One of the biggest and often most changeable decisions in a business (particularly those experiencing growth), is what functions to have in-house and what to outsource. In the case of recruitment, the overriding decision is usually based on cost versus time. With the recent popularity surge in social media and in particular LinkedIn, an increasing number of businesses are choosing to bring their recruitment in-house in order to leverage these cost-effective talent resources, that up until recently weren't available.
Although bringing in skilled recruiters in-house has many upsides, due to the large overhead cost involved, this is often not a viable option for many SMEs, who wouldn't have the volume of hires to justify the overhead costs involved. This means they either recruit themselves through word of mouth, friends of friends, local advertising, etc - or they outsource this need to a recruitment agency. Due to the increased competition, agency fees have dropped over the years, but still amount to ten to fifteen percent of first year salary - which is a significant cost for an SME business owner. In these situations, the hiring manager should factor in the agency placement cost to the overall budget for the role. The key benefits of in-house recruitment include: -
- Better knowledge of brand and company culture
- Can greatly increase brand and company awareness
- Better candidate engagement
- More control over the selection process
- Able to build talent pools for future vacancies
The key benefits of outsources recruitment include: -
- No constant overhead cost
- You only pay when a successful hire is made
- Big savings in time
- Often less hassle
- Have access to a bigger candidate base and ability to get your vacancy out to a wider network of job hunters
If you have any questions about the blog or would like to arrange a chat, please contact us at [email protected] - we combine the headhunting expertise of an executive search firm, with the personalised, friendly and collaborative approach of an in-house recruitment team.
