Recruitment is an expensive business and there are various metrics and calculations that are used to try and work out cost per hire. According to Glassdoor the average employer spends approximately £3,000 on hiring a new member of staff. The website Test Candidates though thinks that figure is significantly higher with an estimated overall cost per hire of £7,275-£22,515 depending on the seniority of the position you are recruiting to.
The need to recruit a new employee happens for a whole host of reasons. Your business might be growing and your team needs to expand to support that growth, you might be making a like for like replacement for a leaver or you may have found that you don’t have the skills in your current team that you business needs to be successful. If the latter applies then have you ever thought about investing in growing your own talent rather than hiring candidates who appear to be off the shelf ready?
Developing talent within any business is important and can prove much more cost effective than recruiting externally, so how does this work in reality? First of all, it’s a good idea to look at your business plan, and if you have one your training matrix, to see what skills you need for your business to grow and thrive, and then do a gap analysis with what you already have so that you can identify areas of potential weakness.
Dealing with the skills gap can then take several forms. You could work with a local college or training provider to identify a suitable apprenticeship or T Level pathway to bring someone in at the start of their career and nurture their talent. Some businesses have development programmes for those who aspire to climb the career ladder, these programmes usually incorporate a mixture of technical job specific skills, as well as softer skills. If your business has, or is thinking of having, such a programme it is also worth considering other training that you might include. People can often show high levels of job related skill which gets them promoted to a managerial level role but does that competence mean that they are also ready and able to manage people? Make sure that you also offer training on subjects relating to managing a team such as dealing with absence, handling difficult conversations and how to investigate disciplinary issues.
Growing your own talent is also important in relation to succession planning. Your business can lose a lot of skills and knowledge when someone leaves and is vital that through effective succession planning you identify employees who can be coached and mentored so that they are primed and ready to step up when the time is right so that your business doesn’t suffer.
By developing talent within your business you are also demonstrating to your team that you value them, you are invested in their future growth and success and that you want them to play a key role in the success of the company. This is a powerful message to give to your team and it should result in high levels of staff engagement and morale, as well as strong productivity and low staff turnover.
Do you have questions about growing your own talent and training?
Give us a call at CUBE HR on 01282 678321, we’ll be happy to advise you and we have policies and templates available to meet every HR need.
Why not check out our blog on a similar topic Does My Business Need A Training Matrix?
We also have a YouTube channel with loads of handy videos.
