The Cost of Recruitment

How to resolve the problem of high recruitment costs

Many small to medium sizes business owners wrongly believe that the biggest cost when recruiting is the actual recruiting process. By this they mean engaging an agency, writing advertisements and paying to place them, organising interviews, costing the downtime to be given to sifting CVs and shortlisting candidates, checking references and even basic CV facts, and then the time it takes to get the right person up to speed.

While 86% of business owners believe this ‘costs’ up to ten working hours a week, the alternative - not recruiting effectively - is likely to be much more expensive for any business because it may limit growth, or actually cause the business to fail.

How to resolve the problem of high recruitment costs

First and foremost, whether you’re hiring under your own steam or asking a recruitment agency to help you find new staff, check out what recruitment software will be used.

SAAS (software as a service) recruitment software has revolutionised employment software usage, combining a powerful recruitment database with a features rich applicant tracking system, which - together - save time and help you find the right candidates to fill key roles. Here’s how:

• 1. Recruit in your time, not work time. For many business leaders, taking time off in the working day is just a non-starter. Cloud recruitment software allows you to use downtime such as commuting to be a productive recruiter by, for example, comparing applicant CVs or listing questions to allow your recruitment consultant to dig deep into potential employees.
• 2. Cut to the chase. An effective applicant tracking system lets you remain in real time contact with your shortlisted candidates, alerting you to a change in their circumstances or allowing you to respond rapidly to any questions they have.
• 3. Keeping on top of the top candidates. Sometimes a great candidate comes along but they just aren’t the right person at the right time. An effective recruiting platform keeps you in touch with key talent so that when the time is right, you can find and recruit them effectively.

Why the right recruitment system saves you money

For any business, recruitment failure is a substantial cost, but for SMEs it can be fatal for three reasons:

• Failing to fill key positions rapidly gives your competitors the edge
• While fear of recruiting the wrong person can cause business leaders to attempt to bridge talent gaps by themselves, this can lead them to spread themselves too thinly and lose focus
• Inability to pick the best candidate can lead to small teams in which there is little coherence or common purpose - employment software that lets you compare and contrast candidates in a number of ways helps businesses find the right people to grow their enterprise.

So the question isn’t whether a business can afford to recruit, but whether it can afford not to, and on that basis, cost-effective recruitment software is your best ally.