Recruiters and hiring managers spend a staggering amount of time and money sourcing the right candidates for open positions. An effective recruiting strategy requires a cost-efficient solution to help streamline the process. If your company lacks the budget for an in-house HR software solution, you’re not alone. A recent Recruiter survey found that only one in five businesses use an HR software package created by an in-house team. Many small and mid-size employers limit their employee headcount to save money instead of investing in executive recruiting software packages that offer functionality beyond basic screening, such as salary matching or applicant tracking systems. However, many inexpensive alternatives exist if you look in the right places. This blog post reveals six affordable ways to cut 10% or more from your annual executive recruiting software budget so you have enough left over for new HR appointments, updated hiring processes and other initiatives that support growth of your business.
Hire onsite and virtual staff remotely
Remote workers offer several advantages for any business. They’re cost-effective, allow you to work from home when you need to, and present a low-risk opportunity to conduct training and mentoring remotely with your team. When it comes to hiring remote staff, you can hire onsite employees who work remotely or hire remote staff who come to your office. Either way, you can hire remotely with virtual assistants (VA’s) or other remote workers. You also have the option of hiring remote managers, who can work from anywhere in the world with the same ease as hiring an onsite manager, as long as you have the right remote communication infrastructure in place. To effectively hire remote staff, you need to have a clear hiring strategy and an open line of communication with your remote employees. You also need to assess their skill set and understand their expectations and requirements. Lastly, you need to have the right tools in place to keep the hiring process smooth and effective.
Assign your own email address to job applicants
Assigning your own email address to job applicants not only makes it easy to communicate with each applicant but also gives you complete control over how, when and where you communicate with them. This can be particularly useful when you want to communicate with only a subset of the applicant pool, such as those at a specific location or level of seniority.
Use a job search engine for sourcing talent
Job boards are a convenient source of candidate leads, but in most cases, they’re simply aggregators of job ads. A search for “executive search” or “headhunting” on Google or Microsoft’s Bing will produce more relevant results, including headhunting websites, executive job boards and online forums dedicated to connecting hiring managers with open positions. Search engines also produce countless links with valuable insights about the site, such as the number of views, the age range of the audience, and the topics frequently discussed on the forum. This information can help you tailor your job posting for a specific audience and prepare for interviews with candidates who have already expressed an interest in the position.
Hold off on salary negotiations until the right candidate is found
Negotiating salaries until the right candidate is found makes sense in theory but almost never works in practice, especially when the appropriate timing is at the discretion of the hiring manager. In most cases, negotiations are conducted between the candidate and the hiring manager. If you negotiate salaries before the right candidate is found, he or she will likely turn down the offer and go elsewhere. If you negotiate salaries after the right candidate is found, you risk losing him or her due to a salary discrepancy. So, the best practice is to hold off on salary negotiations until the right candidate is found.
Conduct behavioral interviews to assess personality traits
Behavioral interviews use open-ended, behavioral questions to assess personality traits and help hiring managers quickly identify desirable candidates for open positions. This is particularly useful for roles that require a high degree of interaction with members of the company’s diverse team. Behavioral interviews can also be useful for assessing candidates who have experience with the job role but don’t have the requisite experience for the role. Although behavioral interviews are typically conducted by hiring managers, a recent survey found that 81% of respondents think that hiring managers would be more efficient if they conducted the interview themselves.
Offer equity or bonuses as incentives for desired hires
When employers offer equity or bonuses as incentives for desired hires, they show employees that they value their time and talents. Offering equity in lieu of a cash bonus may require additional paperwork and regulatory compliance, but it’s worth the effort. This type of incentive can have a profound impact on the long-term retention rates of your employees. A study published by the Corporate Law Center at Cornell University found that employees who receive a share of the company’s equity as a bonus are three times more likely to stay with their companies for a decade or more than non-bonus recipients.
Don’t believe everything you read online about executive recruitment software
The cost of recruiting software like Recruiterflow can vary widely, so it’s important to do your research and compare pricing before making a decision. When evaluating a recruiting software solution, it’s important to consider the cost per user, cost per hire, setup time, and the time it takes to run a hiring campaign. It is also important to look into the features offered, the scalability and flexibility of the software, and the level of customer support provided. It’s also worth noting that a low price point may not always reflect the quality or effectiveness of the software. It’s important to balance cost with the value of the software’s features and capabilities to ensure that you are getting the best value for your money.
Bottom line
Executive recruiting is one of the most expensive and time-consuming activities in a business’s recruiting process. All too often, a company’s limited budget and short timeline prevent them from sourcing the best talent. Fortunately, there are many cost-efficient ways to reduce your recruiting software budget if you know where to look.