There is an age old axiom that “good help is hard to find.” Well the reason it is an axiom is because it is often true. In a good economy and in times of strong economic growth, employers must hire to fill in positions, and sometimes they cannot be quite as particular who they recruit for these jobs. But in tough times and in a bad economy, employers must be very selective and discriminate not only according to skill sets but with concern who will make the best fit into that business environment, and who is geared to grow through the company.
Not an easy choice. And it is even tougher when the small business employer lacks a human resources manager. It may seem odd, but when the economy is down, business is tight, and the employer is looking to shave wherever possible, then a full time human resources manager may seem superfluous. I mean, if there is no hiring and when in fact there are more layoffs than recruiting, the HR person, unfortunately, may be just another paycheck. As exemplified in a New York Times article, a Washington State Small Business arrived at this dilemma.
Wisely, Mark Sims, the owner of Fikes Products decided to work with a professional recruiter. when he needed to hire a new operations manager. A professional recruiter by virtue of his experience knows what to look for and is more capable of discerning the skill sets, managing interviews, knowing which questions to ask and ascertaining the quality and veracity of the employment candidate’s answer. The professional recruiter can best arrange for employment screening and conduct the necessary follow up interviews and is better prepared to negotiate salaries.
One person interviewed suggested that small business employers in this position mine the colleges in their area for viable candidates. Recruiting from local colleges is a very good idea, and we know of several substantial firms that make it policy to staff hires from the local universities.
Although you may be paying the recruiter twenty to thirty percent of your new hire’s annual salary, in the long run this is likely to be cost effective. Quality recruiting can lead to long term employment of quality personnel. The money an employer pays up front will often prove a lot less than the money that can be spent on a bad hire, what with retraining, possible litigation, and assorted expenses.
But then, according to the article, there is one caveat. In this one particular instance, the operations manager that was hired is no longer with the company. So, there is another age-old axiom…”sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn’t.”
