Why you should work with a recruiter as a start up business.

At Auxeris, we understand that being a start-up is tough. Cashflow is King and every penny counts. In a classic chicken/egg scenario you need talent to build your business and for it to grow but equally hiring mistakes can break/end your business

Why you should work with a recruiter - bring in the professionals

Your company's success depends on the talent needed so it can grow and become successful so why leave this to amateurs? Bring in the professionals, take some time to work with them so they can understand your business, where it is going, its culture and dynamic and find you the talent you need.

You need to work with the experts and with a recruiter with experience so be careful when dealing with a traditional agency that you are now fobbed off with an experienced junior, your business needs the best for it to scale and grow.

One of the most challenging aspects for start-up founders is to recruit the right person for the right job. As we have said this before (and we say this alot) your company should definitely invest in recruiting and work with professionals like the team at Auxeris. Here are some reasons why recruiting is important for start-ups.

• Helps to build your brand

As a start-up, people are starting to find out more about the idea your start-up is advocating. As a start-up, here is your chance to build a robust and positive employer brand right from the beginning. It is not only easier to start with a clean slate, but an employer brand brings about many benefits for your company as well.

It’s tough, when you’re a start up, you want to get the right skills and expertise on board, you need to find a personality that is able to handle the significant fast pace of a startup. You want someone on your team who understands the businesses demands and the need to scale significantly, while being all hands on deck. You also need someone who can handle change and very quick turnarounds and potentially a change in business direction. As a start up business you are in the testing phase, you’re proving the model and testing what works. You might find, having gone to market, that the client base is more complex than you had realised, or that with a few tweaks there is a better application for your solution. Being lean gives you the competitive advantage to shift gears quickly and pivot the business direction as and when the business requires or the market demands it. You need a heavy hitting team filled with skilled employees who are going to add value from day one. However a start up isn’t for everyone. Often having the right skills isn’t indicative of being able to operate effectively in a startup. You need to be comfortable managing change and be mindful that the start up may not work; there is the potential for huge reward but high risk too.

• Finding the right talent for the right job - so how can you find the ideal candidate?

It is imperative to make sure that you have hired the right person for your start-up. As start-up founders, one should know what it is like working for a start-up – the long working hours, unexpected meetings, attending many events as a form of networking, etc. Therefore, your start-up should emphasise the employee you would like and ensure you find the right fit. If you hire the wrong person right at the start of the growth of your company, the company can face many losses.

Therefore, it is imperative for the company to realise what exactly they would need from the future job employee before deciding. For example, one skill that would be useful for a start-up employee would be to multitask since there are not enough resources to hire more people and form departments.

• Time

Recruiting, done properly, takes time. Lots of time. Endless applications to review, proactive talent search, interviewing, researching the market etc. As a start-up do you have the time for this? Really? Do you have the network and experience to vet and interview candidates? Your expert recruiter will have all of this plus accounts with all the job boards and can manage applications, search the marketplace and do all the prescreening, vetting and early stage interviews and present you with a shortlist of suggested candidates who match your criteria and are a fit for your business. Get the experts to use their time to get the talent you need for your business so you can concentrate on running your business and creating success.

• Scaling your business

We encourage you to build a relationship with your recruiter. As your business grows you will need more hires, if you are working with an expert recruiter already then they will be ideally placed to find your more talent and fast as they already know you, your business and what you are looking for. They can advise you on succession planning and build and grow talent strategies.

• Build an attractive recruitment process

According to a report, 46% of new hires fail within 18 months. A start-up should ensure they do not fall under this category. Inadequate recruitment at first would lead to inadequate recruitment in the future. The initial hire should be flawless and set a good example for the future recruitment. Never forget you are brand building and reviews on Glassdoor count - you want to attract the best talent to your business and first impressions count so make sure your recruitment process is slick, communicative and engaging. Generally the better first impression a business has the more likely they are to stay and hiring costs can be expensive so focusing on talent retention is important.

Post-pandemic hiring is a very different animal to that before Covid. To find the best talent businesses need to have an agility of mindset and approach, adaptability to shifting markets and understanding the candidate-led hiring process. Glassdoor have stated that they believe that 2022 will focus on navigating the new normal and employees’ elevated power. Employee retention is now also fully at the forefront of businesses and it stands to reason that the employers who are agile and adaptable are rethinking old ways of hiring, employee engagement and talent retention and working to recruit better. If you want the best talent, simply put, the need to recruit better.

We say this a lot, because it is true - working with amateurs is not a sensible thing to do. You will lose time and money so let the experts handle your recruitment. Recruit well and you will save money. Retain your talent and you will save more. Use recruitment consultants who are the experts in their field, listen to their advice. Use a hiring timeline so you stay on track and you will find the best talent. Unfortunately a lot of organisations are still working with out of date hiring methodologies, long processes and are struggling to hire. They need to recruit better.

Good candidates get snapped up quickly. If you are taking your time to review CVs or set up interviews then you will lose talent and probably directly to your competitors. Candidates who dip their toe in the market are overwhelmed with options and opportunities so move fast, very very very fast if you want to find talent for your business and be the best in your sector.

Here’s the thing also – that perfect candidate rarely exists. It’s like house hunting, you have your dream home but in the end you have to focus on what is available within your price bracket and if you dither, someone else comes along and snaps it up.

Top tips for talent retention as you build your business

Again, this is another regular from Auxeris - treat your candidates as if they were clients and they will never leave and in addition:

• Respond quickly and politely.

• Sell/pitch your business.

• Offer all calls/video call options to fit in with the candidate’s schedule.

• Ensure the right people are talking to the candidates - can they effectively assess talent and cultural fit? Is there someone better suited (if this was a client then only the best would be interacting with them).

• Appreciate and be respectful and mindful that the candidate may have other options and that essentially they are looking for the opportunity that is right for them.

• Communicate and keep on communicating.

• Pay attention to market rates on salaries and pay what the role is worth, not what you want to pay.

• Do not play games when you get to the offer stage. It will backfire on you and they will walk away. If you are still an organisation that does this then you are tragically out of touch, and no matter how good your benefits package is remember most candidates want to be paid what they are worth, will absolutely know the market rates and rarely change jobs without an uplift in base.

• Be transparent about what you can pay but also about the opportunities working with a high-growth organisation can bring. If what you can offer is an opportunity to shape and grow a business with earnings to increase in line with growth then focus on that but be honest and transparent.

Working with Auxeris

If you are looking for specialist support for your next hire or you would like to talk to us about proactive recruitment and how Auxeris can help - get in touch here for a confidential conversation today. We're an agency that has a network of experienced, specialist recruiters who will work with you to help you identify and recruit top talent for your business. We'll become an extension of your business, an experienced consultative ear, to help you build successful teams that boost your bottom line.