I think it is safe to say that we are settling into the changeable market that is present in the UK following the arrival of Covid-19.
The wave of the pandemic has left us with a tighter economy, the sad situation of redundancies and for some businesses, a close to trading.
Recruitment is down 40.5% from 2019, according to the ONS, but that seems to be plateauing for now.
There is good news though, some markets are thriving through the pandemic; construction is rebounding well, transport and storage following a similar recovery line.
To quote the ONS,
all sectors except for “mining and quarrying”” are showing signs of recovery, with quarterly increases; sectors with the largest quarterly increases are “accommodation and food service activities” (24,000), “wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles” (20,000), “construction” (14,000), “education” (14,000) and “transport and storage” (13,000)
What does this mean for your recruitment plans?
What are the benefits and pitfalls of taking all your recruitment in house?
As a business, Signet has worked successfully with many in house teams, and has placed some incredible talent providers into companies which has resulted in reduced recruitment costs over team.
That is an obvious benefit.
There is a trend post pandemic, to bring recruitment in house and to place it in the hands of hiring managers and HR, whilst advising no additional spend be used on partnering with a recruitment consultancy.
This has a more risk element to it.
There are hidden costs in recruitment from software, advertising, social media subscriptions that are not always anticipated when initially writing a job description.
Plus, there is the added complication of time. When adding “recruitment” to an already existing role in the business, you are adding additional workload, and recruitment is exceptionally time consuming. Even more so now, with an increased candidate pool, that must be responded to in order to ensure your branding remains intact.
Currently we expect between 100-350 applications per role. If you dedicate a mere 2 minutes (and I would argue that isn’t enough) to each application then at the highest level that is eleven and a half hours of CV reading – before you even start the process of screening, interviewing and referencing.
Recruitment consultancies have networks of both active and passive candidates; with branding already in place, contracts agreed for advertising and sourcing, and consultants who are experts in their fields.
Branding
If you bring all recruitment in house, then you assume total responsibility for the candidate engagement journey; a perfect opportunity to show off your brand.
If you outsource your recruitment, you need to ensure you spend time communicating your culture and branding to a third party. Time will need to be spent to ensure you get this right.
Both have risk elements; if you don’t create an incredible candidate journey in house, you risk compromising your brand. If you don’t spend the time with a consultancy explaining your brand, you will achieve the same risk of compromising.
Which is right for your business?
I would make that decision based on the amount of time you have to invest in recruitment and the nature of the role you are recruiting for. It is a passionate candidate market at the moment, and the candidate journey must be a positive one, even if they are rejected at CV stage.
If you have the time and expertise to manage all recruitment in house with a seasoned recruiter, I firmly believe this is a successful approach. If it feels more like you are adding to another employees workload; then I would consider outsourcing to an expert who can create a strong candidate journey, provide expert advice and has the time to dedicate to providing you, the business, with an excellent service.
At Signet Resources, we have partnered with businesses for over 15 years and have a team of seasoned recruiters who are specialists are providing an exceptional service. To speak to use about your recruitment needs simply get in touch on social or give us a call on 01628 817124