Navigating Recruitment Options in a Stormy Economic Climate
Irrespective of what we are told about the state of the economy and fluctuations in interest rates we all know that the cost of running businesses of all sizes are increasing daily and it is becoming increasingly difficult to conduct business in today’s turbulent economic climate. Managing the costs of recruitment whilst making sure the right person gets the job are becoming more important than ever.
In this three part series of articles we aim to look at the options available to smaller recruiters from a practical point of view. Particularly we will be focusing on the question of how to choose the most cost effective method of recruitment. Part 1 looks at the pros and cons of doing it yourself. Part 2 goes on to examine the benefits of gaining help from a recruitment agency and Part 3 concludes by discussing the merits of advertising online.
Doing It Yourself
At first glance taking on the process by managing it yourself and potentially saving costs on the initial outlay is an attractive option. Surely, you must know someone who knows someone? And if that fails, you could always run an advert in a local newspaper…
This approach obviously can work initially, however the disappointing truth is that it is usually harder to recruit the ideal person than it first appears. By opting for this route you are not actually testing the candidate market and therefore may not actually be recruiting the best person within the local geography. More importantly, managing the recruitment process yourself can also turn out to be extremely expensive and time consuming. Advertising in local, national or specialist publications can attract unbelievable rates, but becomes an even more costly activity if response rates are low. What’s often underestimated is the fact that lengthy lead and response times can result in exponential amounts of your time becoming swallowed up. And, of course, none of this touches on the costs associated with employing the wrong person simply because no one else was available.
We’ve all been there – so what other options are there available?
In Part 2 we look at a second option - using an agency and ask whether 25 – 30% of annual salary is money well spent.
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