The most valuable resource any company has is its employees. When someone leaves or when the business expands, new people need to come into the fold. In 2016, the average employer spent $4,129 and waited 42 days to fill a position. That is a lot of money, and many employers fail to recognize there are smarter, more efficient ways to go about the recruitment process. Here are a few ways to spend less money hiring new people while still finding great candidates to aid your business.
Determine Which Avenues Are Most Beneficial for You
These days, most employers rely on online job boards to find new talent. However, posting to dozens of job boards may not be the most effective method if you only receive resumes from a few of them. Therefore, you need to establish metrics with each online job board to see where the resumes are coming from.
Time you spend posting to job boards is time spent away from other endeavors that could make your company money. Once you receive metrics for a couple of open jobs, you then know how to proceed in the future.
Develop Talent Pipelines
You spend more money the longer a position remains unfilled. However, you may have a pool of potential employees you are failing to utilize. For previous positions you needed to fill, you likely received dozens of applications but only hired one person. You should keep those unused resumes on file. Later when a new job opens up, you can contact people who had all the necessary qualifications but maybe did not stack up to the person who got the job.
Instead of sifting through a bunch of resumes from people who may or may not be qualified, you can reach out to people who have already expressed interest in working for you. These people may still be looking for work, so make sure to use this as a reliable resource.
Create Referral Programs
One of the most advantageous ways to find new people to hire involves creating a referral program within your company. When you have a need for a new employee, inform everyone who already works for you. Encourage these employees to refer qualified friends and family members to apply. In most cases, you will simply need your employees to provide a name and contact information, so you can reach out on your own.
You can encourage your employees to partake in this program by offering an incentive. For instance, if you end up hiring someone who was referred by an employee, then that employee receives a small bonus, gift card or additional paid time off. The cost savings from reduced time sourcing more than makes up for the cost of the small prize.
Finding new employees can be a long and arduous process, but there are ways to make it go more smoothly. If you are spending too much time and energy on these endeavors, then you need to make a change. You could end up saving thousands of dollars annually by creating better methods of recruiting workers.