If you are looking to hire new employees for your business, although you might have budgeted for the process, you might need to consider the cost as more than just their salary.
The hiring process has invisible costs to your business; taking time out of your day to advertise open positions, review CVs, interview and eventually train new members. Not least your current teams will be feeling the strain of doing multiple people’s workload before your team is at full strength.
Knowing your cost-per-hire is a good way to determine what budget you have available for your recruitment process. Of course spending more on recruitment will translate into the best people for your growing teams – a worthy investment indeed.
However as a small business these resources might be in short supply therefore being strategic in your recruitment could potentially save your new business some money whilst strengthening your workforce.
There are ways to save money in the process and our guide is here to help you make some important considerations for your small business when hiring.
Internal Promotions
A simple way to fill positions open in your company is to look at hiring from within. When looking to save money on staff, it makes sense to fill positions with people you know fit your company culture and have already demonstrated commitment to your business.
Although there might be a few gaps in experience, investing in development courses and skills training for those already working for you could be a worthy investment.
Internal promotions will help develop a culture of progression and motivate others in the company in knowing their hard work could result in being promoted. This is another beneficial way of retaining staff – in knowing they could advance their career within their current organisation, your employees are less likely to look for external opportunities and leave.
Look to promote internally to foster a culture of progression within your company.
Referrals Rather Than Recruiters
If you have ever been tasked with growing a team within a business you will be aware of the costs that can accumulate with hiring. It also might not at this stage be something you have experience with in your new business venture.
There are benefits to making use of a recruitment agency. As the experts in your industry, they will be able to advertise the position in the best locations, and streamline the process in shortlisting the best candidates to interview.
However, at a time where saving money on each hire is crucial, you might wish to review whether an agency is the best route for you to take. Although sourcing this expert’s advice on hiring helps to free up your time on the aspects of finding new staff, recruitment agencies charge high recruitment fees which can result in the biggest expense for hiring.
You could instead look instead to implement a referral program – a productive method for finding talent internally. Your employees are in the best position to explain the job to others, and by asking your existing teams to recommend candidates for a reward, you can save time in having to source and screen applicants, and therefore save money whilst improving the quality of your hires.
Look To Hire Interns or Graduates
Hiring graduates or interns is a smart strategy that could benefit your business when considering recruitment that can maximise the return on investments.
Obviously a benefit of graduates and interns is that with little experience, they are not expecting to take a job with a high salary and will be open to taking a lower salary.
Graduates are ready to mould and can be easily taught and shaped for the needs of your business – a benefit of not having to spend time in changing the ways of more experienced candidates you bring on.
With high levels of productivity at a low cost, and a likelihood of good retention. Outlining to graduates what the career path is within your organisation will be of great benefit to your internal recruitment plan down the line. Smart hiring in this way could be an effective way for your business to gain a diverse and driven workforce whilst saving you money to invest in other areas.
Most importantly keep the salary competitive for the average in your industry and be honest in job adverts of what you can offer. You don’t want to waste time interviewing candidates who are not interested in the financial aspects of the role.
There might be a better solution for your than using a traditional recruitment agency. Consider the needs of your business.
Hiring Freelancers
There is always the option to hire freelance or contract based staff. With the surge of remote working in recent years, contract work can be more appealing than permanent positions within a company – so there is certainly a large pool of candidates available.
Your new business will always need permanent employees, but there may be some aspects of the business that can be outsourced for short-term contract workers.
Although freelancers will require a higher salary, often they are not entitled to the benefits you provide for your full time employees such as contributing towards a pension or holiday allowances. Typically working from home, you will also save on office equipment.
Of course there are things to consider when taking on contract workers for short term projects, such as making sure you are adhering to employment laws, and having confidentiality agreements in place for anything they are working on.
In some instances, hiring a contract worker will strategically be a flexible and cost effective option. Not only will this save you money on your company’s payroll, you also reduce the risk of making a wrong permanent hire.
