As England’s leading specialist support staff provider for over 25 years, recruitment is a thing we deeply get. If you’re asking “how do I recruit support workers?” or “how do I find the best recruitment agency?”, here are 5 big questions to guide your search. The truth is: support services are only as good as their people — so let’s dive into how to find the best support workers recruitment agencies.
1) What care do they provide?
First thing first: when you’re on the search for a support worker recruitment agency, you’ll need to know what type of care they provide.
The care sector is a diverse place with a wide range of care professionals, but the best support will always be specialised. Does the agency include residential support? Are they specialised in mental health support, homelessness, or complex needs?
And if they say ‘yes’ to all these, can they actually prove it?
Inside tip: ask what specialist training they provide staff and whether they’ve worked with clients like you (with names!)
2) Which locations do they serve?
This criteria is a mere practicality—but it can be the difference of actually getting support or finding yourself coverless.
Sure, typing in Google “support worker agencies near me” would make this easier, but there’s some important caveats.
There might not actually be a social care recruitment agency near you. And filtering for local agencies might narrow your options down detrimentally.
A solution? Consider an agency that serves all across England (with the evidence to back it!)
3) What is their recruitment process?
This one is a huge one. The difference between an unsatisfactory support worker recruitment agency and experts often boils down to their process.
Do they have an extensive vetting system in place? Who is actually doing the recruitment and how many years have they been doing it for?
A deep understanding of the demands in the supported housing industry and its milieu of challenges is essential. Why? Because it directly determines whether they know how to select high quality care.
Another critical consideration is the training.
Are they typical recruitment agencies that provide no training at all? Or if they train staff, what kind of training do they provide? Again, specifics matter here!
4) What is their reputation?
If there’s one main theme of this post: it’s that the real details matter.
It’s easy to make claims online about being an “expert specialist support worker agency”. But when it comes to delivering that promise, how have they fared?
This is when reputation is everything. When seeking care for your vulnerable people, it’s more important than ever to work with trustworthy, reputable agencies.
So always find out: who have they worked with before? What have these clients said of them? Do they have live testimonies? Have they maintained long-term relationships?
5) How did they handle the pandemic?
This might not seem like an important question, but here’s why it is. Probing into how a support worker recruitment agency handled COVID is finding out how they handle crises.
How well they handle crises translates to how you as a service provider can weather storms. When you’re faced with support staff absences, can you get timely, quality cover to fill in?
The simple fact is: without support workers, service providers can’t stay open—nor provide the essential care that their residents need.
Which is why for this social care industry, ‘any’ support worker agency doesn’t work: it’s about partnering with the best.
AGS Support: Leading Support Workers Recruitment Agencies
AGS Support is England’s leading, specialist support worker agency since the late 90s—working with the likes of Catalyst, Look Ahead, Depaul UK, and various YMCAs.
Together, their team of a senior mental health nurse, Civil Officer, and veteran supported housing service provider brings extensive experience from different areas of the industry.
It’s not just the uniqueness of their 24/7, fully-managed staffing services & hybrid staff training that makes them stand out: but their outstanding service delivery.
“It’s always been about running an excellent operation”, says AGS Support’s founder, Richard Odendaal.”If we’re not there when our clients need us, what good are we?”
During the pandemic, when Greater London Authority (GLA) had to staff COVID hotels for homeless people, none of their service providers could deliver: except for AGS Support. Their incredible success led them to running a total of 6 hotels and building new long term relationships.
“We never say no,” explained Richard. “It’s a mindset we have. When people give us a challenge, we say yes. And we always find a way.”
To find out more or to discuss your needs with a member of the senior team, simply book a free or get in touch now.