Recruitment

The more colleagues in your workplace who are members, the more influence you can have on the decision-making process within your company.

Remember, membership of TSSA offers the best legal and professional employment protection available.

As a TSSA rep you are in a unique position to make a real difference. Most individuals remember when they joined their union, why they joined and who recruited them.

Key points

• Recruiting is a vital part of your role
• The personal approach works best

There are three steps in successful recruiting. 

1. Plan your recruitment

Your best tool in recruitment is information. Collect information from your employer about new staff. For instance, find out which staff already belong to other unions so that you don’t waste time approaching them.

Next, make a list of the people you need to approach, where they work and what they do and target them systematically. You could ask your Personnel Department for a slot in its induction programmes of new employees to talk to them about TSSA.

Also, think about what recruitment materials you need. You can get application forms and leaflets about TSSA by contacting the Helpdesk.

2. Identify needs and show how TSSA meets them

Try to find out what are the most important issues to your colleagues so that you can address them when talking about TSSA.

Asking questions and listening is key. Try to avoid closed questions that only require a yes or no answer. It is better to ask "What do you like/dislike about working here?" than "Do you like working here?".

It can be very influential if you talk about improvements TSSA has made in your company. For example: "TSSA got involved when the finance department was restructured. It persuaded the company to agree to flexible working which was what staff wanted."

When telling your colleagues about TSSA, it is useful to bear in mind the following facts:

• Pay -  On average staff in unionised workplaces earn more than non-union members.
• Holiday  - They also have more annual holiday. 
• Career - People employed by companies that recognise unions have better opportunities for training and career development. 
• Safety - Non-unionised workplaces have twice the rate of accidents as unionised ones. 
• Legal help - Unions win millions of pounds compensation every year for people in employment tribunals and personal injury cases.

Why join contains more information about the benefits and services that come with membership of TSSA.

3. Get the form signed and returned to TSSA or direct them to the website

Make sure that you have an application form with you so that people can join on the spot if they want to.

Application forms can be ordered by calling the Membership Team on 020 7387 2101 or people can join online. 

If they need more time, make sure you have left your contact details so they can get back to you.

You can also visit them again in person - which can be an opportunity to answer any questions they had at your first meeting.

After someone has joined TSSA, they need to be kept informed about what the union is achieving. And they need to feel confident that TSSA is still of relevance and acting on their behalf.

Make sure they know of any successes and are kept informed about meetings, elections and training dates.

If someone does drop out of membership, try to find out why. People sometimes leave when they change jobs or are promoted – they may not realise that they can take their membership with them and that the union can still be of benefit.

If they are dissatisfied, can anything be done about it? Try to make sure you speak to them in person.