With the ongoing labour shortage, companies are facing increasing challenges in finding the right talent. This puts a lot of pressure on the HR team, especially in smaller companies, who not only have to bring in the right skills but also ensure that employees are happy and willing to stay.
To alleviate this pressure, teaming up with a specialised partner for talent can bring a host of benefits, including time and cost savings. This leaves you with more time and energy for other important tasks. So, let's take a look at a few reasons why more and more companies are choosing to partner with a recruitment agency.
save time
Recruitment is a time-consuming process that entails various tasks like posting job ads, reviewing resumes, conducting interviews and coordinating reference checks. Getting each step right is crucial, as a poor hiring decision can significantly affect your finances. It's estimated that the cost of a bad hire could be at least 30% of their expected earnings in the first year.
Handing recruitment responsibilities over to a recruitment agency gives you and your team more time to focus on your core business. With their expertise and extensive talent networks, these agencies can significantly reduce the time needed to fill positions. Recruitment agencies have access to a vast network of candidates, cutting down the time spent on candidate sourcing and initial vetting.
This enables companies to find the right talent quicker while retaining control over your recruitment decisions. When working with a recruitment agency you have the final say on new hires, but you won’t need to be involved at every stage of the hiring process.
complying with labour regulations
Regardless of where your organisation is headquartered, it must obey local and international laws on workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities. Recruitment companies possess extensive knowledge in labour law and can provide you with peace of mind by:
- ensuring applications are legal
- varying employment contracts
- distinguishing between employees' and executives' compensation packages
- handling payroll and other workers’ benefits
- managing probation periods and if necessary, dismissals
Working with a recruitment agency can help you maintain a compliant HR department, enhancing company efficiency and boosting employee morale. It can also help prevent costly legal battles and negative brand associations.
Moreover, a recruitment agency can assist you in safeguarding data privacy and security, which is crucial in today's digital age. By collaborating with a recruitment agency, you gain access to their expertise in data protection and cybersecurity throughout the entire process, from collecting data to securely storing it.
securing skills
The job market has been growing increasingly competitive in recent years due to a worldwide shortage of skilled workers. And with research predicting a shortage of approximately 85 million workers globally by 2030, hiring managers must cope with a continuing lack of suitable candidates.
While skills gaps are a growing challenge for all employers, they are particularly problematic for smaller companies without the financial resources to compete with large businesses searching for similar talent. That’s where working with a recruitment company can help.
One of the biggest benefits recruitment companies can offer to their clients is access to a large network of vetted candidates. Recruitment agencies maintain extensive candidate databases, allowing them to tap into a wide range of potential candidates with different backgrounds and experiences. This gives you access to a wider pool of talent to choose from.
making the right pay decisions
Setting salaries for particular roles can be a tricky balancing act. Paying too much brings obvious financial disadvantages, but paying too little puts you at risk of missing out on talented workers who can find better offers elsewhere.
When competing for in-demand talent who can make a real difference to your business, you must get this balance right. After all, pay remains the most important factor in people's decisions about who they want to work for. In Randstad's 2024 Workmonitor Report, more than one in ten of the respondents were concerned about making ends meet due to increased economic concerns and over half wouldn't accept a job if it didn’t offer higher pay.
Specialist recruitment agencies are experts in this field. By leveraging their job market knowledge, recruitment agencies can provide data and guidance on prevailing salary ranges for specific job roles, industries and geographic regions. This significantly enhances your prospects of having your job offers accepted.
Furthermore, a good recruitment agency will be able to inform you about other benefits that are important to attract and keep employees engaged at work. For instance, Randstad's annual employer brand research sheds light on additional factors such as work-life balance and job security, which are highly valued by employees alongside salary considerations.
here are some essential questions to consider when selecting a recruitment agency to partner with.
download our guideflexibility
Flexibility is not just a desirable trait for modern businesses, it is an essential one. In today's fast-paced and ever-changing market, the ability to adapt quickly is crucial for success. This is especially true when it comes to recruitment. By adopting a flexible approach to hiring, businesses can better navigate the ups and downs of their industry, ensuring that you always have the right resources at the right time.
This can be particularly advantageous if you have a fluctuating demand. Industries such as hospitality, retail, and construction are heavily influenced by seasonal trends, with staffing needs varying throughout the year. By partnering with a recruitment company, businesses in these industries can easily cover short-term gaps and manage workload fluctuations. Whether it's hiring additional staff during peak seasons or scaling back during slower periods, a recruitment agency can provide the necessary flexibility.
But flexibility in recruitment is not limited to just seasonal industries. Small businesses in any industry can benefit from flexible staffing. For example, startups or businesses experiencing rapid growth may need to quickly ramp up their workforce to meet increasing demands. On the other hand, businesses facing financial constraints or uncertain market conditions may need to reduce their workforce temporarily. In both cases, a recruitment agency can help by providing access to temporary or contract staff, allowing businesses to adjust their resources as needed without the long-term commitments of permanent hires.
