Lancaster University e-recruitment. Vacancy Management Guidelines

Transcription

1 Lancaster University e-recruitment Vacancy Management Guidelines Contents 1.1 The Vacancy Management Process Accessing Vacancy Management Welcome and Search Job Summary Page Viewing and Scoring Applications... 5 Tab 1: Application Form... 5 Tab 2: Selection Criteria... 5 Additional tabs: Additional Supporting Documentation Candidate Notes Navigation Between Applications Viewing and Printing Scores for Applications Submitting Scores Submitting a Shortlist Informing unsuccessful Applicants Arranging Interviews and Testing for Shortlisted Applicants Completing the Interview Arrangements Tab Confirmation of Attendance at Interview Conducting the Interview Viewing References After the Interviews Providing Feedback or Reporting Problems Appendix 1 Stonefish Recruitment Process Appendix 2 Roles involved in the Stonefish Process

2 Guidance for managers and selection panel members on recruiting and selecting staff using our online recruitment system 1.1 The Vacancy Management Process Vacancy Management allows all Shortlisting Panel Members and the Vacancy Owner (or Admin Assistant, where the Vacancy Owner delegates responsibility) to access the applications for which they are members of a selection panel. Applications can be viewed and scored as soon as they are posted to the website instead of having to wait until the closing date. There is also a space for making notes on each application. After the closing date, when the Shortlisting Panel Members have scored all of the applications, the scores are submitted electronically to the Vacancy Owner. All applicant scores are automatically calculated and totalled so that the Vacancy Owner and Shortlisting Panel Members can view the applicant totals when agreeing the shortlist. The Vacancy Owner then electronically submits the final shortlist to HR. The system helps to ensure that the recruitment and selection process is transparent and fair and that all documentation, including shortlisting notes, complies with our statutory obligations under the Data Protection Act The University also operates under the Positive about Disabled People symbol (Two Ticks), whereby all applicants with a disability who meet all the essential criteria for a post, and who have requested the disability interview promise, will be guaranteed an interview. HR will check all shortlists to ensure compliance with this policy. When HR have confirmed the shortlist, the Vacancy Owner (or Admin Assistant) should complete the Interview Selection Tab, including details of any presentations or tests required. Once the Vacancy Owner (or Admin Assistant) has scheduled the interviews, HR will the shortlisted applicants to confirm interview times, tests (if applicable), venue etc. At this time all applicants not shortlisted or reserved will be notified that they were unsuccessful. After interviews have taken place, the Vacancy Owner (or Admin Assistant) enters the final decisions against each applicant with notes on the justification for this decision. They then complete an Action Following Interview Form which is submitted to the Vacancy Owner for confirmation. The Vacancy Owner submits this electronically to HR which instigates the formal offer of employment. Once the successful candidate has formally accepted the employment offer, their status is changed to Offer accepted. The Vacancy Owner would normally inform the unsuccessful candidates by telephone. If this has not been done HR will send notifications once the successful candidate has accepted. The following section describes the system s functionality and individual tasks that need to be undertaken by Vacancy Owners and Shortlisting Panel Members. 2

3 2.1. Accessing Vacancy Management Using Internet Explorer or any other internet browser, type in the web address for e-recruitment; Your username and password are the same as your windows logon details. Enter these details in the Login box on the homepage, and click on Login. 2.2 Welcome and Search After logging into the website, click Vacancy Management on the top right menu, just below the JOB VACANCIES text. You will be presented with the Vacancy Management page listing all the vacant posts for which you are a selection panel member. 3

4 If you are shortlisting for a number of vacant posts, you can filter the jobs to search by title or job reference, area and job status. Results of the search are shown in the job table. Clicking on a column header will sort the table by the appropriate column and clicking on a job title will take you to the Job Summary Page for that job, giving details and a list of applications received. 2.3 Job Summary Page The Job Summary Page shows the job details and a table of the applications for that post. 4

