Tuesday 01 September 2015 11:20am

There’s no “magic bullet” to reduce recruitment company costs, but employing a range of small measures can have a big impact on revenue and profits, says a management consultant.

Candidate training, for example, is an untapped source of revenue for many recruiters, Gatti Consulting director Rob Gatti told a Rec Tech Solutions webinar last week.

One approach recruiters can take is to partner with training organisations and recommend upskilling for candidates who are not immediately suitable for current roles, he said.

Gatti identified a number of other ways recruiters can improve their company’s performance, including:

Partner with other recruiters

“For example if I’m a temporary light industrial specialist and a client asked me to recruit an accountant, most people would respond by saying, ‘I’m not a specialist in that area’. But I would look to establish an agreement with a specialist recruitment firm to help fill the role and negotiate a portion of the fee,” said Gatti.

Split placements have become more common since the GFC and recruiters can approach them either through informal relationships or official networks, such as the NPA.

Capitalise on government subsidies

As of July 1, employers of young, Indigenous and long-term unemployed jobseekers are eligible for wage subsidies through the Federal Government’s Jobactive program.

“Forming relationships with Jobactive organisations can help you lower your costs of candidate acquisition, as well as deliver revenue you otherwise wouldn’t have had,” Gatti said.

Invest in traineeships

“Treating your temporary workforce like employees makes for a major shift in mindset for some recruitment firms.

“Investing in your employees through traineeships can deliver a new level of loyalty and should produce a safer, more efficient outcome for your employees and your clients,” said Gatti.

Reduce ongoing overhead costs

Recruiters can save on superannuation expenses by giving employees the chance to discuss insurance options with financial advisors, which might also lead to referrals, Gatti said.

Recruitment companies can also reduce their payroll tax bill by employing or on-hiring trainees and apprentices, who are eligible for payroll tax exemptions in some states, including Queensland, NSW and WA, he said.

“Some organisations choose to pass this exemption on to the client or keep the majority of it for themselves because there are some administrative requirements around handling trainees,” said Gatti.

Get all staff producing revenue

Recruitment companies’ biggest cost is often their own staff, so recruiters should review all internal roles on a regular basis to ensure as many people as possible are producing revenue, Gatti said.

“Your accounts person should be asking their contacts the ‘what else, where else’ questions, if there’s opportunity to gather information, and pass that back into your sales team,” he said by way of example.

Partner with businesses outside of recruitment

Another way to boost revenue is to foster candidate loyalty by offering discounted services such as accounting and finance broking through third-party providers, said Gatti.

“The way of candidate care goes in waves, but it is… about having the right viewpoint on the key things where recruitment companies have value. It is in their database, it is giving people options and opportunities to really look at for their candidates,” he said.

“How can I make people more loyal to me? Well if you can help them pick up a great home loan or deal through your contacts, through something you might be able to do in your business, then that will encourage loyalty and there may be some revenue in the business for you.”

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Get your new employees “on board” and off to a great start

In the talent management universe, the new employee orientation and mainstreaming process is known as “employee onboarding.” Keeping in mind that you never get a second chance to make a first impression, your business should make absolutely sure that new hires feel welcomed, valued, and prepared for what lies ahead during your new employee orientation or onboarding process.

The following four key points will help you get your newest team members on track, up to speed and “on board” so they can start contributing to your success as soon as possible.

Familiarity Breeds Contentment

A possible approach to help familiarize new hires with the corporate family tree and could help avert embarrassing situations such as the new hire who asks a stranger for help with the fax machine, only to discover later that he was the CFO.

Rather than flashcards, a “who’s who” area with photos, names and titles in a company presentation will do the trick. Check out www.theinductor.com.au Offline, a simple bulletin board with staff pictures, names, and positions is helpful.

Let New Employee Orientation Be – Simple and Interesting

The employee onboarding period can be quite complex and uncertain. Consider the experience from the employee’s perspective, and then make an effort to make it fun, interesting, exciting, painless, and as simple as possible. If you do, you will make your new team member feel valued, wanted, interested and excited. By engendering these positive emotions from the start, you make your new employee want to do great work and add great value to your organization.

