Thanks to solid industry growth and skill shortages, recruitment businesses are an attractive option for entrepreneurs.
As companies fight for talent, you can be on the frontline securing the best jobs for your candidates and the best talent for your clients. And, of course, be rewarded for your efforts.
This post will cover how to improve, market, and run your recruitment business successfully. All you need to do is put in the work.
Improving Your Agency
To begin improving your recruitment agency in Australia, here are a few things you can implement:
- Leverage technology: Technology can improve your agency’s productivity through analytics, automation and more. Implement software like Spinify to improve employee performance and Zoho Recruit to manage prospects.
- Celebrate special occasions: Like other sales-based companies, staffing agencies tend to start on a clean slate every month, leading to stressed employees. To reduce this stress, it’s essential to take the time to celebrate birthdays, great performances and other occasions to keep them motivated.
- Gamify tasks: Gamification is a powerful motivational tool in business—especially for difficult tasks. To keep staff motivated when times are tough, use gamification methods like leaderboards, progress metres and badges to recognise good work.
Regulations and Laws to be Aware of
There are stringent regulations that guard the recruitment industry in Australia. In particular, there are five that you should pay attention to:
- Fair Work Ombudsman: The FWO ensures healthy workplaces by providing information on work rights and obligations that employers must follow.
- Privacy Act 1988: This act states how employers must manage private and personal information in Australia.
- Workplace Health & Safety: Running a safe workplace ensures that everyone who visits the facility is free from harm. Failure to follow these guidelines can also result in substantial fines.
- Single Touch Payroll: STP states that businesses with 20 or more employees must report to the Commissioner either on or before each payday. The Tax Office uses this information to ensure employers abide by their financial obligations.
- Labour Hire Licensing: Implemented in 2017 in Queensland and a bit later in other states, this licensing seeks to regulate the labour recruitment industry and protect workers from exploitation.
Market Research Ideas
To run a successful recruitment agency, you need to keep on top of labour trends and modify your strategies based on what you find.
Some factors to pay attention to include:
- Job growth rates.
- Full-time employment vs contract staffing demand.
- Talent shortages
It’s also a good idea to pay attention to your competitors to see if they’re making any changes in their business.
For example, they may have changed from a general to a specialist agency or begun focusing more on remote positions rather than in-office ones. This information can point you towards potential trends you can join and problems you can avoid.
Industry Outlook
The Employment Placement and Recruitment Services industry is the second largest within its sector and boasts faster growth than the sector as a whole. And the industry is expected to grow by 4.2% in 2022 alone.
Australian recruitment experts see technology, project services and development applications as prime areas where recruiters can excel. The experts also believe that recruiters will need to begin taking a candidate-centred approach instead of the business-first approach of previous years.
Some Insights into the Industry
Australia has a robust recruitment industry thanks to its strong economy. Here are three facts that you should know about it:
- The most challenging roles to fill are software engineers and sales roles which take on average 94 and 89 days to fill, respectively.
- Average hiring times in Australia have increased from 42 to 63 days.
- 38% of the Australian workforce are open to a career change.
Ways to Market your Agency
Solid marketing strategies are critical for your business to attract the right talent and secure contracts with companies.
Here’s what top recruitment companies are doing:
- Create an interactive tool that highlights locations with the highest salaries, best-rated cities, biggest companies or any other metric that candidates may find attractive.
- Develop a free online course for job seekers to help them prepare for the roles they want.
- Create a “Find my perfect job” quiz to help candidates find jobs that best fit their wants and needs.
Financing your Agency
To put your recruitment agency in a strong position for growth, all you need are some well-thought-out plans and money to fund them.
Here’s where you can find the money:
- Equity financing: Equity financing refers to giving up a percentage of your agency in exchange for investment.
- Bank loans: Loans from local are straightforward to get as long as you can show profitability and a concrete plan for the funds.
- Grants: Since recruiters support the Australian economy, you may qualify for government or private grants.
Exiting your recruitment business in Australia
Exiting your recruitment business could happen for many reasons, but you must know your plan for the future.
Do you have a particular date that you want to exit by?
Do you have a revenue goal to achieve before you sell?
Or do you want to run your recruitment agency until you retire?
You need to know the answers to these questions upfront so that you can begin planning for your eventual exit.
Regardless of your reason for exiting, though, there are some things you can do to ensure it’s successful:
- Track and improve business metrics that are attractive to buyers.
- Learn about business valuation and negotiation.
- Sell the business during a growth period.
- Use an online marketplace that can connect you with thousands of potential buyers.
@Be_theBoss