5 As applicants submit their applications online, they will appear in the table on this screen. You may view and score applications as they come in, but will be unable to submit final completed scores for shortlisting until after the closing date and all applications have been scored. 3.1 Viewing and Scoring Applications To view an individual application, click on the relevant person s row in the table to go to their Application Pages. The Application Pages contain all of the information that each applicant has entered online and may also include additional documents attached to support his or her application. When you view the Application Pages, you will see that the main part of each page is taken up by two or more tabs of information about the application. The Application Form and Selection Criteria tabs will be present for all applications. If the candidate has attached further documentation to support his or her application, further tabs will appear. In the example below, the candidate has attached a CV. Tab 1: Application Form The first tab shows the Application Form. By clicking on the underlined navigation links down the left hand side of the screen, you may move quickly between the different sections of the application and, if necessary, print the form. Tab 2: Selection Criteria 5

6 The second tab is the Selection Criteria. It is here that the application is scored. Each panel member - including the Vacancy Owner - must view and score each application. Applications are scored against predefined and post-specific selection criteria and scored numerically. Any changes made to scoring against the Selection Criteria are automatically saved. The Selection Criteria (derived from the Person Specification) are shown in a numbered table along with the applicant s response (if asked for one) to each criterion. Some criteria are marked as Essential to the job and others are marked as Desirable. A drop-down scoring list allows you to score each answer. Choose from the list to indicate how well the applicant s response matches the criterion. The possible scores are: 0 Does not meet criterion 1 Partially meets criterion 2 Fully Meets criterion 3 Exceeds criterion Shortlisting (or interviewing) panels should not use the exceeds criterion' score except on an exceptional basis. The circumstances where the exceeds criterion score may be used will usually be when there a large number of applicants for a post and it is legitimate in these circumstances for shortlisting panels, for example, to consider whether candidates exceed a criterion or criteria in order to be able to derive a shortlist of 4 or 5 candidates. Examples: Support post: one of the criteria is substantive administrative experience in a large, complex organisation. There are likely to be a number of candidates who demonstrate that they meet this criterion because they have relevant administrative experience and undertake their work effectively using existing processes/systems without reference to others and can demonstrate in their application how this is relevant to the post in question. A number of candidates may exceed this criterion because their 6

7 experience is such that they have developed administrative systems or processes and use judgement and initiative to resolve problems and can demonstrate this in examples they provide. Academic post: one of the criteria is a proven track record of research and knowledge transfer. There are likely to be a number of candidates who meet this criterion but there may be a few candidates who can demonstrate that they exceed it because, for example, they can cite a large number of publications in refereed journals of standing in that discipline and conference papers, have published a book that is regarded as pre-eminent in its field and/or have successfully bid for a number of large research grants or have a number of major Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. If Vacancy Owners of panels or panel members are in doubt as to whether to score a candidate as having exceeded a criterion, please contact your HR Partner for advice. While scoring an application, you may find an Essential criterion that is not met by the applicant. You may stop the shortlisting process with this applicant and move onto the next applicant. To do this, mark the specific Essential criterion as 0 Does not meet criterion. The system will ask if you would like the remaining unscored criteria to be set to Not Scoring. This option is very useful when you are viewing numerous applications, as it allows you to stop evaluating an application at the point where a criterion marked as Essential to the job is not met, thereby speeding up the selection process by eliminating those applicants without the essential attributes at the outset of the process. If you choose this option, the system will mark all the remaining criteria as Not Scoring and zeros will be calculated in the overall total when added to scores given by the other Vacancy Users. You may also choose to carry on marking further items, but decide at a later point to stop evaluating this application. You may then choose to click on the link at the top right, Set unscored criteria to Not Scoring to complete your review of the application. Note: It is not possible to submit your scores until each criterion for every application has been scored or has been marked Not Scoring. Additional tabs: Additional Supporting Documentation Applicants have the opportunity to submit extra documentation with their application, such as a CV, a covering letter or information about their research or publications. Any documents submitted will be displayed as extra tabs after the Application Form and Selection Criteria. In the example below, the applicant has also submitted a CV as a WORD document. This will open in a new window if you are using Mozilla Firefox, or in the same window if you are using Internet Explorer. 7

