Fair recruitment

Lack of diversity amongst staff is an issue which political parties need to be aware of and work to address. Politics is a small world, and research shows that most of us are more likely to recruit people to positions of influence who are similar to ourselves, have been recommended to us, or who we have worked with before. Having a wide diversity of staff is just as important as having diverse candidates. It helps create an inclusive environment and will help you develop campaigns which speak to all sections of society.

Some actions you should be doing are:

• Widely advertising staff positions inside and outside the party
• Allowing equivalent but different experience to count in applications
• Signing up to the two ticks recruitment scheme
• Have paid work experience schemes for people from underrepresented groups
• Having pay scales and regular pay reviews
• Striving for best practice in recruitment including: avoiding use of short term and zero hours contracts, a bulling and harassment policy, fair maternity and paternity policy, fair sickness pay policy

You might not have paid staff at every level of the party but the principles of fair recruitment are still relevant when recruiting volunteers. For more information please see the Attitudes and Assumptions section of the Equal Representation in Politics Tool.

Go back to the Selecting Candidates homepage