RECRUITMENT
International Recruitment: How to Make it Work for You
Skills for Care interviews Aliyyah-Begum Nasser, Director at Askham Village Community Limited, a family run care provider which has successfully sponsored many international workers, about how to get started and why it works.
SKILLS FOR CARE: WHEN DID YOU FIRST START RECRUITING INTERNATIONALLY?
ALIYYAH: We first started recruiting internationally over 10 years ago. We were motivated primarily by our need to develop a strong nursing team. Here in the UK, nurses are true gold dust. We decided to look overseas, bearing in mind that many other countries have invested heavily in training nurses and have large numbers of qualified staff looking for opportunities abroad.
SFC: HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?
A: We’re part of Spectrum Consortium, a group of care providers who support each other with ideas, best practice, and access to suppliers. We sought advice from this group, and we also did our own research. We worked with agents who specialised in overseas recruitment and who have experience with immigration to apply to become a ‘Tier 2 sponsor’ – this enables us to employ people internationally; without this license it wouldn’t be possible.
SFC:WHAT WERE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU FACED?
A: Assessing whether candidates have the right attributes at interview is always a challenge; doing this on screen is even harder.
Candidates are not only moving jobs to work with us but are moving country – in some cases leaving behind family. We have had to take time to empathise with these new recruits – it isn’t just about training and induction on the floor but training and induction into life in the UK. We support with accommodation, opening bank accounts – even helping to find where they can buy ingredients locally to make their favourite food.
Our senior team work hard to ensure everyone feels included and equal at work, as we foster an environment for people from different cultures to work together. Unconscious bias can be rife in all of us, and we’ve had to be aware of our own
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shortcomings or assumptions in this regard to ensure that our value of community truly does include everyone.
SFC:WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST BENEFIT OF RECRUITING INTERNATIONALLY?
A: Bringing into the team a strong, safe, competent pair of hands is always every care provider’s dream come true. We’ve seen overseas recruits demonstrate a willingness to learn, a keen engagement with keeping standards high, and a desire to make the best out of any situation. We’ve also experienced a high amount of word-of-mouth referrals from our existing international staff, helping us to recruit more new people.
“Unconscious bias can be rife in all of us.”
SFC:WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OTHER PROVIDERS?
https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Recruitment-support/Attracting-people/International-recruitment.aspx https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
A: It’s not easy but it’s well worth it. I would advise any employers going down this road to take advice from an immigration expert every step of the way but not to be put off by this. Our industry needs capable caring staff and our residents rely on us to find them, wherever they may be. The UK workforce is excellent, however, with the needs of the care sector growing the only way we will be able to meet the growing needs of our current and future residents, in my view, is through international recruitment.
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