17 Feb 2022
If you own a company, it is vital that you implement a strong recruitment strategy plan to help you scale up your business when the time is right.
A recruitment strategy is a pre-planned method for hiring new employees.
In order to find the right talent, you need to do more than simply advertise on your website as and when a position opens. You should instead:
…and much more besides.
One key factor of a successful business is its capacity to “scale up”. To do this, you’ll need effective sourcing strategies in terms of recruitment. In this article, we’ll explore a few tactics you may employ in this area.
Whatever your business’s practises, you should always have a plan in place in order to “scale up” – meaning to take things to the next level.
If your business is ready to scale up, it’s probably approaching the “next phase” in its life – a point at which it can practically take steps to grow revenue without increasing its overheads.
Perhaps there is more demand for its products or services than ever before, and it seems as though that demand is likely to keep building. The next moves made in order to tactically facilitate progress may be considered a scale up strategy.
When approaching a large scale up, intelligent recruitment techniques should be carefully considered in order to achieve the best results.
“Growing” a business is subtly different to what happens when you “scale up” a business.
“Growth” is the act of investing in more resources – such as additional premises, staff or equipment – in order to serve a larger number of customers or field a greater level of demand.
“Scaling up” involves developing the capacity to take on more projects or clients – or to produce greater quantities of product – whilst increasing overheads as little as possible.
Challenges on the route to a successful scale-up may include:
The old saying “if we build it, they will come” doesn’t always ring true.
It’s best to confirm that there’s a suitable market for the additional products or services you’ll offer following your scale-up – and that those offerings will be ready for public consumption when it happens.
You must be sure that you can attract the levels of demand for which you are preparing. In order to do this, many businesses make the mistake of slashing their prices.
While this may lead to a short-term influx of custom, you may find that interest drops when prices return to “normal”. Even worse, a reduction in price may make consumers suspicious of the quality of your products or services.
You should instead focus on cultivating a strong position within your industry. This can be achieved partly through high quality marketing strategies, but mainly via exceptional customer care and high quality products and services.
You must consider how all existing staff and new hires will fit into your scaled-up company.
Departments may need restructuring, in which case you’ll need versatile workers who have experience of working in different positions within the same organisation.
It’s best to factor a potential scale-up into discussions with new potential employees in order to avoid the change taking them by surprise. If you don’t, you may be faced with multiple resignations as staff feel forced into positions they didn’t apply for.
You need to consider your scaling capacity from the very start. Laying the foundations for a scale-up further down the line can make everything run more smoothly and comfortably.
Future restructuring should be planned efficiently, and the technology you choose should have the potential to work at a far greater capacity at little to no extra expense.
Carefully implement methods by which staff can take on more work without burning out.
Consider using automation or AI for certain tasks, such as basic customer communication. Techniques of this kind will increase your business’s capacity without the need to hire more staff.
Of course, it is important to recognise where you do need to spend more. An increased workload or a greater return per employee will often require a pay rise, both in terms of fairness and in order to achieve a good level of staff retention.
From the very start, you need to hire staff members who will take role adjustments in their stride.
Look for people who have been part of a scaled-up business in the past – but if a candidate displays a clear level of versatility without this experience, that factor should not work against them.
There are certain organisations that provide expert assistance, hiring advice and tech to companies that are seeking scale up business solutions.
Shop around to find the service that seems best suited to your needs. Much of the time, the amount you’ll spend on specialist assistance will pale in comparison to the savings made possible.
Tell all of your partners, employees and new hires about your plan to scale up. This will make them feel part of the process, so they’ll be much more invested in – and understanding of – all changes.
You can also communicate plans to clients and customers. If you have a good rapport with them, or a strong reputation within the industry, this can serve as great marketing.
The general public will be curious and excited about what is to come, and may be pleased to see that you’ll be working at an increased capacity. It will get people talking, which is always a good thing!
Propel are experts in helping companies scale-up their workforce. For further information or advice about scaling up your business – and about developing a recruitment strategy that facilitates those changes – get in touch with Propel today. We’ll be happy to help you.
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