In addition to temporary staffing, recruitment agencies can also assist with permanent staffing needs. This means that you have the flexibility to choose the type of employment that best suits your business needs.
streamlined onboarding
Employee retention is vital to running an efficient HR department considering the time and cost of hiring an employee. While many factors influence turnover, the onboarding process is one of the easiest to address. Statistics from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) emphasise how heavily the onboarding process affects employee retention.
Employees who have enjoyed a positive onboarding experience are more likely to remain at their new position — over 69%. Even a strictly standard onboarding process yields rewards, with over 50% of employees remaining after 3 years. On the contrary, if time constraints frequently cause you to throw new employees into the mix with a sink-or-swim attitude, you may be risking your employer brand along with the new worker.
If you want to enhance your employee retention, it’s time to improve your onboarding process. And by working with an experienced recruitment company, you’ll receive expert guidance to help your program succeed.
A good recruitment agency can take over these and other onboarding duties for you so you can focus on other areas of workforce enhancement. They can help guide new recruits through each step of their employment journey, from acceptance to the end of their probation period and beyond.
job market insights
HR and recruitment is a fast-moving field, with innovations emerging all the time. By staying on the frontline of change, you can gain a competitive advantage and become a modern, agile business.
Recruitment agencies are well-versed in the latest market trends, including shifts in demand for specific skills or qualifications. They can offer your small business valuable insights into the current job market landscape, salary benchmarks and effective hiring strategies. This information can empower you to make well-informed decisions regarding compensation and benefits for your employees.
Moreover, recruitment agencies can also guide you in developing effective hiring strategies tailored to your business needs. With their deep understanding of the job market, they can help you identify the most effective channels to reach potential candidates, whether it be through online platforms, professional networks or industry-specific events. By optimising your hiring process, you can attract high-quality candidates efficiently and minimise the time and resources spent on recruitment.
In conclusion, partnering with a specialised recruitment agency can be a game-changer for companies facing the challenges of the ongoing labour shortage. By teaming up with an agency, you can save valuable time and resources by outsourcing the time-consuming tasks of recruitment. Additionally, recruitment agencies can ensure compliance with labour regulations, provide access to a wider pool of skilled candidates, and give you the necessary flexibility to adapt to changing demands.
If you're considering teaming up with a recruitment agency, don't miss out on downloading our comprehensive guide. It contains essential questions that will help you choose the perfect recruitment partner for your company's needs.
FAQs about recruitment companies
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what is a recruitment agency?
A recruitment agency, also known as an employment agency or staffing agency is a business or organisation that specialises in connecting employers with job seekers. These agencies play a crucial role in the job market by helping employers find suitable candidates to fill their job vacancies and assisting job seekers in finding work opportunities that match their skills and career goals. These agencies typically provide a wide range of services including sourcing, screening and placement. At Randstad, we can go one step further by also handling the onboarding and training process, as your partner for talent. Additionally, we provide comprehensive workforce management solutions to streamline operations.
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why work with a recruitment agency?
Many employers choose to work with recruitment agencies because these services can speed up the hiring process and reduce recruitment costs. Recruitment agencies are especially beneficial for filling numerous positions in a short period of time and finding qualified candidates for those hard-to-fill roles.
First, recruitment agencies typically have a network of prospective candidates already in place. Secondly, they are experts in sourcing applicants and marketing to targeted candidate groups. Finally, recruitment agencies provide flexibility by helping companies to scale its workforce up or down as needed.
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how do recruitment agencies work?
Recruitment agencies work as intermediaries between job seekers and employers. They typically begin by identifying a company's staffing needs and job requirements. Then, they leverage their networks and resources to source potential candidates, which may include advertising job openings, searching their database or actively reaching out to passive candidates. After identifying potential candidates and conducting the necessary assessments, the agency presents their profiles to the employer for consideration. If the employer is interested, the agency often arranges interviews and coordinates the hiring process. In many cases, recruitment agencies also assist with salary negotiations and finalising the job offer.
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how do recruitment agencies charge?
Recruitment agencies typically charge fees to employers for their services in helping to fill job vacancies. In many cases, recruitment agencies charge a percentage of the first-year salary for the position it fills. For example, if the agency’s fee is 20% and the annual salary for the position is £100,000, the cost for its recruitment services is £20,000.
At Randstad, our prices vary based on numerous factors, most notably the type of candidates you’re hiring and the level of experience you’re looking for. A variety of other factors including your location, hiring timeline, and the volume of workers you need may also impact your costs. Randstad’s fees are flexible and customised to your precise needs.
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what is the largest recruitment agency in the world?
Randstad is the largest recruitment globally. For more than 60 years, Randstad has been connecting employers with the talent they need to grow their businesses. In 2023, in our 39 markets, we helped more than 2 million find work and advised over 230,000 clients on their talent needs.