8 4.1 Candidate Notes As you read each application, you may make notes in the box at the top left of the screen to support scoring decisions. These are particularly useful if needed to justify your shortlisting decisions. You should always note why you have decided to discontinue scoring an application, as this could eliminate the applicant from the process and must be legally defensible. It is important to remember when making notes that under the Data Protection Act 1998, all applicants are entitled to request access to documentation relating to their application, which includes s, shortlisting materials and any form of shortlisting and interview notes. You may edit or amend your notes up to the point that you submit your scores to the Vacancy Owner. Once your scores have been submitted electronically, your notes are locked and cannot be changed. To make a note, click into the Candidate Notes box at the top left of the Application page and start typing. Any changes made to notes and scoring against the Selection Criteria are automatically saved. 4.2 Navigation Between Applications Once an application has been scored, click on the link to return to the Job Summary Page to find the next application to score or switch between the next and previous applications using the controls at the top of the page: 5.1 Viewing and Printing Scores for Applications Scores for applications that have already been entered appear in the table on the Job Summary Page. The scores on the darker background indicate criteria that are essential to the job. The scores on the 8

9 light background indicate desirable criteria. Hovering over the number in the column header will show the text of that criterion and clicking on a column header will sort the table based on the scores in the column. Use the View Your Score/Notes link at the top left of the page to get a review or a printout of scores and notes. 5.2 Submitting Scores Once you have scored all applications and are happy with your scores/notes, click on the Complete Scores icon in the top right hand corner of the page to complete the process. This icon will only be available after the closing date for the vacancy. Clicking this icon makes your scores available to view by the Vacancy Owner and the other Shortlisting Panel Members (once they have also completed their scoring). Note: It is not possible to submit your scores until each criterion for every application has been scored or has been marked Not Scoring. When scoring is complete, a new option becomes available at the top left of the page, allowing users to view the scores of other members of the selection panel as they complete and submit their scores. The Vacancy Owner can also see the notes of all panel members. 9

10 Note: Scores are only available to the Vacancy Owner and shortlisting panel members after they have completed their own scoring, to make the process as impartial as possible. The table on the Job Summary Page now shows the total of all completed scores. At this point, the members of the shortlisting panel have completed their shortlisting processes. It is now for the Vacancy Owner to complete the shortlisting. 6.1 Submitting a Shortlist The Vacancy Owner uses the drop-down Decision List to indicate if an application will be shortlisted, rejected or made a reserve. Once the Vacancy Owner has made the decisions the applications table looks like this: Notes can be added to justify a decision by clicking on the Notes can be typed into the box that appears. icon in the Notes column of the table. Once a note has been added the symbol changes to an icon. To assist the Vacancy Owner, a breakdown of individual selection panel member s scores and notes becomes available by clicking on the total score for each applicant in the Total column of the table. The total of all scores submitted is shown at the top of the table, and the individual selection panel member s scores with their notes are shown below. In the example below, you can see that selection panel member Isabel Smith has not submitted her scores, so they are not included in the total. 10

11 When the Vacancy Owner has completed shortlisting, the decision is submitted by the Vacancy Owner (or Admin Assistant) by clicking on the submit icon on the top right of the page. A shortlist cannot be submitted until a decision has been made on all the applications. If not all of the selection panel members have completed their scoring when the Vacancy Owner chooses to submit the shortlist, the following warning will appear: If at this point the Vacancy Owner chooses to continue and clicks OK, a reason must be given. The system also checks all application scores against the shortlisting decision and warns the Vacancy Owner if an applicant with a lower score has been shortlisted over an applicant with a higher score. This is permitted, however we recommend that you discuss this with your HR Partner and provide notes on the system to explain your decision. 11

12 Finally, once all the checks are complete, the Vacancy Owner is shown a summary of the decision and asked to confirm the list. The shortlisting decision is electronically submitted to the HR Assistant. Once the Vacancy Owner has submitted the shortlist, the table then displays the shortlisting decision so that the other members of the selection panel can view it. Note: Although the shortlist has now been submitted, it still needs to be confirmed by HR. It is possible that, after consultation with the Vacancy Owner (or Admin Assistant), the final shortlist will be altered. The Vacancy Owner (and Admin Assistant) will receive an from HR confirming that the shortlist has been confirmed and notifying him/her of any changes made to the final shortlist. 6.2 Informing unsuccessful Applicants All unsuccessful ( Rejected ) candidates will be sent an automatic once HR has validated the shortlist, advising them that they have been unsuccessful. Any candidates who have been marked Reserve will not receive a notification until after interviews have taken place, as they may still be invited to replace shortlisted candidates who withdraw or are otherwise unable to attend the interview. 12

