POLICIES OVER PRACTICALITIES

Ever wondered why it is proving more challenging than you think it should be to fill a vacancy in your team?

Here is a potential list of reasons why this might be impacting you from a recruiter’s perspective:

• It is our standard policy to do a 3 stage hiring process including testing.
  • Really, for an interim vacancy?! The best candidates do not want to go through that and/or have been snapped up by another company before you have even got through to 2nd Snooze, you lose and all of that!
• It is our standard policy to pay everyone in the company for the same for doing the same role.
  • I hear you, however Beryl in Bristol who has been loyal to the business has only ever received inflationary pay rises since 1998 and has never been bench marked against the external market rates. Ben in Birkenhead is not joining you as he is already on far more than you are setting your budget for locally.
• It is our standard company policy that was set by HQ in the US that everyone works in the office 5 days per week.
  • o What flies with the guys in LA does not wash with the lids in Liverpool when your local competitor is offering 3 days on site.
• It is our standard company policy for candidates to do a video upload to answer a set bunch of questions and will be weeded out by AI before getting to meet the employer in person.
  • Senior qualified accountants are not inclined to do this. It is in personal and if you add an extra layer, they are unlikely to proceed with this extra barrier.
  • How well does your AI software support things like neurodivergence (diagnosed or undiagnosed)?
• It is our standard policy to advertise the vacancy for 4 weeks before we close it down for short listing.
  • That is nice, but over 70% of your potential hot candidates are now off the market.
• It is our standard policy to only offer a maximum of 10% pay rise to someone joining our business.
  • You should be paying what the role’s value is, not penalising the newbie for being underpaid in their previous role. Two wrongs do not make a right, right?!
• It is our standard policy that all contractors are hired on Fixed Term Contract basis not day rate.
  • Herein lies the problem, interim contractors love a day rate, especially those outside of IR35. Interim contractors often work nationally at the more senior levels, and they are not likely to take on the cost of accommodation and travel themselves out of their FTC salary. Do the IR35 status determination and you might be surprised that you get a quite different outcome with who wants to join you then…