How to Recruit in a Downturn

The recession has very few admirers, even insolvency and corporate recovery specialists don’t favour the market condition, but recruitment does not necessarily need to stop all together.

 

All businesses have cycles — periods when you're unbelievably busy and periods where you can take a bit more time to breathe. It stands to reason that your recruitment plans will closely follow these cycles.

When a recession hits, or when the busy periods become less frequent, your recruitment plans will undoubtedly be affected and it's important for all businesses to have plans in place to work through the period in as smooth a way as possible.

 

  • Resist a blanket hiring freeze — whilst this is often the first reaction of any business that sees difficult times ahead, why should all departments be affected? Are you able to look at contract or temporary hires to cover you through this period.
  • Review your suppliers — Which ever agents you use to assist in your recruitment efforts (creative agencies, staffing firms, advertisers, etc), you should look to assess how safe your agreement is with them. As well as ensuring any existing contracts can be fulfilled, you may need to put in contingency plans for alternative suppliers in case any of your current vendors go out of business. Now is the best time to renegotiate your terms of business with all suppliers in your favour. Pro-Tax is realistic and flexible enough to know that now is a time when you need to save costs, and we continue to provide recruitment solutions to our clients with their budgets in mind.
  • Revise recruiting targets — a different situation means a different focus for those involved in recruiting and it's important that those signing off budgets and checking progress are aware of this. Look at your cost per hire, time to hire and retention rates to determine how you can display that you are having positive results despite the general downturn in business.
  • Focus priorities — ensuring you put all your efforts into recruiting high-impact positions will allow you to squeeze the most out of your budget. Look at the various recruiting methods you use and work out which have returned the best results. Recessions aren't the time for experiments, unless they come at a relatively low cost.
  • Prepare for more applications — a recession means more people are out of work, which means you will generally see a higher number of applications per vacancy and more agencies willing to work on your behalf. Whilst it sounds like you will have a nice pool of candidates to choose from, that's only the case if you can physically manage to review all the applications that come in. Plan your job adverts in a way that will allow you to manage the response levels or if you are using agencies, select a few that know your market and can give you a manageable shortlist of candidates. You pay the agency to take the hassle and time consuming aspect of recruitment away from you, so make use of them.
  • Combine resources — Can an employee be used across several business codes and be better utilized. Some Big 4 and Top 10 accountancy firms have tax employees splitting their times across two departments.
  • Show you're a secure option — you still need to sell you role. If you're trying to attract new employees during a recession it's important that you show in your interview that if someone joins your business, they won't be made redundant before they finish their probation period. Mention your recent growth and future plans to show that you're a safe bet.

 

If your business is unable to continue even a limited recruitment program during a recession, there is still a lot you can do to ensure you're prepared for when things do get better.

 

One tactic is to look at how you can shift talent internally. If one department is struggling to justify retaining an employee whilst another is desperately overworked, look at how you can utilise their skills to even the balance. You will obviously need to discuss any possible changes in career paths with employees, but it's often possible to adjust roles and responsibilities if they're attractive enough (and almost anything is more attractive than the prospect of unemployment). Looking at international transfers is one key area most the Big 4 are exceptional at. Not all economies are facing the same climate we are!

 

Look at analysing the various circumstances that have occurred that have put your business in this situation. Are there any triggers that would warn you when bad times are on the way? What can be done to minimise the impact of a recession in the future? As with any recession, be ready to read the signs as when the work does start to increase you need to be ready to recruit and have resources available as soon as possible. Make sure your recruitment agents have clear notice as they can start to prepare searching for tax candidates (many will be on one or three months notice).

 

If you are recruiting for a tax professional call Pro-Tax on 020 3008 4485. We have one of the largest tax databases in the UK and are able to offer you a tailored solution, be that a contingent search, head hunt or advertising. We offer you realistic fee arrangements and have an excellent track record where we have been instructed on a sole basis.