Project
Eastside People specialise in values-led inclusive recruitment for charities and not-for-profit organisations. With Deputy CEO Bernice Rook’s extensive background in inclusive approaches to finding trustees, she was perfect to lead the project. “When I set up the recruitment arm at Eastside People, I ensured that we became experts in diversity and inclusive recruitment, developing our understanding and relationships,” says Bernice. “We also offer a values-based service, and that means genuine care for clients and the candidates, for example, every single person who replies gets a response and everyone who is interviewed receives feedback.”
The first step in the Campaign for National Parks recruitment campaign was to fully understand their requirements by speaking to a variety of stakeholders and then to create a really great recruitment pack. “Explaining what the organisation does and why, why the role is so important and what is expected in a way that is attractive and informative to prospective candidates is often not done very well,” says Bernice. “The information they put out can look really dry, particularly for board roles. It should be accessible, engaging and give a good idea of who the organisation is and what they are looking for. It is also important to highlight what the voluntary role of being a trustee is and what it can offer to candidates.”
She adds: “There are a number of other things that we did in terms of recruiting inclusively for example, instead of requiring a traditional cover letter, applicants were asked questions geared towards discovering potential to do the role.” As the charity provides comprehensive induction and support for new trustees, the team were happy to welcome applicants with no previous board experience, and all applications – including the accompanying CVs – were anonymised by Eastside People’s IT system.
Bernice was delighted that the Campaign for National Parks was keen to follow as many of her recommendations as possible. “That’s my favourite kind of project,” says Bernice.
The key to obtaining a great pool of candidates, says Bernice, lies in recruiting openly and how the search is carried out. Through many years’ experience, Eastside People has a wide network of contacts as well as the knowledge about where to place recruitment ads for maximum effect. They also use executive search techniques to further broaden the talent pool. Many potentially great trustees, Bernice points out, aren’t even actively seeking roles, or aware they could be a great trustee, so they need to be approached and then convinced that the opportunity is unmissable.
Andrew agrees. “We said to Eastside People to go out, use your initiative and try to reach people who might not know that they want to be reached,” he says. “We would like them to know we exist and why they might want to come and join us.”
The search and advertising process was open for six weeks – good practice in terms of inclusivity to give people a decent amount of time to consider the role and ask questions if necessary – and then Eastside People worked alongside the CEO, Rose O’Neill, and the recruitment panel of trustees at the Campaign for National Parks to shortlist the applications.
“The pool of applications that came in were very impressive in terms of number and even more impressive in terms of calibre,” says Andrew. “We were spoiled for choice in terms of who to shortlist. There were some very strong candidates and that was due to the reach and the expertise of Eastside People.”
Before potential trustees were interviewed, the questions they would be asked were shared in advance, which is another aspect of good practice for inclusivity, particularly for enabling neurodiverse candidates to feel comfortable with the process, points out Bernice.
Finally, two people were offered the positions, and Andrew is delighted with the outcome. One is a well-respected academic from a minority ethnic group who, Andrew explains, “brings a wealth of experience in bringing EDI into the outdoor environment and engaging communities, as well as a lot of contacts”. And the other is a professional young man with an LGBTQ background who “brings a fresh perspective, dynamic thinking and knowledge of political systems”.
Next steps
“Eastside People brought experience, confidence, good connections and very sound advice in terms of approach, next steps and actually reaching out to potential candidates,” says Andrew. “This experience has convinced me that in terms of specialist recruitment, I don’t think there’s any alternative than to go to an expert, trusted recruitment agency like Eastside People. It was money well spent, and the end result is getting new trustees who bring so much more value to the board.”
With a refreshed board, Andrew is positive about the charity’s immediate future. “We’re a small organisation that is definitely punching above its weight, thanks to our CEO and dynamic young team,” he says. “The trustees now bring a more rounded collective strategic vision, which is informed by having more diverse people around the table.”
