Recruitment business case

A business case is needed to justify why replacement/additional resources are necessary in order to either maintain or improve service delivery for the University as a whole.

What to include 

If your business case is not robust enough it could result in resource requests being denied. Writing a detailed and thought-through business case could save time in getting a position filled if you anticipate the questions that may be asked through the approval process.

The length of and detail within your case will depend on a number of things. Here are some of the areas that might help in putting a case together. Not all will be relevant but will give you a good starting point.

Considerations

1. Can resources be re-allocated, are other areas overstaffed?
2. Refer to strategic plan and departmental plans. Will this help me to get to where I need to be in 5 years’ time?
3. Planned growth areas – new areas of research/education. What is the volume of work now and how do you anticipate that this will change? How does this impact on the capacity of your current team?
4. Risk management – is the role essential to legal and financial compliance and minimisation of risk e.g. health and safety, visa checks.
5. Are there any critical projects coming up? Explain how they may be negatively impacted if you don’t have enough help. Explain what projects you will be able to address with additional resource.
6. Financial viability – how will this affect the budget?
7. Think creatively – it does not have to be a 'like for like' replacement of the existing role.
8. What efficiencies can be made or have already been made within current systems?
9. Student Staff Ratios.
10. Delivery of Education.
11. Delivery of Research.
12. How will this directly support students?
13. How you intend to fill the post i.e. permanent or fixed-term for a defined project or time-limited piece of work e.g. teaching cover for sickness absence or additional admin support during the exam period.
14. Are you already under-resourced, or do you anticipate that you will be in the foreseeable future? This might be the time to address other issues.
15. What will the impact or implications be if you do not have this post in place?