practical tasks and group exercises. The criteria for assessing candidates and the method of recording the assessment should allow for comparison of the candidates.
• Decision-making: at the end of the selection process, the interview panel should compare notes and scores against the agreed criteria in order to reach an objective decision.
• Letters of appointment and rejection: the letter of appointment, along with the candidate’s acceptance, forms the basis of the contract of employment. It should include the terms and conditions of employment on which the offer is made. Rejection letters to applicants who fail to secure an interview or are unsuccessful following the interview should be issued promptly.

Further information

• Disability Rights Commission

Managing new employees

Once a new employee has been appointed, the following management processes will help to ensure a smooth transition into the role:

• Induction: a good induction process helps employees settle into a new school quickly, enabling them to become productive and efficient from early on. Induction should cover areas such as the school’s organisation and management structure, conditions of employment, work policies and staff development procedures.
• Probationary period: a probationary period allows the performance of a new employee to be assessed on a regular basis and to ensure that any problems are resolved at an early stage. If the employee is not able to meet the requirements of the job, this can be dealt with promptly. Six months is a sensible probationary period for most roles.

Policies and procedures

Every school needs to have a range of employment policies and procedures in place, including:

• Disciplinary: a good disciplinary procedure helps employees to keep within the standards required by the school and enables employers to deal fairly with those who do not.
• Grievance: the purpose of a grievance procedure is to enable employees to air serious complaints, about practices, policies or people, which cannot be dealt with through normal management routines.
• Absence: absence from work encompasses a range of events and situations, including sickness, training, time off for dependents, maternity or parental leave and compassionate leave. The absence procedure should cover each of these scenarios.

Further information

• Acas - disciplinary and grievance procedures
• Acas - absence from work

Employee benefits

An employee rewards package encompasses levels of pay plus all other aspects of the employment relationship that benefit the employee, such as:

• hours of work
• holiday leave and payments
• sickness and maternity pay entitlements
• travel, accommodation and subsistence benefits
• health insurance
• support for training opportunities
• pensions arrangements
• company car provision

It is important to bear in mind that any benefits in kind may be subject to tax. Benefits in kind are reported to HMRC at the end of each tax year.

Further information

• HMRC - taxable benefits in kind and expenses payments

Further information

• Certificate of School Business Management