Large organisations rely on sizeable, productive workforces to function at a high level and deliver results for their clients.
Consequently, labour costs represent a significant proportion of your outgoings. It would help if you were sure that you have sufficient human resources to maintain output and that you're attracting and retaining the right talent by offering competitive pay.
Furthermore, there are many other financial factors beyond obvious costs like recruiting and paying staff, such as the productivity losses that occur when vacancies go unfilled, or you hire the wrong person for the job.
When you need to get your workforce costs under control, teaming up with a specialist partner is one of the quickest and most effective ways to do it.
Here are some of the best examples of how working with an HR services provider can help you manage your labour costs:
avoiding bad hires
A bad hire is a scenario that everyone wants to avoid. Recruiting someone who turns out to be the wrong fit for your organisation or who isn't able to do the job to the required standard is a waste of time, money and effort for all parties. It can also be demotivating and damaging to morale.
On a purely financial level, it has been reported that a bad hire can cost your business 30% of the employee's first-year earnings.
One of the most significant benefits of working with an HR partner is increasing your quality of hire. Dedicated HR services providers specialise in recruiting the right people for particular roles by taking a rigorous and proven approach to candidate screening, analysis and reference checking.
This area is where modern tools and technologies like Checkster can prove invaluable.
less advertising spend
Much of the financial commitment involved in hiring workers comes from the need to market and advertise available roles on job boards and other platforms. There is an understandable temptation to position and promote your vacancies in as many channels as possible, but this can be an expensive way to approach recruitment.
The right HR services partner can help you find the best applicants quickly and easily by providing access to a vetted, proven pool of talent.
This takes a lot of the time and hard work out of the process of advertising positions and identifying suitable candidates. Members of staff who would have been required to do this work will be given more freedom and flexibility to focus on other tasks that could generate more value for the business.
reduced admin burden
A lot of administrative work is involved in managing your human resources, from planning shifts to managing overtime and payroll. These activities can become hugely complicated for big businesses with diverse workforces, costing your HR team a lot of time and money.
When you decide to team up with an HR services provider, you benefit from being able to offload a lot of this admin responsibility. Suppose you often use flexible workers during busy periods, for example.
In that case, you can rely on an HR specialist to analyse available capacity, bring in the people you need and look after processes like onboarding and payroll management.
An on-site partner can prove particularly effective if you're looking for HR services tailored to your business's unique demands and challenges.
more flexibility
In many industries - manufacturing being one of the clearest examples - seasonal trends and fluctuations in demand dictate businesses' output and consequently their need for staff.
If you're looking to make the most efficient use of your resources at all times, flexibility should be a crucial part of your workforce management. The services and expertise of an HR partner can help you optimise your flexible hiring and align your talent supply with your production cycles.
You can minimise wasted resources by scaling your workforce up and down as required, meaning you only pay for hours worked, and overtime spending is minimised. Furthermore, you reduce the risk of missed deadlines or orders not being filled due to understaffing.
electronic solutions
Tech innovation is making a vital contribution to the ongoing evolution of HR. Most businesses have something to gain from embracing new systems and technologies to optimise critical hiring and workforce management processes.
As far as cost efficiency is concerned, methods like electronic invoicing and automation of critical tasks such as applicant screening, reference checking and workforce analytics can give your human staff more time to concentrate on other jobs that make good use of their skills.
These processes also reduce the risk of human error, which can have financial implications.
An HR services partner can help you keep up with the latest tech developments and decide which tools will benefit you the most.
travis gibson
commercial manager
Travis works in a core leadership role at Randstad, specialising in In-House Solutions. With over seven years of experience in the recruitment industry across In-House based solutions, Large Commercial Clients, Small to Medium Enterprises, Local Councils, State Departments and federal contracts, Travis offers our In-House division clients a strong level of knowledge and insight.
His passion for WHS and the integration of HR technology into his recruitment processes ensure that all his candidates and clients have the best experience possible.
