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As we are moving away from lockdown and through the pandemic, we are aware that the number of jobs is increasing, but surprisingly the number of candidates is not. If you find that you are recruiting now, what can you do to ensure that your preferred candidate takes your role? 
1. Increase your candidate engagement 
Over the last 18 months, there have been some significant shifts in recruitment to manage the need for new staff. We are all aware that recruitment has become even more remote with interviews being carried out remotely either using TEAMs, Zoom or specialist recruitment platforms. However, this can lead to your candidates being less engaged with your processes and therefore your company, which can lead to rejections by candidates at the offer stage. If you are running full remote recruitment processes make sure that you offer the opportunity for candidates to engage differently. Maybe send them a pack pre virtual meeting containing a coffee or tea bag and a biscuit or cake so that after the formal interview you can invite them for a quick coffee to answer any questions that the process may have thrown up for them? Give them your mobile so that if anything comes up during the process, they can speak to you directly rather than having to go through the recruitment agency. If you build these relationships now you will be more successful in attracting and offering to the right candidates for your business. 
 
 
Three fifths of the workforce work within the SME sector, yet when you look at recruitment providers do you see half of them offering to recruit for the SME market compared to corporate? The truth is recruitment is mainly offered as a one size fits all offering – yet the needs of an SME are very different from the corporate sector. If you are an SME looking to recruit, are you aware of the differences between your roles and those in a more corporate environment and what should you be considering in your recruitment process? 
 
 
SMEs are more likely to have roles that offer a breadth of experience and require a range of skills that need recruiting for. 
 
A job role is more fluid within an SME as often the company is growing quickly, and people and processes need to adapt quickly to the regularly changing environment. Corporate positions often have a more defined structure and career pathway through the company. How is your recruitment provider testing candidates to demonstrate their ability to be flexible and adaptable within a role and willing to take on extra responsibilities? 
 
 
 
 
If you think you might need to lose some staff this year, have you looked at the benefits of using an outplacement provider? They can support the positions that are being made redundant, but also those staff that will remain with you. 
The outsourced recruitment model is significantly different from using a standard recruitment agency. If you aren’t happy with your current recruitment provider and are interested in finding a new way of doing things what are the problems you may encounter with using an outsourced recruitment solution? 
 
 
1. You will be charged regardless 
 
The outsourced recruitment model is based on paying for the time it takes to recruit rather than a placement fee. This means that as soon as you engage with a company there is a bill to pay. However, you will find this is much less than a placement fee and you will get much more help, support, and guidance through the recruitment process. If you think that on average it takes a recruiter 6 days to find a candidate for you – then look at what a placement fee equates to – and do the maths, this is a much higher daily rate than you would usually pay for this level of consultancy using an RPO. 
 
 
 
With the UK coming out of lockdown companies are starting to look at some of the vacancies that they may have put on hold to start recruiting new staff. You may be asking yourself - What are typical recruitment costs that I can expect to pay? What options do I have for recruitment? 
 
Whilst there are fluctuations across different industries, typical recruitment costs are between 15 – 20% of your new employee's basic take on salary, if you use a recruitment consultancy or a recruitment agency to recruit. This is usually payable once the candidate has started their new role. There are no upfront costs, and therefore the risks are low – it is the standard “no win, no fee” model. For this, the agency will have looked at their pool of candidates and given you access to the ones that they think are most suitable to the position for which you are recruiting. They will sell the opportunity to the candidates on your behalf and they will also liaise between you and the candidate for booking interviews and should make sure that the candidate is fully briefed before an interview.  
 
If you take someone on, the costs to you are relatively high – and one of the reasons for this is that recruiters know that they won’t fill all of the roles that they are working on. They charge more to those companies that they do place people with as they are not making any money from those that don’t take their candidates on. 
 
What about other options? 
Your business is growing, you have started to employ staff, but how do you ensure that everyone is working together for the good of your business. There are six steps that you need to follow when creating a strong team. I am delighted to share with you the thoughts of Kathy Bassett from Action Coach who explains the six ways to build a winning team. 
 
