Although it’s important to have a clear idea about your resourcing needs, this does not mean you have to develop formal recruitment procedures. Rather, it means having a clear idea about your approach to people.
Nice and nimble
John Shein is a partner in boutique recruitment company Salt & Shein. Rather than having a formal HR and recruitment policy ‘we hire opportunistically ... we don’t have a recruitment policy because that can be too procedural. We don’t want to miss any opportunities.’
‘Small businesses need to be agile. Large businesses don’t need to be agile because they have infrastructure and can afford to miss an opportunity to hire someone talented, but small businesses can’t. For us, it’s not about formal job descriptions; it’s about the individual strengths of team members.’
When it comes to finding great staff, there is a plethora of avenues. It’s easy to advertise job vacancies on recruitment websites such as www.seek.com.au and www.mycareer.com.au. The beauty of these websites is so many people access them, so your job vacancies are exposed to a wide cross-section of people.
Outsourcing makes it easy
Labour hire or professional employment organisation (PEO) firms are another way to go. Graeme Haycroft is the principal of labour hire firm Haycroft Workplace Solutions. Companies like Haycroft take over the whole payroll mechanism for a small business. Says Haycroft: ‘companies outsource their entire employment needs to us. We handle everything from finding staff to handling workplace agreements.’
‘There are consequential savings because businesses don’t need a payroll or HR department if they use us,’ he says.
‘More importantly, the workplace arrangements of the PEO mean businesses are charged flat labour rates that include penalty rates. It’s an easy way of introducing capital efficiencies for businesses that operate outside of the 9-to-5, Monday to Friday model.’
Julie Mills, chief executive officer of the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association, advises small businesses to build a relationship with a specialist recruitment firm operating in their area of business. ‘Small businesses that think they can recruit on their own should do the maths and work out the real cost to them of doing this.’
‘You have to take into account the cost of advertising, doing interviews, conducting reference checks. Often, it’s cheaper to use a recruiter,’ she says.
Build a strong relationship
Mills also says using a specialist recruitment firm ensures the business is abreast of its legal obligations. ‘You have to ask yourself if you really understand your obligations under the privacy laws in terms of appropriate questions to ask during interviews, and how to keep candidate records,’ she says.
‘You really need a good relationship with a recruiter, unless you really know everyone in your target market, you can waste a lot of time if you don’t get good advice.’
Instead of having to pay for full service from a recruiter, these days some recruitment companies will charge a flat fee to place an ad and collect resumes, which can be a good first step for start-ups that just want to begin establishing a relationship with a recruiter.
Employment models
Every small business hiring staff should consider the employment model that’s right for them. Are you looking for full-time staff? Could you use contractors? How about casual or part-time staff?
While hiring full-time staff might give the business owner the confidence to spend time training and developing employees, to develop the ability of staff to add value to the business, hiring permanent employees also has its drawbacks.
‘Using contractors can be more secure for the employer because it means they don’t have vicarious liabilities,’ says Haycroft. But, he says, employers who use contractors need to be aware of new contracting legislation designed to reduce ‘sham contracting’ in the economy. An example of sham contracting is when an employer rehires an employee as a contractor to avoid paying entitlements such as overtime.
Under the new laws, many employers now need to offer workers the choice to work as an employee or as a contractor to prove they are not engaging in sham contracting. ‘Contracting is still safe in some industries, but it’s an idea to get professional advice before you use a contractor to ensure you don’t fall foul of the laws,’ Haycroft says.
It’s a great idea for small businesses to use temporary or casual staff from a recruitment firm when starting up.
‘Temp staff are great for a small business, particularly for piecemeal work. Phoning an agency saves the stress of payroll tax, super and workers’ comp because it’s the agency that employs the staff, not the small business. And you can always put the person on full time if they work out,’ says Tracy
Sheehan, principal of the Australia-wide recruitment and training firm Trace
Personnel.