7 Ways a PEO Can Help You Win the Talent War With Outsourced Recruiting
Struggling to hire new talent for your small business? Whether you’re looking for a new cashier to work weekends or you’re ready to staff a new location, hiring isn’t easy. From creating job postings to conducting interviews to managing all the paperwork, the recruiting process is a huge time investment. And that’s time that a lot of small business owners just don’t have.
Here’s the good news. You don’t have to do it alone. If you already work with a PEO, chances are they can help with part or all of the recruitment process. If you don’t, then maybe it’s time to see whether a PEO is a good fit for you in other ways as well.
How Can a PEO Help You Recruit New Talent?
Hiring the right people is crucial to the success of your small business. Unfortunately, many small business owners just don’t have the time or expertise needed to market jobs, screen applicants, and interview top candidates effectively.
If you’re feeling frustrated with the quality of candidates you have to choose from or with the amount of time it takes to find the right people, your PEO can help. Outsourcing key components of your recruitment process to your PEO can streamline your recruiting processes and reduce the amount of paperwork you have to deal with, while still leaving all hiring decisions in your hands.
Recruitment isn’t a core offering for all PEOs, but many do provide a range of recruitment services, either as part of a service package or for an additional fee. PEOs also vary in the depth and breadth of services they offer. As you compare PEOs, you’ll want to consider which services you most need help with and which ones you can handle in-house.
Let’s take a look at seven recruiting services you can consider outsourcing to a PEO:
- Job Descriptions – Job descriptions can make or break your first impression with a candidate. To appeal to the best candidates, you need a well-written job description that highlights critical skills and credentials without narrowing the field unnecessarily. A PEO can help you write keyword-based job descriptions that will show up in relevant searches and connect you with the best candidates.
- Job Postings – Once you have finalized your job descriptions, many PEOs will help you post and manage them on external job boards. The PEO can post your opportunities to a wide variety of job boards so that you don’t have to create and manage each listing yourself.
- Ad Design – Recruitment marketing uses ads and marketing strategies to put your job in front of the right people and encourage them to click. Some PEOs will help you design ads for use on social media and other platforms to spread the word.
- Applicant Tracking System (ATS) – PEOs often include an ATS in their HR technology platform. This makes it easy to track applications, compare candidates, store candidate information for future opportunities, screen and search resumes based on keywords or criteria, and track specific actions throughout the recruitment process.
- Candidate Interviews – Once you have selected the resumes that seem most promising, you’ll need to start the process of interviewing specific candidates. While many business owners want to handle this process themselves, others find it helpful for the PEO to assist with initial interviews to narrow the field. The PEO may conduct phone or video interviews to help you create a short list of candidates before you conduct the final interviews and make your selection.
- Background Checks – Background checks are essential for some jobs, but they also take time. By shifting this responsibility to the PEO, you can reclaim that time and invest it in other business critical tasks.
- Candidate Assessments – Some jobs require nuanced skills that will require deeper assessment than you can do in an interview. If you need to conduct skills assessments, personality assessments, or behavioral assessments, talk to your PEO to find out if they can help you.
What Role Should Recruiting Play In Your PEO Decision?
If you are already working with a PEO, talk to them about which recruiting services they offer. You may be surprised about the different ways they can help. If you don’t currently have a PEO partner, then you’ll need to dig a little deeper as you consider your options. Recruiting usually isn’t the primary reason companies choose a PEO, so you will want to make sure any providers you talk to meet your critical requirements in areas like payroll, benefits administration, and compliance first. But once you have those needs nailed down, what role should recruiting play in your final decision? Here are a few tips:
- Evaluate the stage your business is in.Is recruiting a big part of your strategy? Are you opening a new location or expanding in the next year? If so, recruiting may be an important consideration as you choose a PEO.
- Consider how much you want to invest in outsourced recruiting.What is the PEO’s pricing model for the services they offer? Is recruiting including in the service package or will you pay extra fees?
- Think through the breadth of the solution you need. Will a PEO be able to meet your needs, or should you consider a comprehensive solution like a staffing agency or RPO firm?
- Consider how important recruiting is in making your final decision.If you find a PEO you love that doesn’t offer all of the recruiting services you need, would that be a deal breaker for you? Or could you find another solution for your recruiting needs?
Ready to find the perfect PEO partner for your business? Start your search with our PEO Matching Tool! Simply answer a series of questions based on your needs, and we’ll create a short list of PEOs who meet your requirements.