One possible solution is to post new employee orientation schedules, materials, benefits forms, and an extensive FAQ about the company using an editable presentation (like the Inductor) or an Intranet that is accessible to new hires from a link in a welcome email before their first day on the job. By providing some information in advance, you eliminate a common source of new hire angst and give them a better chance to start off well.

Don’t Make New Employees Learn “The Hard Way”

Every workplace comes with its own set of rules and regulations, benefits and bonuses, nuances and traditions. Don’t make your new employees learn these things the hard way. If your company observes a “casual Friday” rule, make sure all new employees know this before they show up at the office on their first Friday in a neatly-pressed suit.

Every company offers a range of benefits and perks. They’ll seem even more valuable if you make sure your new employees know about them from the onset. Give new employees an easy way to keep track of exactly what they’re eligible for, and how they can take advantage of these benefits.

Again, post policies and procedures in writing somewhere convenient. Verbal mentions during a marathon new employee orientation session can easily go unheard, especially on a new hire’s first day in the office. Similarly, a stack of papers and reminders can easily get lost in the shuffle. An online resource that is regularly updated, and always accessible, is the best practice when it comes to information sharing.

Make New Employee Orientation Personal

Don’t make day one all about paperwork. Instead, prioritise interpersonal relationships with key colleagues. Consider assigning welcome mentors to each new hire, so they can immediately get a feel for the personality of your business. This day of first impressions will have an enormous impact on the employee experience, so make it a good one.

Of course, some paperwork must be handled on or before the start date. Keep in mind that when your new hire goes home to tell his family about his first day on the job, they would rather have something more exciting to report than, “I filled out over 30 forms.”

It’s been proven that happy employees are more productive employees. So, if you’re looking to drive bottom line results with state of the art talent management tactics, it’s time to get “onboard.”

If you require assistance with your new employee on-boarding programme or induction process Call Gatti Consulting for an initial free discussion to see how we can help you to improve your businesses performance and profitability.

Is sustainable margin improvement possible in a post-GFC environment..?

Margin improvement in a highly competitive environment is not something that comes easily. Recently you will have heard most large businesses complaining about margin erosion, caused by a variety of reasons. These companies play that card publicly but internally they are driving a margin improvement strategy that if successful will deliver superior returns.

Below is an example of a methodology that may assist in the development of a plan for improving margins in your business;

1)      Focus - Consider broad scope and the bigger picture

i.      Holistic approach

ii.      Challenge the status quo

iii.      New vision and mindset

iv.      Leverage insight from others

2)      Mindset - Organisational culture and behaviours that seek improvement

i.      Drive accountability across all levels and areas

ii.      Establish a common language

iii.      Link performance management to strategic direction and margin improvement

3)      Process - Processes / Tools to continuously identify margin opportunities

i.      Transparent and challenging processes

ii.      Periodically deployed approaches to rapidly diagnose potential opportunities

iii.      Continuous pipeline

Other considerations for your business might be;

• Can you extract further value from your customer base?
• What else? / Where else? / Referrals / Partnerships
• An example of this is Wesfarmers – Coles – now selling car insurance!
• Where can savings be realised in the process?
• Conduct a cost review and identify savings targets.
• This is what your clients are doing to your business, engaging procurement specialists to drive your margin to its lowest possible point.
• Are there any direct or indirect government incentives that may be tapped into?

If you are being constantly being squeezed by your clients to reduce pricing, or are looking for some assistance Call Gatti Consulting for an initial free discussion.

We can help you with sustainable margin improvement in order to advance your businesses performance and profitability.

If something is annoying, frustrating or broken in your business, chances are you’ve got a systemisation challenge.  As the manager or owner, having to be involved in decisions that you know your team could make on your behalf, but don’t, is time consuming and frustrating.

The challenge with these scenarios is that it’s difficult to improve a business that operates like this. It’s like there is no base point from which to optimise and increase profits.

