4.1    Staff Recruitment

There is a systematic approach to fair and transparent recruitment of suitably qualified staff at King’s Inns.  The general criteria and processes used for the recruitment of staff are set out in the Staff Recruitment Policy (hyperlink).  The processes address: job description, advertising, interview and selection panels, shortlisting, interview arrangements, selection procedures, post-interview stage, approval and probation. 

 Induction/onboarding of staff, appropriate to their individual needs, is addressed in 4.4 Staff Induction in the Staff Communication and Development Policy. (hyperlink)

4.2    Staff Communication and Development

King’s Inns recognises that good communication takes many different forms, whether that be written, face to face, through behaviour and actions, in large or small group settings, 1 to 1, and formal or informal interactions. Effective organisational communication needs to move in all directions, up, down and peer to peer.  King’s Inns encourages and supports staff to express views, provide feedback, seek clarification and ask questions at all levels. 

 Core staff are provided with the Staff Handbook together with their contract of employment, job description, and data protection statement prior to commencing.  The Staff Handbook includes information on emergency contacts, health and safety, staff development and training, and leave policies.

 All policies and procedures are stored on the shared drive accessible to all core staff and HR policies are stored on HR Locker. Where there is a new or revised policy or procedure or the introduction of a new business process, this is communicated via email. Core staff are consulted in the development and/or revision of policies and procedures.  See Staff Communication and Development Policy (hyperlink).

 The Staff Development Scheme is designed to facilitate two-way engagement between an individual member of staff and their respective manager.  It focuses on their role, their achievements and on areas that may require further development. The scheme applies to all permanent full-time and permanent part-time staff. The scheme is not available to the large panel of part-time/occasional lecturers or tutor panel members teaching in discrete specialist areas.

 Training and development opportunities are available to full-time and permanent part-time staff. King’s Inns aims to ensure that all members of the staff are properly prepared for their role and given access to all the relevant job experiences.  Training is provided on the basis that it meets an identified training or development need and that it contributes to the strategic priorities of King’s Inns. King’s Inns supports ongoing professional development of staff, within the constraints imposed by the annual budget. See 4.3 Training and Development in the Staff Communication and Development Policy (hyperlink).