Are you developing a new business? If so, you may well require employees to help you get things off the ground. While some businesses can get underway on a shoestring budget with the owner flying solo, that isn’t the case in many other start-ups.
Approaching recruitment for a new business
Recruitment is a role you may not have performed before. Not all start-ups have the capacity to accommodate an HR department to handle recruitment needs. Even if you intend to build such a department, you need to take on the right people for those roles first. There’s no escaping it – you’ll need to interview and find the best people for the available roles. This may be the first time you’ve been on the other side of the table. How can you be sure you’re going to select the best people? One excellent tip is not just to consider how to recruit your first employee. Think about how you’re going to recruit others too. The more streamlined and straightforward the process is, the easier it will be to scale it up in future as well. If things go well for your business, you’ll find it much easier to take on new recruits whenever the need arises. You should also know your business, know where you are heading, and know what you want to achieve in the future. It’s easy to take on someone who can provide the right skills now. You should also look out for those who can grow as the company grows. They’re more likely to help in future and stick around for longer, too.
Investing in tools to help support a new business
Hiring the wrong person can cost thousands of pounds. CIPD estimates that a bad hire costs a business an average of £8,200 (that figure rises to £12,000 for senior managers or directors). That’s a costly mistake for any business, but a start-up is less able to absorb those losses than an established business. Even on a shoestring budget, it’s worth investing in the right tools to help you find the right people and to weed out those who could be costly. More companies than ever before are using recruitment tests to help them make faster and more accurate recruiting decisions. If you are uncertain about investing in the recruitment process, consider how the following questions would impact your fledgling business:
- How much time will you need to look through dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of CVs?
- How easy would it be to miss the one or two gems in those CVs?
- How easy would it be to choose the wrong person?
- How difficult would it be to then remove that person and start the recruitment process over again?
- How would you benefit from reducing the number of candidates before interview by asking them to take skill tests, situational judgement tests or personality tests?
Once you start thinking about the answers, you’ll see how pre-employment tests reduce the amount of time spent on recruitment. They also remove any bias you might have towards certain people – even if you’re not aware of it. This could be positive or negative bias. Objectives for recruiting in start-ups are always far easier to attain if you invest in the right framework to help you achieve your goals.
Where next?
If you’re looking to recruit people to help create the ideal team for your new business, make sure you get it right first time. Our team is experienced in offering advice on a full range of pre-employment tests. One or more of those tests could make all the difference to the quality of your new team. For more details, call now on +44 (0)203 693 2201 to find out how we can help. You can also send an email with more information on your business and requirements.
