“Progress takes place outside the comfort zone.”(1) What if we never push ourselves to try new things? Sure, it’s safe and comforting to sit back and say ‘well, we’ve always done it this way and it’s always worked just fine’. But how do we take the next step? How will we achieve our ambitious growth targets and long-term business goals without taking a risk every now and then?
We are a market leading specialist recruitment business and have been successfully providing a blue-chip client base across Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey and Berkshire with exceptional talent for nearly 10 years, so we’re quietly confident that we know what we’re doing. We pride ourselves on rewarding relationships and exceeding our client’s expectations time and time again. As a result have built a wide, varied, and trusted network.
‘Being Innovative’ is one of our core business values. You’ll often find us operating in a market-leading space with projects like our Big Interview series, our job vlogs, Breakfast Forums and our charity partnership with Macmillan. As a team, we really enjoy doing things differently, and sometimes we do relish the thrill of a challenge or risky new idea!
Collective Recruitment
How about hiring a group of new employees (equating to 50% of your current organisation!) all in one go? Most people would agree; this is a bold move that sits just outside the normal comfort zone. But this is an idea we’ve been playing with for a while. Call it an ‘Academy’, if you like.
Initially, this is a big project. Imagine carefully sourcing a group of graduates with promising personality traits, proven motivation to succeed and a naturally competitive streak. It’s not just this group you’d need to secure either – you’d need to assemble a committed and trusted internal team, ready to assign each new recruit to an experienced member of staff for dedicated one-to-one mentorship.
Day one – the onboarding process for new starters. This, in itself, is lengthy and detailed (if done properly!), but with a collective recruitment process, all onboarding can be done together – saving you a lot of time and resource.
Of course, for this project to be successful, you’ll need significant investment in terms of your employees’ time, and the resource that will need to be pumped into such a daring project. But for your current employees, it is a privilege to be given the responsibility of defining and shaping the upcoming talent within your organisation. What better motivator than being able and trusted to really make a difference?
Now imagine you’re 6 months in and suddenly, your organisation has grown by 50%. If your initial selection process was thorough enough, you’ll have a shiny new team of expertly trained individuals, eager to prove their worth in return for your business investing so much in their personal success. You’ll be looking at a swift and financially rewarding turn-around in the long run. The bold attempt to take that next step in your growth strategy has paid off.
The Pros & Cons
Don’t be fooled though; this project doesn’t come without risk. Without proper preparation, a collective and volumous recruitment process can be chaotic. Without thoughtful delegation, an enormous workload can have an adverse effect on those involved and turn your employees backs rather than unite you.
It is also a risk that with such a large intake, you cannot focus on everyone individually enough to spot any warning signs. This is not only bad for you, but imagine you are a candidate being dragged through a messy and poorly thought-out induction process. That’s going to be quite a stressful experience for everybody. Word will quickly spread both within your business – and on the outside.
However, there are several obvious positives to this approach. The most pointed is that it’s an excellent cost cutting tool. In fact, it is a well-established fact that collective recruitment will help cut a considerable proportion of cost associated with hiring (administration, advertising, expense etc.), which can then be distributed to other areas of the business.
It is also a great branding exercise – by doing something so radical, competition and those involved the process will begin to talk. Information will be shared and by association, your brand awareness grows. There is never any harm in people talking excitedly about your business!
Finally, of course, if you carefully plan and professionally execute this project – in the long run you will have drastically altered the DNA of your business. You’ll have positioned yourself as a truly innovative thought leader. A business willing to take risk, willing to invest in the hands on development of your teams and also trusting enough of your current employees to hand over the all-important task of shaping the future.
So, to collective recruitment, or not to collective recruitment?
(1) Progress takes place outside the comfort zone’ – Micheal John Bobak.
