In today’s competitive jobs market, employers are always on the lookout for cost effective ways to recruit new talent.
Recruitment can be a significant expense for businesses, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, there are several ways that employers can save money on recruitment without compromising on the quality of the candidates they hire.
Here we explain how and share our insider tips so you know how to attract top talent without breaking the bank.
Use a recruitment agency
As a recruitment agency that has been around for more than 25 years, you may expect us to say that using an agency like Anne Corder Recruitment (ACR) is the best and most cost effective way to recruit staff.
But here are eight ways in which using a full service recruitment agency like ours can be an extremely effective way to save you time and money:
- They handle the entire recruitment process for you. Full service agencies do far more than just present job candidates for you to select from. The best of them can create job descriptions for you, sit on interview panels with you, provide job market intelligence, and develop long term staffing strategies for your business.
These activities can save employers a significant amount of time and money, particularly for businesses without an internal HR team. Recruitment agencies can also provide specialised expertise in finding candidates for niche roles or hard-to-fill positions, further reducing the time and cost of recruitment.
- They find qualified candidates more quickly and efficiently. Thanks to their databases, recruitment agencies have access to a much larger pool of candidates than individual companies have themselves, and can quickly identify suitable candidates for specific roles.
Highly experienced agencies will also know of individuals looking for just the job you’re looking to fill or who would be interested in finding out more about it. These connections and relationships can be particularly useful for employers who need to fill vacancies quickly or are looking for someone with very specific skills and experience.
- They can provide temporary staffing solutions. Temp staffing can be an effective way to meet short-term staffing needs without incurring the cost of hiring full-time employees. Many recruitment agencies can provide temporary staff at short notice, saving employers time and money, particularly for businesses with seasonal fluctuations in staffing needs.
- They reduce the cost of bad hires. Hiring the wrong candidate can be expensive for employers, leading to lost productivity, reduced morale, and additional recruitment costs.
Full service recruitment agencies can help employers avoid bad hires by conducting thorough background checks and offering guarantees that the candidates they put forward are high quality and are a good fit for the business. This reduces staff turnover and means the successful candidate is more likely to be productive and contribute to the success of the business.
- They reduce advertising costs. When a company engages a recruitment agency, they do not need to spend money on advertising job vacancies. Recruitment agencies have their own websites and advertising channels, as well as volume rates with job sites, meaning employers don’t need to advertise their jobs themselves or promote them on social media.
- They reduce internal staffing costs. When an employer engages a full service recruitment agency, they don’t need to spend as much money on internal staffing costs. Instead of having to use (and pay for) in-house HR staff or other personnel to manage the recruitment process, the agency does this for them.
- They are experts in recruitment. Recruitment agencies are experts in the hiring process and know how to attract the best candidates, conduct interviews, and make job offers. This means that employers can benefit from the expertise of a recruitment agency without having to spend time and money training their own staff.
- They are experts in negotiating salaries. Recruitment agencies can negotiate on behalf of employers, as well as candidates. This means that they can often secure better salary and benefits packages for candidates, whilst helping the business reduce staff turnover, saving them money in the long run.
As an employer, there are a wide range of recruitment agencies that you could use, however, it’s important you select the one that provides the services you’re looking for, shares your values and approach, and has the experience and skills vital to securing the best candidates for you. This will make the relationship smoother and save time and cost down the line.
More ideas for reducing recruitment costs
Referrals
One of the most effective ways for employers to save money on recruitment is by leveraging employee referrals. Companies can offer incentives to employees who refer successful candidates, such as a bonus, extra holiday time, or a referral fee. This can be a very effective strategy when combined with using an agency to source qualified candidates with no links to the company.
Local students
Employers can also build relationships with local schools, colleges, and universities and offer internships to students. This can be an excellent way to find young, talented candidates who are eager to learn and gain experience.
Internships, both paid and unpaid, offer several benefits for employers, including the opportunity to assess potential candidates’ skills and work ethic before offering them a full-time position. In addition, internships can be an excellent way to build a pipeline of talent for future recruitment needs. Some agencies can devise and run these internship schemes on behalf of an employer.
Automation
Companies can also save money on recruitment by streamlining their recruitment processes. This involves automating some recruitment tasks, such as CV screening, to reduce the time spent on hiring staff.
Automation tools can help companies sift through large numbers of applications quickly and identify the most qualified candidates. What’s more, automation can help eliminate bias from the recruitment process, ensuring that all candidates are evaluated fairly.
However, automation can miss good quality candidates by not picking up on nuances or clues in a CV or application that an experienced recruiter would spot.
Video Interviews
Video interviews are another cost effective way to streamline the recruitment process. Instead of spending money on travel and accommodation costs to bring candidates in for face-to-face interviews, companies can conduct video interviews to assess candidates’ suitability. Video interviews are becoming increasingly popular, driven by the Covid 19 pandemic when remote work became the norm.
Video interviews are an excellent way to assess candidates’ communication skills and suitability for a role without incurring additional expenses.
Employer brand
Creating a strong employer brand – the business’s reputation as a place to work – can also be an effective way to attract the right candidates while reducing the cost of recruitment.
Employers can create an employer brand that attracts candidates by investing in employee engagement, creating a positive work culture, and promoting the company’s unique selling points.
A strong employer brand can attract top talent who are attracted to the company’s values, culture, and reputation as an employer. Top quality recruitment agencies can help develop a company’s employer brand as part of their engagement.
Training and development
Employers generally save money on recruitment by investing in their current employees’ development and promoting from within.
This approach has several benefits, including reduced recruitment costs, increased employee loyalty, and improved employee retention rates.
Employers can offer training and development opportunities to employees to upskill them for new roles within the company. Promoting from within can also be an effective way to create a pipeline of talent for future recruitment needs.
Conclusion
To sum up, engaging a recruitment agency can be a highly cost effective way for an employer to find the talent they need, whilst leaving them free to focus on running their business.
However, as outlined above, there are several other ways employers can save money on recruitment if they wanted to do it themselves.
Whatever you decide, the best agencies will always be happy to discuss the different options available, and provide impartial advice, should you need it.
