New technology removes the pain from recruitment process – just be aware of the need for good cultural fit.
It’s exciting when a small business reaches the stage when it needs to expand the team.
It is usually a good indication your business is growing, but the recruitment process is time-heavy and often costly.
Unless you are a large organisation or a very-well-funded small business, the notion of a recruitment budget and a dedicated talent manager is a fantasy. Traditional recruitment methods can cost small businesses thousands and thousands of dollars in both time and fees to fill just one role.
But it doesn’t stop there. Once the right applicant has been hired, you have the added costs to train and develop them. Onboarding alone can cost a business up to $400 a employee.
Often the weight of these costs forces small businesses to handle their own recruitment. For some this may work well, but for others it may mean poor outcomes, such as high staff turnover, wrong cultural fit, underperformance and so on. The overriding problem is to find the right employee within the available budget, and often the small business owner, or new employee, can feel overwhelmed.
Addressing pain points
However, small businesses no longer need rely on the traditional, time heavy and expensive methods of recruitment and onboarding, thanks to technology. New technologies are forcing HR and recruitment professionals to adjust and adapt, at the same time giving small businesses cost-effective ways to find and onboard the right talent.
Choosing the right technology can help improve business efficiency and the recruitment process. It can help address a number of pain points that can often go overlooked amid the demands of the day-to-day running of a business.
“New technologies are forcing HR and recruitment professionals to adjust and adapt, at the same time giving small businesses cost-effective ways to find and onboard the right talent.”
Case study
A good example of a business that has used new technologies in its HR practices is Australian retailer Beaumont Tiles. Through its staff-selection software, the company has slashed its turnover rate from 20% to 2.5% nationally. The retailer estimates it has saved about $500,000 on its hiring for 25 senior roles alone.
Cultural fit vital
Importantly, though, all the technology in the world will not help a small business save money on the recruitment process if that business is not thinking about cultural fit.
Getting the hiring process wrong can mean heavy costs and have far-reaching effects. Not only can it waste precious funds, it can also impact staff morale and result in turnover of great people.
While skill sets are important, it is even more important for a potential employee to have the right attitude and values that will gel with the company culture and help the business grow.
Cultural fit is a fundamental element of the recruitment process. Get that part right, and you’ll reap the rewards in the long term.
Not only will you have higher employee productivity, but you will also have less need to recruit because people are staying in the job longer – unless, of course, you’re recruiting because of business growth, which often comes from having happy and motivated employees all working together to make the company what it is.
Dr Glyn Brokensha, Chairman/co-founder, Expr3ss!
This article first appeared in issue 13 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
