Recruitment Vs Grow your Own

1st November 2017

Recruiting externally will always be necessary to some degree, but it is worth thinking about how you can use other options. However rigorous a recruitment programme is, you never really know what you have until the individual recruited has been in post for 8-12 weeks. External recruitment involves considerable management time in sifting CV’s, interviewing; implementing induction and familiarisation processes and that is before you factor in recruitment agents fees.

Having a transparent career progression for staff benefits the business in a number of ways. It improves staff retention and skill sets which raise capability across the board. It helps you address the skills shortages that may be apparent when you do go to the market place and it also motivates people. All of that enhances the value of the people in the business. For any business, its people are a huge asset in being able to build and sustain success.

There is a view that good people, like cream, will always rise to the top so there is no need to have any particular plan in place. The problem is that such an approach is unlikely to benefit that business. Their good people will have moved on to businesses where they see opportunities for new challenges and advancement.

Of course not everyone can be; or indeed wants to be; a manager and a business cannot make promotions if the places are not there or do not fit the strategy. It will always be important to manage expectations and also to acknowledge the value of those who have decided they enjoy the job they do and do not wish to take on further responsibility.

Every business will have something in its Strategic Plan which is staff related, whether it be connected with expansion plans or succession planning. However it would be worthwhile taking a look at whether you have a career progression ethos. Even if your Directors know that is what they are hoping to achieve, has that been sensibly communicated to your staff and are you being proactive in demonstrating it.

Herrington Carmichael as a law firm has plenty of experience in taking on trainee solicitors and completing their training to produce fully fledged lawyers. We are always looking to grow our own junior lawyers and encourage support staff to step up and obtain qualifications to become paralegals and Legal Executives. The practical help includes paying for the courses and exams and assisting with study leave.

We have been Investors in People accredited since 1998 and that certainly helped us incorporate these themes into our strategic thinking. We have now started a more structured programme for leadership and management skills. This is not something we do to “tick a box” for IIP, we do it because we see the benefits it brings.

The other initiative which can help businesses develop in this area is the Apprenticeship Levy. If your business is currently subject to paying the levy, then it makes sense to utilise the funds to help train and develop your people. If you have to pay the money anyway, at least make it work for you.

If you have an annual wage bill of over £3 million you will have been required to pay the levy since April 2017. You report and pay the levy via the PAYE process.

But if you are not yet a levy payer, there is still help with apprenticeship training costs. For non levy paying businesses from May 2017, you can get support from the Government in that you pay 10% of the cost of the training and the Government pays the rest (90%) up to the training band maximum.

If you have not looked at the scheme because your business is a long way from becoming a levy payer – then you can find out more by using the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-levy-how-it-will-work/apprenticeship-levy-how-it-will-work