People are a company’s most important asset, but they don’t have to be your most expensive one. Read on to discover the top six ways to reduce hiring expenses and talent costs, not just during the initial hiring process but throughout the employee lifecycle.
Are you paying too much for talent?
When budgets get tight, companies often ask themselves if they are paying too much for talent? What they should be asking is if they are getting enough out of their employees.
Optimizing your talent ROI has little to do with how much you’re paying them. It actually means making sure that everyone is contributing, growing and engaged. Here are six ways you can boost your talent ROI, reduce employee costs, and never sacrifice quality.
Promote from Within
The easiest thing you can do to lower talent costs is promoting from within. Why? Hiring experienced talent is a lot more expensive than promoting current employees. And with your existing team, you won’t have to train them on your specific business.
It’s also a motivating factor. Employees want to feel valued, and if you invest in their future, they are much more inclined to remain loyal. Don’t just look at their performance; consider their interests and potential when deciding on their promotion.
There are numerous benefits to hiring from within. Internal hires, on average, cost 18% less and are more effective for two years. And that is in addition to the reduced impact of churn, lost institutional knowledge and engagement.
Look One Rung Lower
One of the biggest mistakes recruiters make is looking at titles when hiring?
Why’s that? Because job titles are the biggest culprit in perpetuating workplace bias, and diverse, qualified candidates rarely have the job titles they deserve.
The truth is that you can find tons of highly qualified and motivated candidates who are ready to fill your roles. In addition to costing less, the increased diversity you’ll find at these ranks will also boost your bottom line and engagement.
This rule applies both to external and internal hires, even when factoring in the cost of upskilling them to learn new skills.
Upskill Your Talent
Whether the end goal is promotion or engagement, upskilling and reskilling always benefit your business. It’s the most effective way to close the skills gap and guarantee a supply of critical skills. This saves on costly “expert” hires.
But even more importantly, it boosts the bottom line through increased engagement. The latest studies show that 65% of the workforce is not engaged and that it’s costing you upwards of 30% of their annual salary in lost productivity.
52% of employees will require upskilling by 2022. Starting that process now will put your company ahead of the curve.
Polish Your Employer Brand & Mission
People want to work for a company they can be proud of.
Your employer brand has a definite proven impact on your ROI. It attracts high-performing talent, aids with referrals, and improves retention and engagement. In short, a strong employer brand helps you find and keep the best talent out there.
And part of a strong brand is a strong mission. When you attract mission-driven employees they are 54% more likely to stay for five years. They are also much more likely to grow into high performers. So let’s add those two up! You’re now saving on hiring and retention, but also harnessing the benefits of increased market share gains and triple growth rates compared to competitors.
Engage Engage Engage
65% of the workforce is disengaged, leading to losses of 30% or more of their annual salary. Let’s face it: lost productivity equals lost revenue.
So what if there was an easy way to engage your workforce?
Fortunately, there are several.
Promoting from within is one way to increase employee engagement. So is upskilling. And boosting diversity. And listening to your employees.
As a matter of fact, there were so many ways to boost employee engagement that we wrote a whole chapter on it. Check back in mid-September for our new eBook: Optimize your Talent Strategy to improve performance, retention, and talent ROI.
Use Technology to Reduce Rote Work
Another big source of lost productivity happens during the recruiting process. Recruiters spend 20+ hours reviewing resumés and 30+ hours on passive sourcing. And job boards and recruiting website seats? All of those add up, too.
Curious to know how you can save up to 70% of those costs with a simple upgrade to your current ATS or HCMS? Download our whitepaper Boost your Recruiting ROI with Talent Intelligence.
Learn more about reducing Talent Costs and Boosting Recruiting ROI with our Simple ATS plug-in.
