So here's the story from A to Z, it's 2024 and the budget is ready... but have you accounted for recruitment in the numbers this year? With the end of the 2023/2024 financial year fast approaching, it's time to factor in recruitment costs to ensure you're well prepared for any unexpected situations. Whether it's a sudden burst in demand for your business services, a change in staff members or a need to gather data insights on the market, it's best to have recruitment fees accounted for. Below, we've broken down the ins and outs of why it's essential to have recruitment costs approved ahead of time, and how you can set yourself up for success in the year ahead.
Budgeting can be a headache at the best of times. Trying to forecast the next 12 months of activity in an environment where things are constantly changing, can be a nightmare. Attempting to predict all the possibilities and flexibilities for when the unexpected happens (i.e. pandemics, natural disasters, recessions, etc) can be a puzzle unlike any other. Despite these circumstances however, there are many things that can be factored in, in lump values, and adjusted down the track such as partnership opportunities, digital advertising spend, and recruitment. Without further ado, here’s the reasons you need to be factoring in your recruitment spend for your 2024/2025 budget.
When it comes to finding the best, you want to work with the best. If you’re paying dollar store rates, you’ll be getting dollar store candidates. Whilst no one expects you to sink the budget entirely into recruitment, allowing enough liquidity for you to engage with the right people is essential. Higher salaries are always going to draw attention and will likely grab the interest of the top-tier candidates in your field. Find Recruitment Director Julian Greaves notes that when it comes to recruitment, you’ll want to allocate a bit extra into the coffers than you initially think, to help cover off all the costs. This includes the candidate salary, any advertising costs, agency search fees, quality checks and more! This could look as simple as:
$100,000 salary + $15,000 agency fee (at 15% of the base salary) + $1,000 quality checks + $1,000 advertising fees + $5,000 onboarding = $122,000!
In some instances the advertising fees and quality checks may be absorbed by the agency you’re working with, but it’s best to account for this just in case!
Normally this is meant in the vein of ‘prepare to abseil out your bedroom window in an emergency’, however we’re speaking about the positive unexpected opportunities. Proactivity will be the winning trait of 2024, as those who are too reactive are left in the dust. Perhaps Q2 will see a boom in your industry with a heightened demand for skilled professionals, and you’ll need the freedom to react and respond quickly. Q3 could see a dip in the recession (optimistic hope) and so consumers are back into the thick of things once again meaning you need to have the workforce to maintain the demand. Having a rainy-day fund for recruitment in your budget, that is pre-approved, gives you a leg up on those in the market who did not think proactively and who are working reactively.
Your recruitment budget could stretch into market surveying or contacting agencies to get the latest data on your industry, to get updated salary bandings, explore candidate movements and much more! Great data insights are invaluable (and if you’re a client of Find, then you can request data insights from us free of charge), however if you’re new to the game then data is a powerful tool to have. The employment market is a living, moving beast and so checking in on things quarterly (if not monthly) is a must to ensure you’re not left behind and missing out on top talent.
We’re one of the only businesses in the market who has access to diversity data about our audience also. As a preferred client of Find Recruitment, you can get access to reports of this data so that you too can see what the 411 is with talent.
As an employer, it’s difficult to predict the movement of your people. Thinking of finding a new job is like thinking about the Roman Empire, for some people it’s never and for others it’s daily (nice little reference for the TikTokers amongst us). Whilst 90% of the time your staff will be content and happy, it was shown in November 2023 that 32% of workers between the ages of 25 and 44 were considering changing careers. Looking around your team of 10, that would mean that 3 of your people could resign tomorrow, and where does that leave you? If you’ve accounted for this ahead of time, it means that it’s smooth sailing and you can spend time working through the off-boarding of the resigned individuals, whilst your recruitment partners source a pool of replacements for you.
Is it really worth your time as a manager to suddenly take on the duties of HR and screen through 100’s of CVs to try and find the right culture fit? When going back to the drawing board, it is more cost effective in the long run to work with an agency and pay for excellence. As recruitment specialists we have the industry experience, the connections, and the environment to filter past the filler and find the individuals who will bring the right combination of skills and personality to seamlessly blend into your team culture. Not to mention, this is all happening whilst you’re focusing on your business and team, meaning you can maintain stability despite the change.
Obviously change can be both exciting and nauseating for some, however it presents the perfect opportunity to get a fresh view on the market. To quote a newly acquired client who tried to recruit for himself “My last recruitment assignment literally took me away from running my business for 6 weeks! It felt like it would never end and seemed to go on 24/7. After all this effort, I then only ended up with one candidate option who was close to the role requirements, I need to pass on this work to a full-time recruitment company so I can get on with my day job!”
So, if you’re ready to build out your budget, and to throw a few extra 00’s into the pot, then now is the right time to be considering it! You can get in touch with any of our consultants to get an understanding of what value of money you should be setting aside for the coming year, or to explore what a relationship between our businesses might look like!
Thanks for your interest in what we do here at FIND. We love meeting and helping amazing kiwis every day and will always do our best for our clients and candidates. We've been simplifying the recruitment game since 2008, so don't hesitate to get in touch if you need our help!
