Business Goods & Services

Recruiting new staff is a costly outlay for any organisation, and the costs of actually advertising for the vacancies is just a small part, so it is critical that a business does this in the most efficient way possible.

Of course one of the chief reasons for recruiting, apart from expansion, is that a member of your team has decided to leave. Evidently one of the best ways to evade recruitment costs altogether is to keep staff turnover down to a minimum. Wages is not the best way to attain this, despite popular beliefs, it is much better to invest in a healthy and effective continuous professional development policy for staff, allow progression wherever possible and make sure that staff feel appreciated. Team building events and investing in staff development will really make a difference here in a way that pay increases seldom do. Another way to keep hold of staff is to be flexible in your requests. Allowing part time working, flexi time and unpaid leave can all help to hold on to a valued staff member who is stressed with other commitments. It may also be possible to let some staff Work From Home depending on their role and this is becoming easier with the development of technology.

Of course you will never be able to eradicate the need for recruitment altogether, in particular if your business is expanding and developing in new areas. So keeping the costs of that recruitment down is crucial. Plan your recruitment strategy well, make sure that all areas of the business are consulted to establish the whole organization’s recruitment requirements and address them all at the same time. Having one push is far more cost effective than many smaller campaigns. You will get a better quote from a recruitment consultant if they are helping you on one big campaign and select one who has a strong Internet Business as they are likely to be more cost effective than a smaller, high street organization.

There is also the option to promote your vacancies yourself. You can do this on the internet on one of the many Online Jobs sites and you can of course select the more old fashioned approach of a newspaper advert. Often a direct campaign online works very well if it is seen by people looking for jobs as they are glad to see the actual employer visible. So many jobs these days are put on recruitment consultants sites and the job seeker has trouble evaluating the role without spending a lot of time with the recruitment consultant. It sometimes seems that there are “generic” jobs on these sites just there to make sure the job seeker makes contact with the recruitment consultant. So as long as you can ensure that your online advert is available for people searching for a new role it can often be a very useful way of recruiting.

The final point is to make sure the correct choice in personnel is made. An individual who is over qualified for a position, or who has ambitions that cannot be fulfilled within your business will be an expensive choice. While they may do a great job at first they will probably move on to another company as soon as it suits them, leaving you with the whole expence to face again.

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