Another problem with this ad hoc approach to running a business is that it decreases the value of the business (which is important in terms of having a viable exit strategy). The businesses that sell for the most money are the ones where the owner does not have to be there.

So how would you fix a business that is not systemised?

The best place to start is with what’s not working. Look at those issues that are causing you, your team or your customer’s pain, and take steps to fix them.

So how do you do that?

Unlike what most people think, systemisation is much more than the creation of a procedure manual. The best place to start is to look at your business from above – in order to see how the various parts of your business fit together.

For example in the sales process you should have a process for client engagement, client acquisition and client fulfilment. And collectively, the processes should flow.

Is it something that can be done and forgotten?

No. Systemising your business is an on-going process; it’s a journey that constantly needs to be reviewed – because chances are, the systems that worked six months ago, no longer work today.

What’s my first step?

Below are five questions that I recommend you take a few minutes to answer. Your answers will point you to exactly where you should start systemising in order to increase your profits and business value.

1. What are the areas in your business that never seem to be executed without mistakes?
2. What processes in your business are not followed consistently?
3. What activities or tasks are you not doing regularly, that if you did, would generate extra profits?
4. What activities or tasks if you did them better would either give you more time, more freedom
   or more profits?
5. What activities or tasks are you doing that frustrate you because you don’t enjoy them?

Call Gatti Consulting for an initial free discussion to see how we can help you with development of process and systems in order to improve your businesses performance and profitability.

Cost cutting has been a key response of most companies to the economic crisis – with revenue growth flat or, in many cases declining, there hasn’t been much choice.

By and large, clients say that they were able to cut costs effectively through the crisis, but are far less confident of their ability to continue such cuts or to contain future increases. Also, unlike previous recessions, in which companies implemented temporary cost reductions for six to twelve months, followed by a return to business as usual, current cost reductions appear to be long term, perhaps permanent, as companies anticipate lower economic growth rates for the foreseeable future.

Organisations now need to take a more strategic view and focus on rebuilding and further improving margins in a sustained manner.

Margin improvement presents difficult challenges both in relation to ‘right sizing’ the cost base and the implementation of pricing.

Cost is not merely about ‘reducing costs’, it is about determining what is your most appropriate cost base when thought of as an investment? Price is about moving the dialogue by adding a new dimension to traditional pricing strategies, that of value. Does your customer understand the value you provide or are you the same as the competition? You can dictate this by differentiating your customers according to the value they need. Move away from volume and price discussions to what does the customer values the most and deliver that.

Together, these powerful levers can help your business achieve higher margins. Call Gatti Consulting for an initial free discussion to see how we can help you grow your margins which in turn will improve businesses performance and profitability.

Employees’ three most important issues, according to employees, are:

1. Respect
2. A sense of accomplishment
3. Recognition

Yes, money is important but it is not as critical as these other components. Taking these into consideration, let’s explore ways to keep your team motivated:

1. Involve them.

Many employees want to be involved in the ongoing development and progress of their company. They often have insightful ideas that can make a significant difference in the company. When they are involved, they buy-in faster and resist less. This means you can implement the change(s) more quickly and easily.

2. Communicate.

Very few businesses can be accused of over-communicating. A frequent axiom in business is, “No news is good news.” However, employees want regular updates on the progress of the business and their personal performance. Use newsletters, emails, one-on-one and group meetings to keep your team up to date. Talk to your team members regularly, have lunch or coffee with them, let them know how the business is performing.

Tell them what challenges are currently being faced (they may have suggestions). It is also important that you give them feedback on their performance. If you have a concern with a specific component, tell them and give them the opportunity to correct their behaviour. I am consistently surprised how many employees do not receive feedback of any kind pertaining to their performance until it’s too late.

3. Celebrate individual and team performance.

Catch people doing something right and focus on recognizing excellent performance. On an individual basis you can provide positive reinforcement, issue awards, use a newsletter to highlight specific achievements. Send thank-you, birthday, and anniversary cards as well as congratulatory notes. Make phone calls, send emails, personalise them. Better yet, if you work in a large organization, have a senior executive send the email or make the call.

