How PEOs Elevate Startup Recruitment Strategies
Quick look: Startups go above and beyond to grow their businesses. Though their drive is evident, it can be difficult to create an efficient startup recruitment strategy while juggling other time-consuming responsibilities. In this blog, discover how professional employer organizations (PEOs) help startups conquer the recruitment process with their expert knowledge and solutions.
Startups continue to make their mark in the United States marketplace, over 5.04 million new businesses having launched in 2022 alone. Their prominent existence makes finding employees in today’s competitive world a top priority for startup recruitment leaders.
Though attracting and onboarding top talent is essential, it can be a daunting task to accomplish. Fortunately, startups can turn to a professional employer organization (PEO) for help.
With their HR expertise and resources, a PEO can provide valuable support in recruiting, attracting, and retaining employees—enabling startups to focus on pressing business objectives without diminishing their productivity and success with expanding their team.
Prepping the open position’s description
A role vacancy is not only a nuisance, but a financial burden for companies. According to one SHRM study, the average cost of recruitment is approximately $4,700. This significant cost drives startup recruitment teams to advertise their open job positions as quickly as possible.
However, the upload speed of a job advertisement can easily become insignificant if the details behind the posting are inaccurate or ambiguous.
PEOs offer solutions that minimize job posting stress. Startups are given the opportunity to work alongside PEO professionals to define what expectations they have for the open role. Based on that discussion, market research and benchmarking are used to recommend the best role title, satisfactory education/experience parameters, and a fair salary range.
Those details are then used to write an impactful job description that calls out what features an ideal candidate would have, while also noting what advantages the candidate would gain if offered the role. Once the description is finalized, PEOs will help optimize where and how the job posting is shared. Whether it’s posted on a job board or the startup’s own website, PEOs offer guidance on which strategy will draw the best candidates and garner startup recruitment success.
Selecting potential candidates
Receiving applications for an open job position can be a bittersweet experience. Though an average of 250 resumes are submitted per corporate job opening, not every resume matches the ideal candidate profile a startup wants.
Plus, a hefty amount of resume submissions can lower the startup recruitment team’s ability to identify optimal potential candidates. Worst of all, the time needed to efficiently review resumes detracts startup leaders from focusing on other business priorities.
Startups partnering with a PEO are relieved of resume overload. Acting as the startup’s second eyes, certain PEOs like ExtensisHR thoroughly examine submitted applications to better identify top talent sooner. They will also provide advice on how to properly communicate with each candidate, whether it is to invite them for an interview or decline their application.
Some PEOs also offer an applicant tracking system (ATS). Though this software can come at an additional cost, it offers unique recruitment technology that streamlines applicant interactions while also saving startups from another time-consuming objective. Investing in ATS technology has become increasingly popular among employers, with 94% of hiring professionals who use ATS software reporting improvements in their hiring process.
Starting the interview process
After the best applicants are chosen, the initial interview process begins. Despite knowing what type of worker would ideally fit the open role, a disorganized interview can jeopardize a startup’s chances of successfully vetting a candidate.
Candidates also have a higher likelihood of rejecting a company offer if the interview process is unpleasant, with 67% of employees stating their job interview experience influenced their decision to accept a job.
Startups can ensure their interview process remains professional with a PEO partner. Creating an interview roadmap with PEO experts helps businesses answer key questions including, but not limited to:
- Will telephone, in-person and/or virtual interviews be conducted?
- What are the best questions to ask a candidate about their experience?
- What relevant questions should be asked in relation to the role?
- Which company leaders should be involved in the interview process?
- How many rounds of interviews should there be?
- Should applicants be given an interview assessment (a take-home assignment, a personality questionnaire, etc.)?
- Which company leaders should be involved in the final decision before a job is offered?
By answering these questions, a clear strategy can be made on how the process should be done. PEO support will not only ensure the chosen interview methods are followed but will also provide guidance on how to engage candidates further with follow-up communications such as candidate feedback forms.
Hiring the right applicant
The time has come to pick the best candidate for the role! After hours of interviewing and evaluation, it is important for business leaders to agree on which candidate should be given the final role. Furthermore, it is vital that startup recruitment representatives deliver the great news to the chosen candidate in an effective manner.
PEO professionals help with the hiring stage by offering startups background check guidance. From reference checking to work experience verification, partnering with a PEO helps confirm a top candidate’s legitimacy with greater accuracy. This advantage allows startups to officially hire and onboard their best pick for the role in a sooner time span.
Offer letters are also made easier with PEO support. Startups can work with their PEO to decide what details should be included in an offer letter, such as the new hire’s salary and expected onboarding date. PEOs also help prepare any legal or crucial follow-up documents that a new hire must sign such as nondisclosure agreements and W-9 forms.
During the onboarding stage, PEOs further assist startups by ensuring new hires receive comprehensive benefits packages, update their payroll information, and take any relevant training courses that are either corporation or state mandated.
Staying aware of recruitment trends
The everchanging job market continues to unveil new strategies and trends on how to adequately recruit, interview, and hire top talent. Though having options can often be beneficial, it can be difficult to keep track of the various recruitment methods available.
Fortunately, PEOs deliver educational resources to their customers to make learning and practicing recruitment strategies easier. For example, ExtensisHR offers their partners access to its Recruiting Cloud support site. Startup partners have 24/7 access to a diverse library of informative content explaining key recruitment solutions as well as spotlighting crucial hiring trends.
Startup recruitment teams are also able to review different templates and guides that can add an extra layer of clarity to certain interview or hiring challenges they may be facing.
Make hiring easier with a trusted PEO
Startup recruitment efforts improve business growth and team productivity. Though finding the best candidate for a role is a priority, the time and expertise necessary to achieve this goal can leave startup leaders feeling overwhelmed.
Working with a PEO like ExtensisHR helps startups stay on track during the recruitment process. By letting PEOs lead the time-consuming responsibilities behind talent management, startups are given more freedom to focus on growing their business and hitting their benchmarks.
Best of all, choosing ExtensisHR gives startups access to valuable recruiting services at no additional cost.
ExtensisHR’s expertise doesn’t stop with talent management. Startups can also gain access to other HR solutions such as:
- Payroll management and tax administration
- Risk and compliance support for workplace safety and regulatory requirements
- Educational training and development resources to boost staff efficiency
- Competitively priced healthcare and wellness benefits from top providers
- HR task tracking and reporting within our mobile-friendly Work Anywhere® platform
Ready to improve your startup recruitment strategy? Contact ExtensisHR to learn how our PEO partnerships give your team access more HR advantages.
