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Why cutting down hiring costs doesn’t make it cheap

man with hiring costs headache employer problemsThe harsh reality of hiring costs– we upset ourselves without even knowing it!

Sometimes we make bad hires because we don’t have the necessary expertise or resources to
ensure robust hiring practices.

I can tell you that there is, in fact, ONE simple reason why bad hires occur.

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The reason that we make bad hires is quite simple. It is because we make a compromise. Sometimes we settle for less and don’t ensure we hire the best. (We strive to lower hiring costs, yet end up incurring more.)

We don’t make bad hires intentionally. So let’s look at reasons why it may happen:
 There’s time pressure to fill the vacant position.
 We focus on skills but forget to focus on the person’s attitude.
 We tend to ask the wrong questions instead of the right questions.
 Focusing too much on “nice to have” qualities rather than the “must haves.”
 Hiring bias, such as being seduced into hiring someone we like or someone that “looks” good
 Having the wrong people making or influencing the hiring decisions
 We may bypass or compromise on important checks, for example, reference checks and personality tests.

The solution is to not Compromise – and ensure we minimise the possible causes. We can do this by:
 Having a mindset of securing the best candidate (not the first)
 Reducing pressure to hire quickly
 Hiring for attitude first and skills second
 Focus on getting the “must haves” right before the “nice to haves”
 Ensuring we have the right people involved in the hiring process
 Making hiring a group decision, eg involve key members that will work with the candidate
 Using behavioural based interviewing techniques
 Using robust checks (eg reference checks and personality tests etc)

By doing these things you will experience a higher percentage of successful hires and a reduction in the frequency and expensive hiring costs of a bad hire. For more information on hiring right, contact Neil at 1300Hired. [/read]

 

Why you need to focus on opportunity cost

Opportunity cost: The valuable commodity we use but can never touch

When making business or day to day decisions, how often do you do things that could be done by others, for example by engaging someone with more experience, skills and possibly at an overall lesser cost?

What is the opportunity cost of you doing these things versus delegating or outsourcing? The results you may find startling.

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Sure, you may save on costs but at what loss of value? What are you losing by not focusing on your core area, and your staff’s core areas of expertise? By focusing on cost rather than opportunity cost, we can forego much higher returns and in turn, this can destroy opportunity and value.

opportunity cost and weigh scaleLet me explain:

  • If your time is valued at $150/hr, why do a job or task valued at $50/hr?
  • The opportunity cost here is $100/hr.
  • If your billable time is $250/hr, then the opportunity cost would be $200/hr
  • If you do sales and your revenue brings in $500/hr, the opportunity cost is a whopping $450/hr

The solution is to determine

  • How can you best leverage your time and the time of your staff
  • Who has the necessary expertise for the job at hand
  • Does the job require industry-specific expertise?
  • Do you have this expertise internally
  • What is the cost and opportunity cost of outsourcing?
  • What are the best and worst case scenarios of doing it internally versus outsourcing?

In making decisions like these, I like to use the best and worst case for and against scenario: What is the best and worse case outcome in doing it yourself versus what is the best and worse case outcome of outsourcing to experts. The answers you provide yourself will often deliver you the best answer.

For more information, contact Neil at 1300Hired.  [/read]

Business growth strategy that makes awesome returns

If you are a business owner or manager, one of the biggest challenges you face is business growth.

“How to best grow your business?”

Competition is fierce and there are more ways to get your message to market today than ever before. The available technologies and platforms are developing and changing at an exponential rate. If you blink, you can be left behind. So what is the answer?  

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Unless you can sell more to your existing clients, or sell at a higher price, business growth will have to come from other measures. You may rely on referrals, networks, advertising or outbound methods such as cold calling.

In the digital world, many businesses are discovering how cost effective it can be to have inbound strategies where clients come to you. Effective inbound marketing can create a steady flow of leads from businesses that want what you have to offer.

winning business growth strategyOur Campaign for Business Growth

With more than 17 million monthly active Australian users on Facebook, the question for business is not whether you should advertise on the platform, but HOW.

With such a large base of users and a high level of information available about them, it is possible to use a high degree of targeting, to segment audiences and attract them with messages that resonate and with offers that are irresistible.

Business Growth Results

In a recent campaign that we ran, we targeted business owners nationally, specifically Managing Directors, Founders, and CEOs with company revenues between $1m-$5m. The message articulated a single major challenge facing business owners and 7 things to do in order to overcome it.

The results were outstanding generating over 200 leads. These were all business owners with the authority to make decisions and invest in solutions to these problems. The immediate ROI generated exceeded 3:1. That is, for every $1 we invested in advertising, we got $3 back (and still growing). The returns are highly measurable and much better than bank interest.

Imagine if you were able to get 10-20 additional leads per week into your business, what would that mean? What is the lifetime value of a single new customer to your business?

Would you like more information on how to get a steady stream of leads and have customers coming to you? Contact Neil about marketing for business growth now! [/read]