What does recruitment with integrity really look like in a Multi Academy Trust?

The way a multi academy trust recruits its people says more about its culture than almost anything written in a strategy document.

Every appointment reflects the judgements a trust makes about the leadership it needs and the organisation it wants to become. From executive leaders to non-executive trustees, recruitment influences who joins the conversation, how decisions are made and ultimately the experience of children, families and staff.

Trusts are navigating growth, financial pressure, SEND complexity and increasing expectations around governance. Recruitment can easily become focused on filling vacancies, particularly when time is limited.

The most effective trusts often use recruitment as an opportunity to ask a broader question: What leadership do we need now, and what will we need next?

Recruitment reflects your trust’s values

A vacancy gives your board an opportunity to step back and think about whether your trust needs the same leadership it did before.

Replacing someone like-for-like may feel like the simplest option, but it doesn’t always reflect where a trust is heading. Growth, changes in pupil need, new strategic priorities or a different leadership team may all influence the experience, judgement and behaviours the organisation needs.

Trusts that recruit well are clear about the leadership they’re looking for. They define what the role involves, the challenges it brings and what’s expected from the person appointed.

That also means being honest with candidates. A recruitment process should give people a realistic understanding of the trust they are joining, including the opportunities, challenges and expectations of the role. Financial pressures, organisational change and difficult stakeholder relationships shouldn’t come as surprises after someone joins. Sharing those realities early helps both sides decide whether the appointment is right.

The more both sides understand each other from the outset, the more likely the appointment is to succeed.

Integrity is experienced throughout the recruitment process

Candidates start forming an impression of your trust from the moment they enter the recruitment process.

They notice whether communication is clear, whether interviews are well organised and whether they have enough information to decide if the role is right for them. They also notice when the conversation reflects the reality of the role rather than following a standard interview script.

Assessment should be designed with purpose. More exercises don’t necessarily provide better evidence. A well-designed process helps candidates demonstrate how they approach the role and the decisions they’ll be expected to make.

Even when someone isn’t appointed, they should leave understanding how the decision was reached and feeling they were treated with honesty and respect. Reputation travels quickly across the education sector, and recruitment contributes to how trusts are known.

Governance starts before the appointment

Trustees carry responsibility for oversight, finance, safeguarding, strategy and risk. Their appointments should strengthen governance and withstand scrutiny from regulators, communities and fellow trustees.

Dame Julia Unwin has cautioned that closed recruitment limits access to independent voices, narrows board thinking and restricts diversity. For trusts responsible for the education and well-being of thousands of children, widening those perspectives is an important part of good governance.

The Academy Trust Handbook sets clear expectations around board composition, statutory suitability checks and skills-based recruitment. Those expectations can be difficult to meet through informal appointments or recruitment processes that rely heavily on existing networks.

Trustee recruitment deserves the same level of planning, scrutiny and transparency as any senior executive appointment.

Recruitment shapes the trust you’re building

Looking beyond the immediate vacancy gives your board the opportunity to think about how your trust will develop over the next few years. That might mean appointing someone with a different background, widening the search beyond familiar networks or designing a recruitment process that gives candidates the opportunity to demonstrate how they think rather than simply what they’ve done before.

The recruitment process is one of the clearest ways a trust demonstrates its values. Candidates see it in the questions you ask, the conversations you have and how decisions are explained. Long before they join, they’re already deciding what your trust feels like to work with.

Every appointment leaves its mark on a trust. Taking the time to recruit well helps build the leadership and culture that children, families and communities experience every day.