Small Firm Recruitment

Recruitment can be a big barrier for small firms. The main reason for this is cost. However, it is a self perpetuating problem. By skimming on the cost you are more likely to get someone in that is not the right candidate for the job. As well as the cost of finding this candidate there will be costs associated with training them and a cost to the business due to the time taken for them to get up to full speed and reach their peak productivity. If the right candidate wasn't found in the first place then they are more likely to leave and the firm will have to endure the whole cost again. They may as a result be even more likely to skim again on the cost of finding someone!



Traditionally small firms will attempt to avoid the cost of using a recruitment specialist and advertising. They are also less likely to attract direct approaches from candidates as they are a small company. They are more likely to use what is referred to as "tried and tested" methods such as word of mouth marketing which is "free" at first glance but not if you take in to consideration what we discussed in the first paragraph.

Another recruitment problem small firms face is they are not able to offer the salary and benefits that a lager firms is able to offer. They offer a more limited set of career opportunities that are dependent on the company growing.
They don't have the same social perks as working for a lager firm like staff nights out. Finally a smaller firm will have less resources available to them to dedicate to searching for and screening potential candidates.

All of the problems above can be placed in to two categories. Finding suitable candidates and then persuading those candidates to want to work for a smaller company. So What Can Small Firms Do About This?

Finding Candidates

First of all the small company should make a decision not to skim on the initial cost of sourcing a good list of potential candidates. It will save money in the long run and help the development of the company. In a small company taking on the right members of staff early on and motivating them can make a massive difference to its long term success.

A lot of people are researching online for vacancies these days. You can advertise on you own website. Give a little bit of thought as to what potential candidates would type in to a search engine when looking for the vacancy you have available. You can use this info to optimise the page. Make a page just about the job you have on offer. Include the closest commonly used name for the vacancy and the location e.g. "sales manager Manchester". Make sure this term appears in the title tag of the page before your company name and in headings on the page. Also include it within the main description of the page. What you are doing is in fact search engine optimisation around the vacancy you have available to help people find it within search engines.

Also consider advertising on popular job search engines like Monster Jobs. If possible get a link back to the page on your site where the vacancy is advertised (again this helps the search engine optimisation).

You should still use word of mouth marketing just don't make it your only form of advertising. Printed media is not read as often as it used to be so it you use it make sure you get it at a reasonable price and in a relevant publication. Older and therefore possibly more senior candidates may still read relevant publications but even they probably use the internet and register with recruitment agencies as well.

Finally look for recruitment agencies that may offer special deals to smaller businesses as a way of getting them on board as a client in the hope that they grow to become larger employers.

Attracting The Right Candidate

As we mentioned earlier it can be hard to attract a candidate if you are a smaller company. You should emphasise that as they are getting in with a smaller company early on they will have opportunities to grow with the company. Smaller companies may also be able to offer more flexibility and a less stressful working environment. The company structure will probably be less formal then larger companies. There will be less corporate "red tape" as there are less legal requirements for smaller companies. They will have closer relationships with the people they work with. They are more likely to be part of a close nit team.

The candidate will probably have more responsibility and will be more able to contribute in a big way to the success of the firm instead of just being one person in a sea of people.

Positions in smaller firms usually offer a wider variety of tasks so it will keep the job interesting and give them a wider range of experience. For example in larger companies there may be separate teams for admin, accounts, IT and HR but in a smaller company you may get experience of all of these as well as your main role. As the company grows the candidate would have an opportunity to specialise in one of these roles.

Finally, you as a small business owner are making a substantial investment in taking on an employee so make them aware of this and that it means you will be going to greater lengths to make sure they are comfortable, happy and productive in the company. This is more then they may get from a line manager that is just another employee within the company.

Using A Senior Recruitment Specialist

Recruiting the right senior staff is obviously of extreme importance to any business and will make and shape the future of the company. There are a variety of different ways you can try and find this member of staff and one of them is to use a recruitment agency or head hunter.

The recruitment agencies you decide to use will vary in size, charging structure, areas of expertise and recruitment methods.

Size

There is a wide difference in the size of different agencies from "one man bands" to very large multi-national companies. The larger companies will have lots of resources, a variety of channels to find the idea candidate including a big internet presence. They will have large numbers of candidates on their books of varying quality. They will have more candidates that closely match your recruitment criteria. The disadvantages to the larger recruitment agencies are that their fees may be higher. They will have lots of employees so there is a higher chance there will be a couple that aren't very good within the mix and you may end up dealing with them. Clear communication can be harder when dealing with a large company which could result in candidates not being what you expected. At the other end of the extreme using an individual head hunter will mean that you get very clear communication and will always be dealing with a single individual who will obviously be very familiar with you, your requirements and what candidates he has available that match this or how he may be able to source one.

Charging Structure

Recruitment companies charge a fee if they place a candidate that is still there after an agreed probation period. Usual this fee represents 10% to 20% of the candidates annual salary. Some companies also charge an initial up front fee. Larger recruiters will offer a range of services all priced differently including advertising on their website and within advertising space they occupy within recruitment and specific trade magazines.

Areas of Expertise

Larger recruitment organisations may cover all areas to some degree but perhaps not in as much depth as someone who specialises within a particular area. Some recruiters will specialise within certain sectors such as aviation recruitment where they will have candidates for all roles an aviation company like an airport may require. Alternatively they may specialise in certain types of staff for example IT staff or marketing staff which you would need for your own internet IT or marketing issues regardless of sector. Agencies may also cover limited geographical areas such as candidates wanting to work in Manchester. If you are recruiting for a specialist or senior roll and can find an agency that specialises in the area you are looking for and their fees are reasonable then you will find them more helpful then going to a larger "one size fits all" agency where you may end up dealing with someone that has never recruited for your particular sector or roll.

Recruitment Methods

Larger recruitment organisations will have candidates who apply to them in response to advertising or their website. The smaller companies will have paid for databases of candidates that are looking for work. They will never speak to these candidates until something comes up. Some may specialise in word of mouth marketing and recommendation such as head hunters. The more sophisticated methods of finding a candidate will result in more specialised candidates. Try to find one that fits in with what you are looking for. Starting with the larger companies for the more standard candidates to head hunters if you are looking for some to head a multi-million pound organisation.

Having a think about the roll you are recruiting for and the four areas mentioned above - size, charging structure, areas of expertise and recruitment methods should help you identify the right type of agency for your needs.

Using the internet you will be able to find lists of recruiters to screen before approaching any of them. There are recruiter directories such as i-recruit.com. You will be able to check out their website to get a feel for the four areas mentioned above. If they recruit candidates through the internet that may be evident on their website.

Once a shortlist of suitable candidates have been found you will still need to meet and interview these candidates. There is still a lot of work to done on your behalf and a good interview technique will really help you identify the best candidate.

Using a headhunter or recruitment agency does not guarantee you will find a suitable candidate. You should always consider other approaches including advertising on your website. Not every candidate uses recruit agencies or recruitment websites.