man with hand in his head

Written by:
Iain Blair

Scaling up your team doesn’t need to mean scaling up your stress.

So, you’re a start-up, and you’ve just received that all-important funding which has unlocked a whole new world of potential. Now you’re ready to get cracking and really grow your businesses.

To do that, you’ll need to get the right people on your team, at the right time – how hard can that be? After all, you’re an innovative business, with a great proposition, funky new offices, and the best boss EVER – you’ve got this in the bag right?

Recruiting the right people on a regular basis is a lot more complex than you might think. Behind every good hire, is a well-honed and time-consuming process.

From articulating your Employer Value Proposition (EVP), to building and nurturing a talent pool, effective advertising, application tracking, interviewing, interview feedback, and the on boarding of successful candidates, the list is seemingly endless.

And it’s not enough to dip in and out – you need to be doing all of these things, all of the time. Without them, it’s like having a car with no engine. It may look great on the surface, but it’s not going anywhere fast!

If you’ve engaged with a recruitment agency, working in the traditional role-by-role way, but don’t have these foundations in place, the experience could be just as frustrating.

Here are just a few of the struggles you’re likely to encounter on the way…

There just aren’t enough hours in the day!

Trying the DIY approach, while trying to do everything else your actual job requires is tough.

As we’ve already mentioned, there’s a lot more to it than just banging out an advert and interviewing the applicants who catch your eye. Before you know it you’ve been recruiting for the same roles for months without any luck, because you simply don’t have the time and resources to run the process efficiently.

Even if you’re working with an agency, there’s no guarantee that your stress levels are being reduced – not when there are fees to be made.

Constant CV Spam

Hiring managers will know that when it comes to receiving CVs, quality over quantity rules every time. Skilfully worded job descriptions and adverts can help, but inevitably you’re still going to be flooded with chancers. If you’re working with an agency and still having the same problem, it’s time to reassess the way you’re working with them.

Under qualified candidates taking up important interview time

There’s nothing worse than meeting a candidate at interview who should never have got that far in the process. A robust screening and evaluation process before applicants get to the interview stage will save valuable time and frustration, but only if you have someone you trust doing it on your behalf.

Agency overload

Once word gets out that you’re hiring, you’ll suddenly have every recruitment agency in the country blowing up your phone, and distracting you from your day-to-day responsibilities.

So what’s the solution?

There are things you can do yourself to improve the process, but if you’ll be hiring on a regular basis you can’t escape the impact that will have on your time (and stress levels).

Appointing an internal hiring manager will obviously help, but managing everything required for a solid long-term recruitment strategy, will almost certainly be more than one person can handle.

Working with an agency could provide the best solution, but only if you’re working with them in the right way. If your agency is embedded as part of your in-house team, prioritising the long-term interests of the business rather than having a short-term ‘bums on seats’ mentality, it’s a step in the right direction.

Do your homework and only work with an agency you trust. Ask yourself…

  • Have they taken the time to understand my long-term business plan and hiring objectives?
  • Do they understand the culture of my business and what makes us tick?
  • Do the consultants that will be working on my behalf have experience in my sector?
  • Do they have an existing talent pool, with relationships in place that I can tap into?
  • Are they using the right technology and tools to enhance the process?
  • Do they bring added value to my business or do they just take on a job, fill the job and collect a fee?

Looking for advice when it comes to fine tuning your hiring process?

Whether you’re wanting a D.I.Y approach or looking for additional support we’d be happy to help.

Our Recruitment as a Service offering is helping hiring managers save 75% of their time to hire while saving all-important cash. Find out all about it here.

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