GMCVO-led project Caring, Working, Living have published a new report, alongside employer guidance on attracting Returners.

Returners (parents and carers) bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the workforce. Employers want to recruit from as wide a pool of candidates as possible, yet their recruitment practices (both how they advertise roles and where), could mean they are missing out on an untapped pool of talent.

Following the production of toolkits on Flexible Working and Interview Best Practice, the Caring, Working, Living project have now produced the final instalment of the three-part toolkit, focusing on ‘How to attract Returners to your organisation’.

This toolkit was collated with the support of Returners who offered feedback on four employers’ recruitment documents and gave their opinions on how they viewed these organisations on the basis of their website, job adverts and Job Description and Person Specifications for specific roles. 

Employers are encouraged to download the checklist and consider how their organisation’s recruitment documents are appealing to parents and carers and whether any adjustments can be made to make them an employer of choice.

To coincide with the launch of the toolkit, GMCVO have also published a new report, ‘Flexible working: the role of job boards in better promoting flexible work’, which looks into whether existing job boards are meeting the needs of Returners, employers and job searchers generally. 

The report includes evidence from Caring, Working, Living Returners, employers and Employment Support Organisations who shared their experiences of both job searching and recruitment. It also includes an analysis of job boards self-defined as “flexible”, as well as mainstream boards.

The purpose of this report:

1. To evidence and highlight the value parents and carers bring to the workforce
2. To identify and provide evidence for the benefits for existing job boards to extend their remit by developing their resources to be more inclusive and better tailored to Returners
3. To identify and evidence the need for a ‘flexible’ jobs board in Greater Manchester.

The three-part toolkit, as well as learning from the report, will also act as useful resources for employers looking to demonstrate compliance with the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter standards, particularly the Charter’s emphasis on flexible work.

Download the report and toolkit from the GMCVO website: 

• Report: Flexible working: the role of job boards in better promoting flexible work

• Toolkit: How to attract Returners to your organisation