Two’s company, three’s a crowd and under 250 is a small to medium enterprise – as the government definition goes. If you’re somewhere within that range then it’s likely you have tried multiple routes of recruitment and had both good and bad experiences. Advertising is a standard route for most so I’ll avoid talking about that today. Instead, I’ll aim to introduce you to a few different routes of recruitment and explain some of the positives, the negatives and ways to get the most out of them.
Referrals
I mention employee referrals first because if you’ve only got time to read the beginning of this article you’ve got to least discover the benefits of employee referrals – they’re ace! There has been a lot of research into the value of referrals. This great infographic by social recruiting company, Jobvite is a particularly good example. On average, referrals are more successful at interview, start with the company quicker, stay for longer and are more productive from day 1. You also have the bonus that the people coming through your staff have already been vetted by your staff as someone who would fit in with the culture and approach of your company – this sort of fit is essential, particularly when you’re small.
If you’re going to try and take advantage of referrals, it’s worth offering a referral fee to reward your staff for their referral and to encourage them to send their friends to you. You should think about whether you want to offer higher fees for more difficult to hire roles, or less for very easy to fill roles. There’s no right or wrong approach to these schemes so try and pick an amount that is enough to make it worthwhile for your staff to go to the trouble of referring their friends, but not so much that they’ll send anyone through just to get the fee!
Some pitfalls of this approach can arise from employing too many people who are the same. This will be important not only in terms of the diversity of your workforce, but also the diversity of thought in your teams. If you end up with a group full of people who all think the same and agree with each other, whilst harmonious, it’s not great for innovation and looking at alternative ways of working
Recruiters
Until the stage you are able to hire an internal recruiter (and even after that point) you will likely lean heavily on recruiters. They’re the bounty hunters of the recruitment world, expensive but with access to a lot of great candidates and avenues to find the right people. Many a CFO has paled at a recruiter’s invoice for a key hire and it can be tempting to get burned and avoid recruiters, but they can help you out when you need it most.
If you are going to work with recruiters here are a few quick tips:
Take your time to find a recruiter who wants to get to know your business: A recruiter who understands what you value in people will be able to filter CVs much more effectively and send you only the best people for your business.
Negotiate on terms: Have a look at things like the standard fee % (around 15% is a good deal, but not so cheap that you’ll be at the bottom of their list), how refunds work if the person doesn’t work out and what happens if temporary hires go permanent.
Understand their goals: Recruiters often earn commission based on the % of the final salary the person is hired at. What this means is the higher the salary and the more hires made, the higher their bonus. Their goal is not necessarily to find you the best person who is good value and will stay for the long term.
A good recruiter can be great for your business and get you the key hires when you’re really up against it. If you can find one who understands your company and is keen to build a long term partnership with you you’ll be in the best position.
(Online) Resources
OK, so I had to fudge the heading of this one a little. With referrals and recruiters covered you’ll have some good strong avenues to get candidates in. When I talk about your online resources this is wherever your potential candidates will see you online. Whilst the candidates you get from these sources might be a bit more hit and miss you should make sure your shop front is set up and ready to sell your company to potential candidates. These days candidates are looking for more than just a salary and a job title – they want to see that you’re a good employer, that your values fit with theirs, and that they’re not going to make a mistake coming to work for you. Here are a few key points to consider:
Your website: Everyone who applies to you will look at this, use it as a soft sales pitch for who you are as a company and what you value. Talk about what it’s like to work with you and even talk about ‘politically correct’ topics like equality and gender split – you’d be amazed by how many good candidates will make a decision based on these things.
Review sites: Sites like Glassdoor are rising in popularity and exist whether you approve of them or not. Staff and interviewees will leave reviews of your company and, if you’re not careful, can hang out all your dirty laundry for all to see. Pretend you’re applying for a job, Google your company and ask yourself, ‘how does our company look to an outsider?’
Free advertising: There are a lot of free resources, such as special interest groups on LinkedIn, job sites like Indeed and industry specific forums. Getting access to these can be as simple as setting up a user account and can give you free access to people who are relevant to your company. If you’re not sure where to go, ask your staff, they’ll know all the popular forums and groups to target.
Hopefully you can use these to fine tune some of your hiring – if you’re looking for a few recruitment war stories or other recommendations for how to find the right people check out the HR Hub forums – sharing is caring!
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Photo Credit: If at First You Don’t Succeed by Tom Gill
