One of the primary challenges within any organisation is ensuring that the right people are found at the right time. While some organisations elect to hire in-house, others look to a recruitment agency to expedite the recruitment process in a more efficient and effective manner. The right choice will depend on your recruitment strategy for businesses, cost, and long-term objectives.
Let’s compare hiring in-house vs. a recruitment agency
Hiring in-house means that the entire recruitment process is managed by your internal HR team which would entail drafting job descriptions, sourcing candidates, conducting interviews, and onboarding new staff. Hiring in-house may be suited to your business in the following situations:
- You regularly hire for multiple roles.
- You have capacity or time available within your HR department to manage the process.
- You can leverage strong employer branding to attract talent directly.
Conversely, utilising the services of a recruitment agency can alleviate significant burdens and contribute to a more efficient recruitment process. Organisations will often consider recruitment solutions if they do not have sufficient time or internal resources to complete a complex search for talent.
When Should a Recruitment Agency be Engaged?
There are clear demonstrations of when it is appropriate for organisations to use a recruitment agency:
- Urgent hiring requirements: Agencies would already be in possession of a pool of pre-screened candidates, allowing a speedy solution to filling key senior level roles.
- Specialised roles: For highly-technical roles or senior positions where an applicant pool may be small, a recruitment agency can provide staffing services to assure accuracy in the selection process.
- Market intelligence: Recruitment professionals understand salary trends, candidate availability, and marketplace benchmarks, providing value when choosing a recruitment strategy for the organisation.
- Scalability: If a team needs to be increased for a short duration for a project, or if a business is scaling suddenly, a recruitment agency would be able to provide flexible solutions.
Advantages of Utilizing a Recruitment Agency
Reaching out to external staffing resources will free your internal HR teams to focus on employee engagement/responsiveness while providing:
- Faster turnaround in filling vacancies.
- Access to a broader talent pool.
- Reduced hiring risks with pre-screened candidates.
- Cost-effectiveness, as a wrong hire is more costly than an agency fee.
Striking a Balance Between Employer Branding and Supporting The Agency
One key variable to keep in mind is what role employer branding plays in your recruitment strategy to attract candidates. With a powerful identity you can draw the right applicants in directly, while an agency can reinforce that message in the talent market.
Agencies can often serve as ambassadors for your brand, presenting your company in a good light while reaching out to passive candidates. If a company would like to build their reputation while also trying to save some time and effort, a combination of agency experience partnered with one employer brand will have a dramatic effect over the long term, bringing every hire in line with the values and culture of the company.
Making The Right Decision
The choice between using internal hiring or using a recruitment agency should fit within the long-term recruitment strategy of your business. Organisations with stable, steady & predictable recruitment needs may find it useful to develop strong internal HR capacity.
However, in instances when time to hire, niche talent or scalability are important variables, an external recruitment agency is usually the best approach.
Often, the best approach is a mix of both. Many organisations will continue to use internal hiring for more general roles, while using recruitment agencies to fill niche, specialised or urgent requirements.
Are You Ready To Optimise Your Recruitment Approach?
If you are not sure if you want to develop an internal recruitment process or scale faster with external expertise, the Skilligent Team can support you with Talent Acquisition Consultancy & tailored recruitment solutions. Reach out to us! We would be happy to put together a recruitment strategy that works best for your business repurposes.
