In residence life, we’re constantly hiring! Every year, we launch the recruitment and selection process for student staff, exploding the outlook calendars of everyone. From marketing, to reviewing applications, facilitating interviews, and spending out offer letters–it doesn’t stop! Professional staff vacancies can pop up at any time, keeping the hiring cycle humming.
Hiring new student and professional staff can be an exhausting hamster wheel. While it’s good for new staff, we can’t forget that a big part of recruitment is retaining our current staff. When reflecting on recruitment initiatives, let’s spill real tea–it takes a lot out of our people. So, here are some things to consider to ensure you’re supporting your current staff through the process:
Operational Calendar.
I’ve been a part of multiple leadership teams and planning the ResLife calendar in advance is always a topic. Despite our best intentions, the calendar often slips or gets overshadowed by another priority. Some might see scheduling as just another administrative task on the to-do mountain, but it’s more. We can’t ensure our staff’s wellness if we don’t balance the activities on the calendar. Our curriculum, operations, and other areas should align with our recruitment when possible.
The Work Still Gets Done.
I’ve never cared about people needing breaks, long lunches, working from home, or taking a comp day. Some old-school professionals or the HR office might get rattled by this flexibility, but the outcomes are still being met. We must break free from the prison of what work looks like. Recruitment is a peak season and a fundamental process, so we must have a flexible approach to work whenever we can.
More Than Numbers.
At the end of any recruitment cycle, I always ask for the numbers–applications, interviews, offer communications–all of it. Comparing year-over-year is good, but it also shows the efforts of our people. We spend so much time on the process and too little time reflecting on the fruits and the people who make it happen. We should be showering our people with the recognition they deserve.