To recognize team efforts, put performance charts on the wall and create competitions. Treat the team to lunch, post team pictures on your Intranet in their work environment and give them plaques, certificates, coffee mugs, etc.

Ultimately, the more of these approaches you incorporate into your motivation strategy, the more energised your team will become. Make it a point to recognise someone every day.

4. Set challenging goals.

Experience has taught me that people strive to achieve what is expected of them. If you set challenging goals, your team will work hard to accomplish them, providing of course, they are realistically attainable. It is amazing what people can accomplish when they are given the opportunity to perform. Communicate these goals and keep your team informed on the company’s progress.

5. Give them the tools to succeed.

No team will stay motivated if they do not have the necessary tools required to do their job. This includes; equipment, internal support, marketing materials and training, etc. Training is a key factor in ensuring that your team perform, train them to do the right things and empower them to make decisions.

6. Manage poor performance.

Your team expects you to manage individuals who do not perform to standard or contribute fully to the efforts of the team. However, many managers ignore poor performance because they are afraid of the potential conflict. Instead, they hope that the situation will resolve itself. It never does and this “blind” approach affects profitability, causes higher turnover, and contributes to low morale in the workplace. While poor performance and conflict are seldom enjoyable to deal with, you have a responsibility to your team and the company to manage it.

7. Lead by example.

If you want your team to treat each other with dignity, you need to set the tone. If you expect them to be motivated and enthusiastic it is critical that you behave in this manner. As an owner, manager or business leader, your team looks to you for direction and guidance.

Even business managers and owners can lack motivation from time to time, call Gatti Consulting for an initial free discussion to see how we can help you keep your motivation levels high and ensure your team are doing all the right things to keep your business performance and profitability improving.

Is your business going along nicely or surviving whilst you go through the motions of being a business owner?

Our suggestion.. don’t let your business perform below its potential. What is your unique selling point or USP?

It is an interesting question to ask amongst such high levels of competition. Whatever industry you are in, you need to establish this with your sales team and drive this point with your customers and potential customers.

Every business should have one “USP”: a Unique Selling Point.

This is something which sets your product or service apart from your competitors’ in the eyes and minds of your prospects. If you don’t have a USP then:

• Your business will be just another ‘also ran’
• Your prospects will tend to compare your offering with others purely on price
• You will have no clear competitive edge, and there will be no outstanding reason for prospects to consider buying from you.

So, what makes a great USP?

• It should single you out from the opposition in just a few words
• It will often have the words “the only..” or “no-one else can..”
• It will be a proposal that will appeal to your prospects

Don’t try to fool yourself by using words such as “we offer good service” or “our staff are friendly“. Firstly, how can you prove this? And secondly, who is not going to say this?

If you have a good, clear (and honest) USP, there is a good chance that you will be able to compete on factors other than price. And that means that you will be more profitable.

There is also interesting information in this article by Paul Simister

http://www.differentiateyourbusiness.co.uk/unique-selling-point-why-customers-should-buy-from-you

There may be very little difference between your product and your competitors’ — but if you can’t find a way to communicate uniqueness and connect it to a need of your target, you might as well quit fighting your competition and sell out to them.

Call Gatti Consulting for an initial free discussion to see how we can help you generate and communicate your USP to your customers and prospective customers in order to improve your businesses performance and profitability.

We are a business advisory that works with the owners of small to medium businesses and senior management to identify their highest value opportunities and tackle relevant challenges in order for their business to grow to the desired level.

We specialise in;

• Strategic Planning
• Business improvement programs & Management advisory
• HR, Recruitment & Staff Development
• Margin improvement
• Cash flow & financial result improvement
• Sales, sales structures, USP identification
• Acquisition, targeting & integration
• Tenders, proposal and presentation writing
• Business disposal programs and succession planning

We deliver flexible arrangements to meet your needs; we can be engaged per hour, day, week, month, or by project. A simple, cost-effective way of delivering your required outcomes.

Please contact us for an initial free consultation to see whether Gatti Consulting is the right fit to help you improve your business performance and profitability.