With an economic downturn, staff shortages, cost-of-living crisis, redundancies and market change on the horizon, the next six months are set to be a challenge. So, how you prepare and strategise now, will see you through to the end of 2022. Wiltshire recruitment firm CMD Recruitment share their top tips for getting ahead of the game.
A lot of times when there is economic disruption, the best companies get ahead. This is because, in a time of uncertainty, they get their head down, focus on their processes, and look to the future. They see disruption as a big opportunity. To make this disruption an opportunity, we need to utilise this time now to ensure your recruitment strategy and process are up to date. Of course, the sector of your company will determine how a recession and economic disruption would impact you. But it is still important to assess the impact of a changing economy.
The recruitment sector is still playing catch up from the pandemic and with low unemployment and high demand across various industries, the job market is very competitive. So, when was the last time you revised your recruitment strategy to ensure its fit for purpose?
Now is a good time to look as the better your recruitment strategy and process are the more successful your hires will be.
Are your salaries competitive?
With the cost of living a centre topic and staff shortages rife, underpaying in comparison to your competitors will only put you at a disadvantage. Also, many companies have upped their pay in recent months so if you have not looked at your salaries this year, they may be quite different to your competitors. It could be worth getting your recruitment consultant to run a salary benchmarking review for you, so you know where you sit in the current market.
Ask for honest feedback
Honest feedback can give you a real insight into how candidates, recruitment consultants, and employees feel about your recruitment process. Ask your new employees if there were any areas you could improve on. Ask your recruitment consultant their views, and if they could recommend ways to ensure a consistent strong recruitment process.
How long is your recruitment process?
Use your feedback to determine whether your recruitment process is too long or too short. If it’s too short, you run the risk of a wrong hire for your business, too long and you can lose the candidate to competitive offers. Likewise, onboarding and training plans are essential. It’s likely with an economic downturn that companies and hiring managers will have less patience with hires so now is a good time to ensure your onboarding and training is solid.
Does your recruitment process flow easily or is it too disjointed?
Having too many chains of commands or interviewers will cause a disjointed recruitment process as there are too many involved to clearly keep track and respond efficiently. Like above, a disjointed recruitment process will make your process longer where you can run the risk of losing your chosen candidates to another offer.
These are some simple steps to start looking at how effective your recruitment process and strategy are. With a tough market and a tougher economy on the horizon, it’s important that your recruitment consultant works as an extension of your team and aligns with your recruitment strategy. You want a seamless process, so the candidate has felt supported from the initial recruitment consultant call to being trained in and by your company. CMD Recruitment ensure we work in collaboration with our clients and fundamentally make certain that we have an honest and open relationship to be able to consistently deliver a high-level recruitment service.
Visit CMD Recruitment online at: www.cmdrecruitment.com or call 01225 594016 to get in touch.
