Employees are a big expense. However, they can often be a necessary one. While some companies are possible to run as one-man-bands, others require a team of staff to operate. Hiring staff isn’t something you can skimp on as easily as other business expenses. Sure, you can underpay employees and provide no benefits – but you won’t retain staff for long and may struggle to attract talent. Fortunately, there are some efficient and ethical ways to reduce staff costs. Below are a few examples.
Handle recruitment yourself
Some companies pour thousands a year into outsourcing recruitment agencies. While this can save you the time and energy of advertising jobs and screening applications, it’s not always worth the results. Handling the recruitment process yourself will save you money and will give you more control as to where you advertise and which applicants you consider. If you already have employees, you can get them to help you create ads and screen applicants. You may even find that your employees value being able to help choose their colleagues.
Hire virtual staff
Hiring virtual staff can be an effective way to cut costs. Often the only reason companies rent out an office is to accommodate staff. By hiring a completely virtual workforce, you don’t need an office – which is a huge saving. Even if you’d prefer to still have an office, hiring virtual employees gives you the freedom to choose something smaller and cheaper. There are also other benefits to hiring virtual staff such as being able to recruit talent from around the world and providing a better work/life balance for employees by not requiring a commute. Find virtual employees by using remote staffing companies or by advertising yourself.
Embrace hot desking
Hot desking involves getting employees to share desks as opposed to giving every individual employee their own desk. This typically involves putting into place a hybrid working system in which employees work in the office some days and work at home on other days. Such a system could allow you to hire a workforce of 20 people while running it from an office made for only 10 people. A smaller office means smaller costs. At the same time, your employees can enjoy a balance of working in an office and working from home.
Consider what you can outsource
Sometimes you don’t need to hire an in-house employee to take over a role. Many duties can be outsourced to a company or individual much more cheaply. This can also prevent you from having to buy extra equipment or upgrade software plans to accommodate extra employees. Examples of roles you can outsource include marketing, IT support, HR support, accounting, phone answering and data entry.
Invest in keeping staff happy
A high turnover of staff can end up being costly, as you have to constantly pay for recruitment and onboarding. By keeping your staff happy, you can retain individual employees longer. This does involve investing money into your employees – offering loyal employees bonuses and providing generous benefit packages can keep employees from wanting to leave. Even small perks like occasionally taking staff out for lunch can have an impact.
