What is the cost of not being clear?

Work /
Recruit

Written by FG Recruiter Jennifer Sanderson

Making a new hire can be a costly exercise. Career Builder conducted a survey that told us that ‘74% of companies lost on average $30,000 per bad hire’. Getting your recruitment process right is one thing (and we are always here to help you with that!) but there is a major piece to consider before this. And getting this piece right will save not only your dollars but your peace of mind.

Hiring a new employee is almost like entering a new relationship. The same principles apply – you need to be super clear of your expectations and what you bring to the table, and what your expectations are from the other person, the non-negotiables. This eliminates uncertainty, confusion and in the end, a toxic relationship.  At Freelancing Gems, we are passionate straight talkers and deeply believe in the power of ‘being clear.’ It saves time on going back and forth, interviewing candidates that aren’t hitting the mark, and ensuring you get what you actually need from your new recruit.

We have all been in situations where we have a knee-jerk reaction to either replacing an employee who left suddenly or a project that needs to be worked on yesterday to meet a deadline. We get it! However, my greatest advice is to take a breath, step back and really do an assessment of your needs.

Recruit

Asking yourself the following questions will enable you to go to market or engage your recruiter with a very CLEAR mission:

Hiring checklist:

  • What is our new recruit doing?

Is this purely a replacement solution or could you factor more or less into this role? Define the responsibilities of the role.

  • Where does this person sit in the business?

Do you have the seniority requirement for this person right? Was their position in the business working well previously?

  • Do we only need one new employee to meet our needs?

Has the role been considered from all angles? For example, do you need a senior contractor to write a strategy and then a more junior employee to implement it?

  • What is their working arrangement?

Do you need a full-timer, a part-timer, or actually could you use a freelancer or contractor to complete a project in a set period of time?

  • Where will this person work?

Do you need or want someone to be present some or all of the time in the office? Or can this be a remote role?

  • What’s our budget?

Be clear on what your spending is or be clear that you don’t know where your role benchmarks in the current market. Then seek advice and be clear on what you can afford. Don’t waste time interviewing freelancers or candidates that are out of reach.

  • How does this role sit in the growth of the business?

If it’s a freelancer role could it progress into a permanent role? Or if it’s permanent and part-time, can you be candid with the candidate about the requirements of the role in the future, could this turn into a full-time role?

  • Are we selling our culture candidly?

Be super honest about your culture. Focus equally on what type of person would work well in your business and what would not work well.

The other downfall of not being clear is the impact of the candidate’s experience and company reputation. Candidates are not going to leave feeling excited about your company or share a positive experience with their networks if they are receiving a scattered and unclear view of the business.

LinkedIn tells us that it takes ‘on average 41 days to fill a role across all industries. This is based on an employer knowing what they are looking for. Can you imagine the increase on this stat if you weren’t clear on the above – not worth thinking about right!? I think we can all agree our working time is precious and we want to get as much done in as little time as we can. My advice is to, ‘be clear’ always, and if it’s hard to get clear, seek the advice you need to get there.

Need some help getting clear on the role you are looking for, we can help! Reach out on email today to recruiter@freelancinggems.com


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