Recruitment round-up June 2017

June 29th, 2017 | Industry News

The true cost of recruitment

A recent Australian study has revealed that it can cost up to 120 business hours to recruit a candidate, and that getting that recruit up to productivity may be around 50% of the individual’s salary for the first three years!

If that sounds excessive, it does depend on the nature of the business and the recruitment process but, for example, consider that an organisation’s recruitment needs involve: writing a job description, advertising, reviewing and interviewing candidates, shortlisting, taking references, a probationary period and on-the-job training. On that basis, 120 business hours sounds quite conservative, doesn’t it?

Investing time to get the key elements right is vital. The job description has to be appropriate and realistic, interviewing has to be in-depth and relevant (no copying interview questions from the internet and hoping for the best!) and checking references and other due diligence must be comprehensive to avoid wasting time recruiting a dishonest, or simply disorganised, recruit.

The right recruitment software can save many hours from this process, for example, a good applicant tracking system reviews and weeds out inappropriate (as in non-equivalent or non-verifiable) qualifications rapidly, allows for swift communication with each candidate and rapid and accurate recording of responses.

Recruitment industry response to General Election

The election results are expected to have a substantial effect on the recruitment industry, although not in an immediately obvious fashion. For example, those involved in employment law are suggesting that the potential Conservative-led coalition is unlikely to make substantial changes to employment law, although Brexit may lead to huge adjustments in both the regulatory framework and the practice of recruitment.

The Chief Executive of The Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA) said that Brexit, plus the hung parliament, will create increased insecurity and that the incoming Government needs to be focused on putting employment and self-employment high on the governmental agenda to try and create some stability.

Visa controls and border legislation, along with taxation, are high on the agenda for many contracting organisations who employ large numbers of people who work across national jurisdictions – such as couriers, drivers, flight attendants, pilots and fishermen. A concern about reactive changes to employment regulation or taxation has caused many to fear the impact of the General Election result, not least as DUP has some interesting taxation policies – such as reducing corporation tax and removing Air Passenger Duty tax entirely.

Keeping pace with the changes to legislation and policy may require online recruitment software that is responsive to the uncertainty in the marketplace and in government. A recruitment platform that doesn’t have the ability to keep pace with change is useless in today’s fast-paced recruitment environment. Cloud recruitment software offers a cost-effective way to ensure that your recruiting platform is able to cope, whatever government changes are pending.