13 7.1 Arranging Interviews and Testing for Shortlisted Applicants Once the shortlist has been approved by HR, notification will be sent to the Vacancy Owner (and Admin Assistant). Two new tabs have appeared on the job summary page, Interviewees and Interview Arrangements. The Vacancy Owner (or Admin Assistant) should now complete the Interview Arrangements Tab and schedule the interviews, including any tests, presentations, etc. 7.2 Completing the Interview Arrangements Tab The tab marked Interview Arrangements is for providing details of the interview venue, pre-interview meeting time and any tests, etc. 13

14 No. Of interviews per person Add/exclude panel members for interview stage Building where interviews to be held Time panel members to meet Person/Building/Contact no for interviewees to report to & confirm attendance with Will a test take place at 1 st interview? Details of test to be inserted in interview invite Presentation details if applicable (to be inserted into interview invite ) Yes enables scheduling of presentation Any details about publications to be inserted into interview invite eg. Example of work Any pre-visits or tours? Yes will trigger the HR Assistant to make contact regarding any additional information to be included in the interview invite The dialogue boxes for details of any tests, presentations or publications will be automatically copied into the interview invitation, so should be written in this context. The template interview letter is below: Dear #APP_TITLE# #APP_SURNAME# Post of: #JOB_REF# - #JOB_TITLE#, #DIVISION# I am pleased to invite you for interview on #INTERVIEW_DATE#. Please report to #REPORT_TO#, #REPORT_WHERE#. The selection process will consist of: * A #INTERVIEW_LENGTH# minute interview commencing at #INTERVIEW_TIME# on #INTERVIEW_DATE#. * A #TEST_LENGTH# minute test (#TEST_DETAILS#) commencing at #TEST_TIME# on #TEST_DATE#. * A #PRESENTATION_LENGTH# minute presentation on #PRES_DETAILS# commencing at #PRESENTATION_TIME# on #PRESENTATION_DATE#. The Interview Panel will include: #PANEL_MEMBERS# 14

15 In advance of the interview date, please provide #REPORT_TO# with #PUB_DETAILS# References are requested prior to interview. If you withheld permission to contact your referees please confirm as soon as possible whether I can approach them now. If you intend to drive to the University please use the Pay & Display car parking areas. A campus map can be found at Where travel to the University exceeds 10 miles each way, reasonable expenses will be reimbursed in line with the guidance notes on the claim form which can be found at We reserve the right not to reimburse expenses where an offer of employment has been declined. Please note that the terms of any formal offer of employment will be contained in a letter of employment issued by Human Resources. Please confirm/decline your attendance by contacting #REPORT_TO# on #REPORT_PHONE# as soon as possible. You can review and/or print the application you submitted for this post by following this link The Interviewees tab is for scheduling the interview times. Click on any shortlisted candidate s name in the Interviewees section and a scheduling box will drop down to enter interview timings. If an applicant is disabled and requires assistance at interview, this will be shown here. There is also a space to enter notes, for example about testing or presentations which will be added into the invite to interview and should be written accordingly. Once the Interview Arrangements tab has been completed and the interviews scheduled, the Vacancy Owner (or Admin Assistant) should click the Submit Details button at the top right of the 15

16 screen. This will send an to the HR Assistant informing them that invites to interview and requests for references can be sent by Confirmation of Attendance at Interview HR will assume that the invitation to attend for interview has been accepted unless told otherwise by the Admin Assistant/Vacancy Owner. Should an applicant decline the interview please contact your HR Assistant so they can amend the Vacancy Management system accordingly. You should also inform them if you have an applicant on the reserved list who you now wish to interview. In this case the HR Assistant will schedule the interviews, tests etc. for this candidate and send out the invitation to interview plus request references. The data held in Vacancy Management will impact on the information available in the panel packs it is therefore eseential that this information is correct. 8.1 Conducting the Interview Two working days before interview, the Vacancy Owner and Appointing Panel Members will be ed a panel pack. This includes the Interview Schedule, Application Forms plus any supporting documents, job description, a reminder of the individual scoring for each panel member involved in shortlisting and the selection criteria to be used at interview stage. For more guidance on interviews and testing of candidates, please speak to your HR Partner or visit the HR website. 8.2 Viewing References Only the Vacancy Owner (or Admin Assistant) can view references. Access the Application Grid tab and click on the name of the interviewee for whom you want to view references. 16

