Checklist: Gaining Support for Producing a RJP
Before producing your RJP, gather information and determine to the greatest
extent possible the benefits of a RJP for your agency.
•RJP Goals and Objectives: Communicate clearly what the RJP is designed
to do and why your agency should produce one. A well-designed RJP will not
„scare off‟ desirable job applicants. Keep in mind that the RJP should present
a balanced representation of the job; it should accurately portray both the
positive and negative aspects of the job.
•Time Savings: Whether you produce a RJP in-house or hire a videoproduction
vendor, developing a RJP will take some time. As an example, one
agency spent between 400 and 500 hours over a 15-week period to produce
a 30-minute RJP DVD using their in-house staff.
Your initial time investment, however, will save many hours of “wasted” newworker
training. Consider the number of hours saved for every applicant who
views the RJP and decides against pursuing a child welfare job who would
otherwise have taken the job and quit soon afterward.
•Cost: Determine, if possible, the costs of early turnover to your agency. (For
help in calculating the cost of turnover to your agency, see Cornerstones For
Kids‟, Turnover Tool Kit.)
•Cost Effectiveness: Compare costs of turnover to the cost of producing a
RJP. For example, one agency spent $27,000 to produce a child welfare RJP
DVD using their own staff. The majority of the costs were the wages and
benefits for the employees already on the payroll who produced the RJP. This
same agency estimated that the direct and indirect turnover costs of one
children‟s services worker leaving were over $50,000.
•Effectiveness: RJPs are an effective tool for reducing turnover in
occupations where the job duties are complex and difficult, and where
applicants often have a poor understanding of what the job really entails. In
one study, almost 7 percent of applicants concluded that a child welfare job
wasn‟t right for them, based on reviewing a RJP (see RJP Case Study:
Michigan Department of Human Services).
•Ability: If after reviewing the RJP Tool Kit, you believe your agency lacks
the capacity to produce its own RJP in house, consider partnering with a local
college or university, or contracting with a private video-production vendor.