Ask the Experts: How can I recruit quality staff on a limited budget?
Krishnan Doyle, founder and director of COREcruitment, answers one restaurateur’s query about how to hire quality staff while sticking to a low budget.
Problem: “I run a small restaurant in Newcastle and am currently in the process of setting up our second business in the city. Obviously I’m on a very tight budget, so how can I ensure the staff I hire for my new restaurant will be of a high standard, without breaking the bank?” – anonymous, Newcastle
Solution: Recruiting and retaining quality staff on a limited budget is a constant challenge. You can try following our five simple tips to help your business attract the best staff money can buy.
1. Capitalise on interest
Visitors to your website are already interested in your brand – capitalise on this by highlighting existing career opportunities on the home page with a link through to the careers section of your site.
Enhance your brand as an employer by including a list of employee perks and testimonials showcasing staff success stories (e.g. front of house assistant who progressed to hotel manager).
2. A good referral
Referrals are an excellent way of attracting passive job seekers. Recommendations from trusted sources (particularly from employees recommending ex-colleagues) provide very strong candidates.
We’d recommend not offering an incentive for leads; non-incentivised referrals guarantee there is no bias involved. Ultimately leads will be less frequent but they will be stronger.
3. Think about using a psychometric specialist:
It’s worth thinking about investing in hiring a specialist to carry-out psychometric tests.
When carried out alongside structured interviews and CV reviews, these tests help provide insight into how people work and what makes them tick – enabling you to better predict a person’s future behaviour and success in a new role.
Currently experiencing a resurgence in the UK ( 70 per cent of UK companies with more than 50 employees use psychometric testing), psychometrics can cut recruitment costs by 30-40 per cent and reduce the time a new recruit takes to become fully effective. In other words, testing offers hard, bottom-line organisational value.
4. Invest in the best
Most businesses won’t recruit inexperienced candidates (unless looking for a trainee), yet thousands of businesses expect unskilled employees to recruit for their business.
Bad recruitment decisions are extremely costly and very time consuming. Businesses recruiting on a budget should consider investing in a specialist recruitment consultancy. The right consultancy will deliver immeasurable return – providing expert know-how, connections to strong candidates and access to a quality pool of pre-screened applicants. This is particularly crucial when recruiting for senior positions and specialist roles.
5. Looking good
Finally, keep your eyes open and don’t forget to brief family, friends and colleagues to look out for ‘stand out’ staff. Be complimentary (‘we’re looking for people just like you’) and direct all ‘hot leads’ to the company website to find out about live positions and how to apply.
Looking for staff? Until the end of the year BigHospitality Jobs are offering new advertisers a 20% discount off their first booking meaning that you can advertise a job from as little as £60 + vat.
Please speak to the recruitment team on 01293 610 260 or email erpehvg@ovtubfcvgnyvgl.pb.hx, quoting reference code: ASK.
