Many businesses in the UK believe that their HR processes are outdated and inefficient. This usually stems from two things – first, many recruiters tend to waste a massive amount of time in manual recruiting and other tasks. Usually, these tasks require putting in too much effort and spending plenty of time only to have little return when hiring qualified candidates. Secondly, there’s the inevitable truth that the recruitment industry is changing very rapidly.
To remain competitive in attracting the right candidates in the midst of a challenging job market, companies must optimise their recruitment process. Below are some ways UK Businesses can optimise their recruitment process.
1. Match Your Branding to Your Social Media
Social media is one of the most powerful tools companies use to make them more attractive to candidates and get highly qualified candidates to work for them. HR leaders see this as a more effective and efficient way to attract active and passive job candidates. Active candidates are actively looking for work, while passive candidates are not trying to find new jobs but are open to considering new job opportunities.
To be successful with using social media for recruitment, the first step is for organisations to establish a strong presence on various social media platforms to bolster their brand and showcase their company culture. But remember that a brand is more than just a logo and much more than just a cover photo. It is how you want people to feel about your company, and it’s established by applying a consistent approach in all interactions that people will have with your brand.
For many companies, LinkedIn remains to be the best platform for attracting the right talents. Studies done by SocialTalent found that 98% of recruiters rely on LinkedIn to look for potential employees. However, this does not necessarily mean that everyone is using LinkedIn to search for jobs. This simply means that most recruiters rely on LinkedIn as a valuable resource for hiring the right talents. However, the majority of young professionals these days use a variety of social media platforms. Therefore, recruiters must also consider using these social media channels to reach more candidates.
2. Use an Industry Specialist
Using industry specialists who specialise in hiring specific talents is one way that companies can optimise their recruitment. These specialists are familiar with the industry and the role of the candidates you are trying to recruit. They are also capable of looking for candidates at specific locations. For instance, if you prefer someone from Birmingham, then they will focus their search on that area.
There are many benefits that come with hiring an industry specialist. First, you don’t need to spend time and resources on training. If an employee will be referred to you by a specialist recruitment agency, they have already been assessed for their ability to carry out their roles and responsibilities. So, you do not have to spend some time training the new employees and making them understand your business processes. Another benefit of hiring a recruitment specialist is that it cuts the cost involved in recruiting. The savings will come from cutting out the time spent in interviewing and assessing potential candidates. Also, using recruitment specialists means you do not need to hire your own in-house recruitment team, reducing payroll costs.
The recruitment specialists also help to minimise the risk of hiring the wrong candidates. Hiring the wrong candidate is not only time-consuming but can be expensive as well. Recruitment specialists will spend extra time and effort to ensure that the candidate they will hire is not only suitable for the role but a cultural fit willing to establish a long-term career in your company.
3. Building a Strong Human Resources Department
Attracting the right talents for your company can be a challenge and establishing a strong Human Resources Department team is an even bigger challenge. Remember that the HR team plays an important role in the company since they are responsible for hiring people who can set the tone for development and growth in the organisation. Therefore, you need to focus on bringing in quality HR staff that can help with sustainable recruitment, both internally and externally.
It pays to go the extra mile when it comes to hiring people who can be part of your HR team. For example, if you can afford to pay for a part-time HR manager role, then you will then be able to start building a team, and pulling talent. The manager will be responsible for overseeing the entire HR operations. But compared to the other HR staff members, the manager’s educational attainment, experiences, and certifications must be above board.
Have the candidates undergo cognitive ability tests and conduct reference checks to gather more information about them. Employee credit checks can also be helpful as it lets you peek into the candidate’s financial history. While these checks might seem over the top, they can go a long way to establishing a strong Human Resources Department that can bring in the right people to your company.
4. Hire Locums
Nowadays, several industries are experiencing talent shortages. For instance, in the healthcare industry, dental and vet practices have been exploring different hiring options to maintain proper staffing levels. One of these is to hire locum staff. Hiring locum professionals is one way to quickly bring in quality staff to keep up with talent shortages, which is also more cost-effective than bringing in permanent hires.
Hiring locum healthcare professionals is also one way to maintain high-quality patient care. Usually, when staff shortages occur at a healthcare facility, patient care is often being compromised. The locum professionals can help to ensure that the facility can continue to provide high-quality patient care and certify that the team is well-equipped to handle a full caseload.
Aside from the benefits already mentioned, hiring locum employees can be a cost-effective option. Since locum staff are considered temporary workers, you will not have to pay them full-time salaries. You will not be obliged to provide them benefits packages, saving the company significant amounts of money. So, if your organisation is currently undergoing a staffing shortage, outreaching for vet locum jobs will be a good option to consider.
