We all know time
s are tough for business owners and that recruitment is something that organizations need to get right in order to stay competitive and grow. Recruitment is a challenging responsibility and one that is time-consuming and costly, particularly if you engage the services of a recruitment agency, search firm or make a bad hiring decision!
In June, The Australian ran an article titled ‘DIY Recruiting saves money, but may miss the best applicant’ by Tony Kaye. The article essentially had quotes and references from those in the recruitment industry advocating using recruitment agencies! Which clearly only showed one perspective on DIY recruiting.
Interestingly, in the USA around 80% of organizations recruit staff themselves, whilst in Australia it is the opposite (but this is changing). The growth and convenience of accessing talent, particularly through referrals, networks and online job sites has grown to offer us all the same channels to source applicants.
There are some terrific recruitment agencies and recruitment consultants in the marketplace who are specialists in their fields. They often bring years of experience, are well networked and know the industry and market inside out. These people are true professionals and will make the recruitment process a pleasant one for job seeker and client alike. They will charge a placement fee, ranging anywhere from 10%-20% of the successful applicant’s annual salary and if they get you the right person it is money well spent.
If your business does not have the resources, time or expertise to recruit, particularly when looking at those key roles integral to your business, it may make good business sense to engage a recruitment consultant. However, be sure to do your due diligence on both the firm and the consultant. Questions like:
- How long have you been specializing in this field of recruitment?
- What is your educational and professional background?
- How long have you been with the agency?
- Can I see references and / or speak with past candidates and clients about your service?
These questions are not unreasonable to ask. Also, be sure to ask colleagues for referrals to top recruiters and recruitment firms.
Unfortunately, for all those brilliant recruiters out there, there are just as many who are no more (and maybe even less) competent than the average hiring manager or business owner is when it comes to recruitment. The recruitment industry is unregulated with no professional experience required. It has an incredibly high staff turnover rate; so high that as a former recruiter I am embarrassed to even quote the figure.
If you are responsible for managing and hiring staff, it may be time that you get some recruitment training. With the right training (be it formal or informal) and some practice you will find that you develop your recruitment skills and confidence, which result in top hires for your organization. It is a skill that can be learned and its importance is often underrated.
It is not just about being able to interview; it starts with having a clearly defined brief of the type of person and skills you are looking for. Then crafting an engaging ad, which if written well will prevent you receiving large numbers of unsuitable people. It then moves onto the interview process and from here the tests, assessments and reference checking done. The interview should not be a subjective process (i.e.” I like them and think they will fit in with the team”). Rather, more objective data needs to be sought, which is where referencing checking and assessments come in.
I am an advocate for using recruitment agencies where appropriate, ensuring that you select the right ones for the roles you are looking to fill. You may find that your organization’s recruitment process can largely be managed internally with external specialist recruitment agencies being engaged for more specialist roles.
There many pros and cons for managing the recruitment process within an organization; likewise for engaging an agency. It is not a case of one approach fits all and should often be judged on a case by case basis. In a recent post on the Six Figures Blog “Who should own Recruitment – HR or Hiring Managers?” the consensus was mixed, which reinforces the need for a balanced approached to recruitment.
Share your views here on DIY Recruiting – the pros and cons and perhaps even your experiences.
One Comment
Good to see some balanced reporting on the pros and cons of DIY recruiting. Most articles that get published are pushing their own recruitment services and are often biased and self-agrandising.
It is not rocket science to execute good recruiting practices. As you said, it is vital to think about your selection criteria – get that right, then all you have to do is find the superman/superwoman that meets them all!
But they are out there, woooo, and good selection practices can find them. Of course, they will want good jobs with good organisations and appropriate package conditions, after all, these people know they are a valuable asset to a business.
But its not always about the money, reasons why people choose to join another organisation are very varied. A smart recruiter asks applicants what are they looking for, and aligns the corporate package to try to satisfy a high potential employee.
There can be no argument that effective DIY recruiting can save a lot of money. But I believe the secret to DIY recruiting is to have a properly designed process and system to follow, especially one that uses independent testing to ensure an applicant has the attributes needed.
So here is where I show my bias now! After years in the recruiting and staff development industry,I have created an Internet recruiting system to enable professional results by DIY recruiters. It is integrated with the Apollo Profile psychometric test that evaluates 34 factors for career success. This takes a lot of risk and guesswork out of judging the personality attributes of an applicant. The Apollo Profle can reveal perhaps fatal flaws, or certainly mis-matches with the role expectations.
Combined with structured interviewing and reference checking, a DIY employer can give themselves every chance to ensure appointments work out. Whilst saving bulk money, and usually time.
The Apollo Select recruiting system helps employers think through their selection criteria, then provides a simple process to match applicants against criteria. It is easy to see when a person lacks some vital attribute. The Apollo Select system uses a formula to rate and rank applicants against selection criteria, so objective decision making is enhanced.
My personal view is that many recruiters charge far too much for far too little effort and result, and that more organisations should do their own recruiting using a professional system to ensure professionalism. But most importantly, to the best result possible, which is a good match of appointment to the requirements of the job and culture.