17 Within the Application form area, go the the All Documents tab. Listed within this tab, will be any supporting documents uploaded as part of the application process plus any references received. Each reference document name will be preceeded by the name of the person supplying the reference. Click this link to open the document for review. 8.3 After the Interviews Once the interviews have been conducted, and a preferred candidate has been chosen, the Vacancy Owner (or nominated representative) should make an informal offer. Once the informal offer has been made and accepted, the Vacancy Owner (or Admin Assistant) should input the decisions to Vacancy Management. To do this click on the Make Interview Decisions link. Against each interviewee mark the decision made by the Appointing Panel. 17

18 Where an applicant is marked Reject after interview, a justification for this decision must be given. Please remember that any notes input should be objective and defensible. Notes would become disclosable should a tribunal claim be received. Once all decisions have been made, click submit. Please note that if clicking save this will not update the interviewees grid and no further action can be taken until the decisions have been submitted. Once the decisions have been submitted, a Make Offer link will become evident against the successful candidate. Click this link to open to Action Following Interview Form. If the Admin Assistant has been tasked with completing the form they will submit it electronically to the Vacancy Owner for approval. The Vacancy Owner will receive an notifying them that the form needs to be authorised and submitted electronically to HR. This form instigates the formal offer of employment which will be sent by HR within 2 working days of receipt. If the Vacancy Owner completes the form they can submit it directly to HR. 18

19 Once the successful candidate has accepted the offer of appointment, all unsuccessful ( Rejected ) candidates will be informed either orally or in writing as soon as possible, normally by the Chair of the Appointing Panel. Any candidates who were marked Reserve during the shortlisting process (and who were not contacted for an interview) will also be notified by HR at this stage advising them that they were unsuccessful. If, after the interview process, a preferred candidate has not been chosen, please speak to your HR Assistant for advice. Re-advertising a vacancy is straightforward, and the above processes can be repeated. 9.1 Providing Feedback or Reporting Problems HR would welcome any feedback on the process you are willing to give. To leave feedback or to report a bug please click on the Leave Feedback/Report Bug link in the top menu of Vacancy Management. Leave your comments in the box provided and click send. Human Resources January

20 Appendix 1 Stonefish Recruitment Process HR Applicant/Referee Appointing Panel Form 6, job description, person specification & advert received Person specification reviewed. Decision made as to which items appear to applicant and ranking Application form chosen & Vacancy input to Stonefish & published on web Shortlist confirmed/changed - Disability, CRD & CoS. Chair Applicants register to use. confirming registation. Applicants reminded if application unsubmitted. confirming Applicants submit application & leave feedback. confirming receipt. informing vacancy closed. Panel members asked to score Panel members submit scores. to Vacancy Owner confirming scores submitted Shortlist submitted to HR. to HR Unsuccessful applicants notified by Interview details scheduled & submitted. to HR Invite to interview sent via Applicants confirms/declines interview to Assistant by phone. Assistant notifies HR is declined Reference Requests sent via /letter References received & scanned/uploaded to Stonefish Referee replies by /letter References viewed by Vacancy Owner/Assistant only Decision made. Informal offer. Interview Panel packs sent to Panel Members via from HR Interviews take place Assistant submits Action Following Interview form to Vacancy Owner. Confirmation . Unsuccessful applicants notified if not done by Chair via Vacancy Owner confirms details. Submits to HR. Confirmation . Appointment letter sent out (produced via ResourceLink) Unsuccessful applicants notified by Vacancy Owner by phone Acceptance Received & input to Stonefish & ResourceLink Vacancy Owner/Admin Assistant notified of acceptance via Job finished (freezes details) Vacancy Owner/Admin Assistant leaves feedback on process 20

