We recently welcomed our new Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) to VONNE through a recruitment process with a slight twist. Our Comms Officer, Amy Coates has written a blog about the recruitment process and the involvement staff had in finding our perfect candidate.
How do you see yourself fitting into VONNE, would you be the joker, the cheerleader or the counsellor?
In our recent Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) recruitment process we decided to do things a little differently. VONNE really is a special place to work, the culture is one of support and wellbeing with a passion for the VCSE sector and the work we do. As such, bringing someone new into our management team is a big decision – will they share our ethos, will they bring a welcome new perspective, how will they champion our work and challenge our thinking?
Within VONNE, the DCEO is responsible for the development and oversight of our projects and partnerships work, through line management of the projects team and by assessing the needs of the sector to developing new partnerships and workstreams of support. Put simply, you’re well and truly in our circle of trust and can drive VONNEs work in exciting new directions.
One of the best things about VONNE is the open-door policy of our management team and the inclusion of all staff, at all levels, in decision-making processes. Everyone’s opinion is valid and we can all contribute in a constructive way. So, we took that approach to recruitment. Staff were invited to add to a jam board what we wanted from an ideal DCEO outlining what should they bring to the role. This board was then collated into four key areas and passed to the candidates who took part in a 20 minute pre-interview meeting with our staff panel to talk through their observations.
Over two days we met with a number of candidates and it was great to spend time talking about what aspects of the jam board resonated with them, what their passions were and what their aspirations could be for VONNE. They asked us questions about the organisation, the culture and what we love about the organisation, we asked them what their proudest achievement was and how they look after their own wellbeing. I hope that each candidate left with a taste of the energy and passion that resonates around our team.
VONNE strives to be an inclusive and accessible employer, and we’re always assessing how we can do recruitment differently to be as inclusive as possible to all potential candidates. Recent recruitment has involved sending out a candidate pack which includes directions, travel and accessibility information on how to get to our offices, dress code and a copy of the interview questions prior to interview.
The two-stage interview process was intended to give interview candidates a flavour of the people and culture of our organisation, with an opportunity to showcase their own strengths, passion and personality. The staff panel was designed to be a 20-minute informal chat, no right or wrong answers! This preceded a more formal interview which included a presentation and pre-set questions from an interview panel made up of VONNE management, board members and strategic partners. The process took around one-hour.
If you’re interested in finding your own brilliant candidate, why not advertise on Job Finder? Or if you’d like our support doing recruitment differently, then you can find out more about our recruitment support service here.