Too big a role for your new recruit?

 

The situation right now

In the UK, unemployment is currently at its lowest since the 1970s. At the same time the demand for staff has been increasing, with more advertised positions being filled. Many companies, we for one are relieved to say, seem to have long shaken off their post-Brexit reluctance to make new hires. In most cases, these new hires are less likely to consider a move elsewhere so soon. All considered, the technology industry, amongst others, is facing something of a shrinking talent pool, and the Marketing and Pre-Sales sectors within it, though not the worst affected, are no exception.

Estimating the cost of a bad hire

Your recruitment process may well be taking you longer than usual. You may be seeing fewer well-matched direct applicants coming through. This might leave you tempted to make an overly hasty hiring decision. Pause and reassess. Remember that the cost of a bad hire is high – likely more than you imagine. It is also very common, with 85% of HR decision-makers admitting to making a bad hire in a recent YouGov survey. A recent report from the REC estimated the cost of making a bad hire at mid manager level (salary: £42k) at c. £132K.

‘How can that be?’ you cry, laugh – perhaps it’s some strangled noise in between – well the loss is much more than just their salary, recruitment and training costs. A bad hire can negatively impact your business in a number of areas, some more, some less easily measurable than others. Consider the effect of a poor marketing manager hire on staff morale, productivity, reputation and brand.

Bear in mind as well how much a good hire – a hire with strong potential to succeed – might have positively impacted the business – increased demand generation, improved your understanding of your customers, strengthened the brand, lifted the Marketing and Sales teams’ morale and improved the team’s productivity. Then the gap between reality and lost opportunity is a great gulf indeed.

What might lead you to hire the wrong person in the first place?

Off the top of our collective heads, here are 3 possible reasons:

  • A company might not carry out adequate research on their specific need. They may well hire the right person for their job description, but not for their business.

The recruiter and the relevant internal stakeholders need to work closely together to gain a deep understanding of what they want and communicate it effectively.

  • An organisation may be too limited on resources or too short on time scale to properly access the candidate market – as a result they only access a fraction of the existing talent pool. Perhaps their hire was the best of a small

You need to access a wider pool of candidates – of course turning to a recruitment partner or agency can deliver in a shorter time frame, but this isn’t always an option, and not all will do a good job (choose wisely!)

  • Correctly gauging soft skills, culture and team fit is no easy task.

In the limited time of an interview it can be hard to get as deep an understanding as you need. Recruiters who have worked with a candidate over many years and in multiple positions, do have it easier in terms of knowing who will fit where and how they perform under different pressures and challenges.

What can you do to avoid making a bad hire?

Again, a quick top 3 recommendations (and a cheeky 4th):

  • Devote time to researching the person your company needs.

It will help to know how you’ll measure that success ahead of time – what will this person need to deliver to make a difference to your business outcomes?

  • Make sure your job appeals to, reaches and continues to engage the right people

With so much competition for candidates, you need to make your job appeal.  In a smaller candidate pool the best marketers and pre-sales professionals can often pick and choose between job offers. As such it is crucial that they understand the potential and benefit of your job offer above others.

  • The job description must be engaging and comprehensive
  • The interview process, positive and informative (both ways), increase the enthusiasm seeded in the job ad.
  • The close, effective. The last interview or final conversation with a recruiter can make a difference as to which offer a candidate goes with.
  • The salary, pitched correctly. Early on this means access to a more relevant talent pool. Later it may ensure you avoid losing a good candidate over a couple of thousand.
  • Tell candidates about the wider opportunity. For many the chance to learn and develop is as, if not more, important than salary. So training, support, experience should all be part of your job offering. Show your commitment to giving a new hire every chance of success. The more information and reassurances, the better.

 

  • Streamline your recruitment processes

Make sure you don’t lose candidates from avoidable delays.  Ensure your employees have the relevant skills to conduct interviews and assess candidates. Training can give a confidence boost and may ensure quality candidates don’t slip through the net.

  • Or, you knew it was coming – go to a specialist, trusted recruitment partner

You could turn to a specialist with expertise in the exact area you’re struggling with: an expert in marketing and pre-sales recruitment within the technology sector. More specifically, a consultant with expertise in Software, Cybersecurity, IT Services, Fintech etc, in product, field, channel, digital marketing etc…

At MarketingMoves we can give you access to a larger talent pool through a network of deep relationships formed and expanded over 20+ years and a daily mapping of the candidate market. They’ll provide you with extended resources to refine your selection and take only well-qualified applicants into the process, speeding up your recruitment process again and mitigating the risk of a bad hire.

Contact Melvin Day on mday@marketingmoves.com  or call 01932 253 352

 

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Scroll to Top