Hiring can be expensive for businesses of all sizes and shapes. On average, the cost per hire can run into thousands of dollars, which can amount to a lot, depending on the number of people you need to add to your workforce. If you appoint the wrong individual for a specific post, the costs can skyrocket phenomenally.
Lost customers, internal distractions in the workings of your business, and the risk to your brand significantly increase when you hire a person that is not a suitable fit for the particular position. The cost of a bad hire can result in substantial losses to a business annually.
If you are considering bringing new staff members on board, it is crucial to find ways to keep your hiring costs low. Reduce expenses of recruiting new hires without affecting the quality of candidates. Here are some aspects to keep in view and pointers to follow to cut recruitment costs without affecting quality:
1. Mention All Details of the Job Role in Your Ads Clearly
While it is necessary to add some leading questions to your job ads to receive a more significant number of applicants, unfortunately, a large percentage of them would be unqualified. It is crucial to know that applicant quality is of more importance than volume. The best way to improve it is to start the ad with a detailed company summary.
An applicant begins to think about salary and duties, what type of work your company does. Leading questions at the start of the summary will only attract the wrong kinds of applicants, which you do not want when you are looking for ways to keep your recruitment costs low. Some of the other things that your ad should contain, include realistic and concise terms which describe:
- Your company’s or business’ work culture
- The core duties of the role
- The compensation range
- Benefits that you would be offering
- Desired education and soft skills
- Whether this is an onsite or remote job(in today’s landscape, this is fast becoming a crucial aspect while hiring people)
- The application process
While you might not be able to find candidates that tick every box, it is good to hold out with this approach until you find at least a few people who believe they can handle the job responsibilities listed in the company ad. Finding these candidates faster begins with having a better job description listed.
2. Move Through The First Round Quicker
In the hope of pinpointing the perfect candidates, it’s common for recruiters to spend significant amounts of time on too many early-stage applicants, which is the wrong approach. It’s far better to streamline the initial contacts quicker and spend more time on candidates who might sign on for the job. You can consider using an effective applicant tracking system, which will help you sift through the lower quality candidates without overlooking ones that show promise.
With social distancing norms still in place, it’s good to conduct some primary interviews via video conferencing. Today, you can use several online video conferencing tools to expand your talent pool to remote applicants if it’s something that works for your business. Ideally, it’s best to reserve in-person interviews for the candidates at the end of the pipeline.
3. Get Some Help From Your Existing Team Members
When it comes to new hires, referrals are an excellent way to go; it is a top converting source for many companies. However, you should also be adding professional media sites and job boards to the mix while looking for new talent. An excellent referral program will generally have to key components- a clear process and lucrative rewards.
Inform your employees which roles you need new hires for. If they have any people in mind, what are the steps they need to take next? You should also copy the recruiter and prospective candidates on the intro mail and connect with them directly.
Make sure that the referral bonus is substantial enough to be attractive. The best way to keep new candidates in the pipeline is to introduce tiered structures. For example, you can set a certain amount for an initial referral. However, if the referred candidate gets hired and stays with the company for at least three months, the person that refers them earns a more considerable amount.
4. Focus on Employee Retention
Although you need to have definite job descriptions and a systematic sourcing process, they are only one aspect of the broader picture. The best way to reduce costs in recruitment is to focus on retaining your current team. Some of the things you can do include:
- Reduce the overall number of roles that you have to hire for as it will help you save significant amounts of money, not just on recruitment but also on training new hires. The latter can be a high cost for companies.
- If you are not focusing on your team members’ satisfaction, 75% of them would be eager to move out whenever a better offer shows up. Have discussions with your teammates to understand better how you can create a more comfortable and conducive work environment. Review their suggestions and see what you can include in your existing processes to create an encouraging work culture for your employees.
- If you feel that office politics will prevent them from providing honest answers, you can place a locked box in a common location for suggestions. Even if you end up spending a few thousand dollars annually to offer some new benefit, you’ll find it’s cheaper than backfilling positions, only because some of your existing talented employees didn’t feel appreciated.
Leverage The Benefit of the New Normal – Remote Work!
When it comes to hiring mistakes, many well established businesses, as well as start-ups, realise that they end up spending significant amounts of money recruiting and training candidates that aren’t a good fit for their organisation. It is better to start small and not go down that path.
Write your job descriptions, ask for referrals and do this consistently whenever you need to fill in new posts during an expansion phase. Consider hiring remote workers as you might end up identifying excellent talent from any part of the world. When you are not restricted by geography, it opens up a broader talent pool, and that can benefit your company significantly.
In today’s pandemic landscape, remote hiring is becoming a boon for many companies of different sizes and in various sectors. The giants of the corporate world have plans to make remote work the new normal for a more significant percentage of their workforce even after the pandemic threat has ebbed.
Adopt a Focused Approach
To sum it up- prioritise being a better boss to your existing employees and ask them for their ideas and inputs to create a better work environment. When they feel more appreciated and involved, they will put in their best. Focusing on all these things will give you an excellent return on investment.
For more information about how to reduce recruitment costs in our business, contact the experts at Benchmark Cost Solutions at this number – 02 9525 0777. If you prefer, write to us at this email address, and we will revert quickly.
Thanks for reading,
Benchmark Cost Solutions Team
02 9525 0777
