Why smart business leaders outsource finding talent

For entrepreneurs just starting out, finding a new employee can be as simple as a handshake between two roommates. But that hiring model doesn’t scale beyond close friends or relatives. Ignoring the fact that handshake agreements don’t equate to regulatory compliance, the tactical work of hiring employees takes away from your time as the strategic leader of your company. Smart entrepreneurs can benefit from help provided by recruiting professionals who can search for top talent. By offloading that task to a dedicated professional, business leaders can concentrate their efforts on growing the company rather than trawling through the ocean of job seekers. Hiring an outsourced recruiting professional can help you not only minimize the possibility of making the wrong hiring decisions, but also minimize the legal liabilities associated with hiring employees. Outsourcing recruitment works for companies of all sizes. I’ve heard personal stories from entrepreneurs running businesses with hundreds of international employees to those with only three full-time employees in a shared workspace and they all agree: working with a professional recruiting consultant enabled them to focus on making the business successful. There are four simple reasons why you should outsource recruiting of new hires to a professional:

1. Proven experience in finding candidates

   Professional recruiters use online job boards along with their professional networks and contacts at other businesses to look for qualified candidates. Their daily experience with these tools and resources taught them where the best candidates gather, making them efficient when searching for prospects. Unlike you, a professional recruiting consultant won’t split their time between recruiting employees and running a business. Therefore, they have time to thoroughly pre-screen job applicants. When you outsource to a professional recruiter, they are the ones sifting through resumes and calling prospective candidates. Again, these tactical tasks are done for you so that you won’t have to take time away from your strategic business activities. A recruiting consultant can also give you a clear picture of the talent in your market. Recruiters personally speak with candidates on a daily basis. They also know how to leverage web analytics tools to obtain valuable data on things like market salary ranges and pay rates. This information on the job market prevents you from spending unnecessary time trying to recruit someone you can’t afford. You’ll be tempted to say: “All of this info is online and I can do this myself using a job board or LinkedIn” and use the analogy of booking travel online. That’s not a good analogy because professional recruiters have pro-level access to online job sites that go much deeper than what we see. Combine that pro-level access with the proven experience and you see why outsourcing makes more sense. Still clinging to the “I can book my travel much faster than outsourcing it to a professional” analogy? Replace “book my travel” with “do all my business taxes” in that sentence. Yes, exactly.

2. Finding candidates in the hidden job market

   If your current talent search process relies on job boards, then you will only attract people who are actively looking for a change. Job seekers aren’t necessarily the best candidates. An outsourced recruiting professional knows how to find and convince so-called “passive” candidates the opportunity at your company is too good for them to pass up. Experienced recruiters have direct access to talented professionals in a variety of industries—and they understand the best way to present an opportunity to get passive candidates interested. Reputable recruiters also have the integrity to approach passive candidates in ways that respect both them and their current employer. Now, imagine how difficult this process of pursuing a passive candidate would be if you had to do it on your own!

3. Compliance, compliance, compliance

   In the process of hiring new talent, HR compliance is a must. For example, it’s crucial that all candidates are pre-screened in the same manner. For companies in the United States, all interview questions must stay in line with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines. For employers in the European Union, the Equality Framework Directive 2000 conveys similar regulations to those imposed by the EEOC. And during the application process, you must ensure all forms are properly completed. As you move into the background screening, this is vital to keep things moving at a steady pace. By outsourcing your employee recruitment to a professional, you don’t have to navigate through the regulatory labyrinth. Without a recruiter, missteps are all too easy to make, and some may prove costly to your business. Rather than worrying that asking an innocuous question to a candidate about prior job experience will have a governmental agent in your office, you can turn this responsibility over to an outsourced recruiting consultant.

4. Gain time to lead

   When you’re a business leader with a million things vying for your limited time, trying to handle recruiting on your own doesn’t make good business sense. The time and effort you spend on strategically growing your business is valuable. That leadership comes at a cost—whether you calculate it with a dollar sign or with a timestamp—that only you can pay. No matter where you are in your entrepreneurial journey, the smart thing to do it to recognize that leadership requires finding good people to do the jobs you either can’t or don’t have the time to do. If any of these four reasons resonate with you, then Amaxra wants to connect with you. We provide a full array of supplemental and fully-managed employee recruitment services. For over a decade, Amaxra has used our Simply Dynamic Workforces process to streamline and expedite talent searches for local startups and some of the biggest and most well-known global enterprises. Contact us to learn how we can help you recruit the best talent to move your business forward.