Group activities
Group activities in a community recruitment group are not “icebreakers” or team‑building exercises — they are the practical steps the group takes to understand local recruitment challenges, identify barriers, gather insight, and take coordinated action. These activities help ensure that community knowledge, professional expertise, and local lived experience are all feeding directly into improving recruitment and retention.
These activities should be simple, actionable, and grounded in what the community already knows about itself.
Develop a Vacancy Tracker
At the start of the recruitment process, it’s helpful to collect baseline information about the vacancies you’re trying to fill. Creating a vacancy tracker helps everyone keep track of what posts are needed, where each role is in the recruitment process, and what progress has been made. A shared tracker gives the whole group a clear picture of the current situation, boosts accountability, and can lift morale when people can see updates in real time.
A vacancy tracker can help you:
- Monitor which post are vacant, and for how long
- See where each post is in the process — from planning, to advertising, to someone being in post.
- Monitor vacancy rates — and review them monthly or every three months to see what’s changing.
- Spot delays or issues — by having a comments section for notes about why someone withdrew, why a post is taking longer, or what barriers are affecting recruitment (e.g., lack of accommodation, waiting for PVG checks). These notes can highlight areas for the group to focus on.
Identify Current Local Recruitment Processes
It’s important to understand how people in your local area currently find out about job vacancies. This helps identify what’s working, what’s missing, and where your community recruitment group can add value.
You can do this by:
- Learn how local people access news and information by identifying the community platforms they use – such as local social media groups, newsletters, radio stations, newspapers, and neighbourhood information pages – so you can share updates and opportunities in the places where people are genuinely looking.
- Looking at how many enquiries each advertised job receives.
- Tracking online activity, such as the number of hits on local websites or the number of shares and comments on social media posts.
- Asking new recruits during induction where they first heard about the job.
- Identifying ways the group could support or improve the recruitment process, based on what you learn.
- For example, use storytelling alongside advertising by sharing a short, human story and photo of a local person in the role to show its real impact, then pairing it with the job advert for a more engaging, heartfelt message.
- Creating a short survey for new staff to complete around six weeks after they start, asking about their experience of the recruitment process.
This activity uses local intelligence to close the gap between where jobs are advertised and where people actually look.
Strengthen Local Communication & Outreach
Once the group understands where people get information, they can explore activities to improve visibility.
Activities might include:
Using local creators and businesses
- Local printers
- Graphic designers
- Photographers
- Videographers
- Community arts groups
- Trusted local messengers and influencers
- Local cafés or shops willing to display materials
Using local talent helps ensure materials feel rooted in local identity and are more readily trusted.
Creating Human-Centred Stories
- Short stories, quotes, or photos from existing staff can help bring adverts to life.
Checking whether messaging feels ‘local’
- Using local phrases, place knowledge, or community-specific framing.
Identify Barriers and Prioritise Which Ones to Tackle
Barriers Mapping Exercise
Identify all known challenges, such as:
- Accommodation
- Transport
- Childcare
- Long commutes
- Lack of induction support
- Limited local training opportunities
- Cost of moving
- Negative perceptions about rural posts
- Previous community experiences with the NHS
The group can then prioritise:
- What’s urgent
- What’s within the group’s influence
- What requires escalation
- What requires multi agency working
Gathering Lived Experience
Talking to:
- Newly recruited staff
- Staff who left
- Volunteers
- Community members
- Local leaders
- Anyone who applied but didn’t take the job
Review Local Strengths and Opportunities
Another practical activity is to map community strengths that support recruitment.
For example:
- Local training providers
- Youth groups or schools (future workforce pathways)
- Community assets (meeting spaces, events, networks)
- Local champions willing to promote roles
- Existing community wellbeing initiatives
This helps groups make the most of what already exists.