We talk about the benefits of temporary recruitment a lot, happily singing the praises of the agencies we support. But if you’re a business owner, you may still be considering recruiting new team members the old-fashioned way, without the help of an agency.
To help you make the best decisions for your business, today we’re going to outline the pros and cons of traditional recruitment, so you can streamline the hiring process.
First, the basics.
What is Traditional Recruitment?
When we say ‘traditional recruitment’, we mostly mean hiring new staff without the help of an agency. This means posting the listings yourself either online or offline, sifting through CVs, and conducting interviews all in-house.
Some businesses keep things simple by using online job boards like Indeed, while others prefer offline sourcing methods like print ads or word of mouth. A business with a strong social media presence can also use its accounts to search for new recruits, but the results of this are mixed.
So is this approach worth it? Well, there are some reasons to consider it.
The Advantages of Traditional Recruitment
The main advantage of traditional recruitment is control. As a business owner, you want to select your team members carefully; they should be a good fit for the role in both experience and attitude. While you will always have the final say when working with an agency, most provide at least a shortlist of CVs for you to choose from, you do run the risk of the best candidates slipping through the cracks.
You might also be looking for a very specific type of person, who you will only be able to identify through multi-stage interviews. An agency won’t know your business as well, so may overlook the best choice. This is why businesses often prefer traditional talent sourcing when filling high-profile roles like managers and directors.
The last reason is also the most common. Business owners use traditional recruitment because they always have. Instead of embracing the new ways to hire that the internet presented, they continued to do what worked, even if there were disadvantages.
Speaking of which…
The Disadvantages of Traditional Recruitment
The main reason to avoid the old fashioned way is the amount of time it takes. Creating a job listing is easy enough, but choosing where to put it and then managing applications is very time-consuming. If the role is particularly appealing, you could get hundreds or even thousands of applications, and only a few will be right for the role. This makes finding candidates a full time job, and that’s before the interviews even start.
Naturally, you’ll have a good reason to hire someone new. Usually you’ll be replacing someone, who may have retired or decided to ply their trade elsewhere. If this is the case, you want to find a replacement quickly, and won’t want to waste months waiting for the right CV to land on your desk. Temporary recruitment can certainly help fill the void until you find someone permanent, but as we’ll discuss later, this is an option that’s often overlooked.
You might find a list of candidates yourself, and have a shortlist of successful names after the interview process. But interviewing well is one thing, doing the job they’re hired for is another. You’ll be able to tell if someone is experienced from a CV, but they may not integrate with your team very well. Their inclusion could have the opposite effect, hindering instead of helping.
This sets you back a few steps, so the process takes even more time. You may know the business, but agencies know candidates, and will only provide you with the best. With skilled recruiters and the latest tech, an agency can filter through thousands of CVs much faster than you can, so you fill the vacancy faster and barely had to pause your day-to-day work.
You may have your reasons to stick with traditional recruitment, but it’s clear why the vast majority of businesses prefer agencies. But before you pick up the phone and contact a permanent recruitment agency, consider the fact that temporary recruitment is more popular than ever.
When to Consider Temporary Recruitment
We’ve worked with hundreds of temporary recruitment agencies since we opened our doors nearly 30 years ago. That means we can say one thing with certainty: temporary recruitment works.
If you’re looking to hire a new member of staff, it’s always worth considering hiring someone on a temporary basis. Do you really need them permanently? Or is it just an extra pair of hands for a specific project or busy season?
You need to keep your business scalable; too many struggle by having a bloated team without enough work coming in to make the extra salaries worth it.
By working with a temporary recruitment agency, you have access to all the talent you need without the exhausting hiring process. You’ll still be presented with a shortlist of candidates, but they’ll come in for as long as you need them, and disappear once the work is done or things settle down.
If you decide to work with a temporary recruitment agency, make sure they’re partnering with Back Office Support Services so there are no issues.
How we Support Temporary Recruitment Agencies
Our service benefits an agency’s clients as much as the agency itself. We provide all of the following:
If an agency has all of the above, they’ll provide a better service for their clients. Their workers will be happy and ready to jump into action when you need them.
We’re strong advocates for temporary recruitment, and find it surprising that more businesses aren’t embracing it more. So if you need to hire someone new, or just have a vacancy to fill, make sure the temporary recruitment agency you choose uses Back Office Support Services to keep things running smoothly.
If you have any questions about temporary recruitment, or our service, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.