21 Appendix 2 Roles involved in the Stonefish Process Role Vacancy Owner (mandatory) Admin Assistant to Vacancy Owner (mandatory) Shortlisting Panel Members Appointing Panel Members Chair of Shortlisting Panel Chair of Appointing Panel HR Contact Description Responsible for the logistics of the recruitment process and for signing off the final appointment (Action Following Interview Form) eg. Dean, HoD, PI, Line Manager. Has delegated authority for all processes except authorisation of the Action Following Interview Form. An Admin Assistant must be nominated as a backup to the Vacancy Owner but does not have to be used. The Vacancy Owner can undertake these tasks themself. Admin Assistant CANNOT also be a panel member. Responsible for scoring applicants to produce a shortlist. CANNOT also be the Admin Assistant. Responsible for contributing to the selection decision. Normally the same people as shortlist but may be additional (external) members. Person responsible for chairing the shortlisting meeting but not normally involved in the logistics of the recruitment process eg. VC, PVC, Dean. Can also be the Vacancy Owner. Person responsible for chairing the interviews but not normally involved in the logistics of the recruitment process eg. VC, PVC, Dean. Can also be the Vacancy Owner. Responsible for dealing with administrative tasks eg. Placing of advert, sending of interview/reference correspondence. Responsibilities Stonefish provides flexibility as to who performs which roles but the roles must be defined at the start of the process and cannot be changed. The following are examples of breakdowns of responsibilities but may vary according to local requirements as determined by Faculty/Divisional Offices. Professorial & Equivalent (Grade 10) Role Initiates vacancy Ensures Scores completed Chairs Shortlist Panel Confirms shortlist (hard copy) Submits shortlist to HR Determines interview arrangements Schedules interviews Chairs appointing panel Receives References Makes informal offer Informs unsuccessful candidates Completes Action Following Interview form Signs off Action Following Interview form VC/PVC Appointing Panel Member Faculty Administrator/ Vacancy Owner?!!???? COO/ Uni Sec Shortlisting/ HoD Appointing Panel Member Dept Officer Admin Assistant NOTES: Admin Assistant prints applications of shortlisted candidates for VC to confirm!! Faculty Administrator replaced by Dean Dean delegates authority to Faculty Administrator to act as Vacancy Owner Vacancy Owner responsible only for sign-off of the Action Following Interview form (offer details)? - Tasks assigned to the Admin Assistant can be undertaken by the Vacancy Owner Admin Assistant has delegated authority to undertake all administrative tasks for the recruitment process 21

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23 Lecturers Graded 7 & 8 and all Roles at Grade 9 Role Dean/ Divisional Director Faculty Administrator/ HoD Dept Officer Shortlisting/ Appointing Panel Member Vacancy Owner Admin Assistant Initiates vacancy Ensures Scores completed Chairs Shortlist Panel Confirms shortlist Submits shortlist to HR Determines interview arrangements Schedules interviews Chairs appointing panel Receives References Makes informal offer Informs unsuccessful candidates Completes Action Following Interview form Signs off Action Following Interview form???? NOTES: Dean/Divisional Director can score as a panel member but retains the Chair for both the shortlisting meeting and interviews Authority has been delegated to the HoD to act as Vacancy Owner this means the HoD is responsible for the recruitment process including the sign-off of the Action Following Interview form (offer details) Admin Assistant has delegated authority to undertake all administrative tasks for the recruitment process? - Tasks assigned to the Admin Assistant can be undertaken by the Vacancy Owner Admin Assistant could also be a member of the Faculty Office/Divisional Office Non-Lecturing Roles Graded 1 8 (inclusive) Role HoD/ Line Manager Dept Officer Vacancy Owner Admin Assistant Initiates vacancy Ensures Scores completed Chairs Shortlist Panel Confirms shortlist Submits shortlist to HR Determines interview arrangements Schedules interviews Chairs appointing panel Receives References Makes informal offer Informs unsuccessful candidates Completes Action Following Interview form Signs off Action Following Interview form???? NOTES: Authority has been delegated to the HoD/Line Manager to act as Vacancy Owner this means they are responsible for the recruitment process including the sign-off of the Action Following Interview form (offer details) Admin Assistant has delegated authority to undertake all administrative tasks for the recruitment process? - Tasks assigned to the Admin Assistant can be undertaken by the Vacancy Owner Admin Assistant could also be another member of the Department/Faculty Office/Divisional Office 23