1) Focus on Strong Leadership 
 
– Having strong leaders within your business is vital, whether it is just you or your management team. You need to be someone who communicates well and who everyone trusts. As a leader you will inspire others to go that extra mile. Businesses that have strong leadership display the following behaviours. Solving problems effectively. Operating with a strong results orientation. Seeking different perspectives. Supporting others 
 
2) Set Common Goals  
 
- You need to ensure that you have a Common Goal. Your team need to have a clear understanding of the direction that your business is heading in, what the goals are for the next month, quarter and year. Most importantly of all, they need to understand their role in the process and how they can help you achieve it. 
 
 
Over the last 12 months, we have seen recruitment do a full U-turn. At the start of the year, there were lots of vacancies and very few candidates. Candidates were “king”. They may have had several offers on the table to consider and companies were having to work hard to “woo” them. As we leave behind 2020 the market is flooded with candidates, some of them have been out of the workforce for the best part of a year as a result of the furlough scheme. Most of them are keen to secure a new position and have lots of skills and experience. They are now finding themselves in a busy marketplace where competition for each role is hard and companies suddenly have the pick of the best candidates. So, what does 2021 look like for a company looking to recruit? 
 
What do we think the top 5 trends are likely to be in 2021? 
You are probably planning for 2021 now. It is also a great time to start planning your recruitment for next year. If you haven’t ever done a workforce planning exercise for the year ahead, read on as to why you should and how to go about it. (and it’ll make your life a lot easier!) 
 
 
 
By looking at your workforce needs over the next 12 months, means that you can plan your recruitment in a more proactive, rather than a reactive way. If you know what your business plans are for the next twelve months then you can plan to recruit the right people to help you deliver your short and long-term organisational goals. 
 
So what 4 points should you consider? 
 
Start by assessing your current situation and reviewing your current workforce. Who do you currently have that aren’t quite at the level that you require them to be? Regularly, when working with clients, I hear managers talking about people who they know are looking for their next role, or are under internal performance measures. What is the likelihood that you are going to lose these people in the next 12 months? Put these expected vacancies into the plan. 
 
Up until March 2020 recruitment was taking place in a candidate-driven market, and this had been the way for at least 2 years. This meant that there were very few great candidates compared to the number of roles out there. Candidates were in the driving seat. A great candidate was in a position to be able to negotiate on salary, dictate when they were available for interview and keep employers waiting whilst they considered the best offer for them. 
Then COVID happened and other strange things started to happen to recruitment too. Firstly, potential candidates who were furloughed, or were no longer confident in the longer-term prospects of their company started to look for their next position. Secondly, huge numbers of vacancies were put on hold as employers started to try and guess their marketplaces and the long-term impact of COVID. Companies that were recruiting found that the numbers of applications started to increase rapidly. 
 
Finally, we have settled into a new norm (well for the time being at least!) where those companies that may have stalled for a while have pivoted within their market place and those that are growing need to fill their vacancies. However, the candidate pool is now huge and will continue to grow over 2021. 
 
So, what does this mean to you if you are recruiting? 
 
With the latest announcement from the government and stricter lockdown rules being put in place, for what looks like could be quite a long time, you may be thinking about putting your recruitment on hold, how can you possibly do a successful recruitment drive during a pandemic? Well we think you can and we also think we can help you do it well. 
 
After a slow and difficult year in recruitment, the pace has changed, it is now quick and rapid. There are lots of great candidates out there – if you are looking for a Business-Critical role look sooner rather than later, the candidates at the moment are proactive – not reactive. At Emerald Starfish we can help you push on with your recruitment needs, we have everything in place to help you fully recruit remotely without coming in to contact with anyone face to face, therefore keeping the risks to a minimum for all involved. Here is how we can do this, all the while ensuring the candidates are right for you and your company. 
 
 

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