As of 1st July, you can bring furloughed recruiters back into your agency on a part-time basis while still using the Government furlough scheme to supplement their salary.
You can choose what hours and shift patterns your recruiters follow, giving you plenty of options to work with. But how do you introduce part-time workers into an industry where most people work more than full-time hours as it stands?
Here are some important questions to address when phasing the return of your furloughed recruiters…
Who should you bring back part-time?
Deciding who to bring back isn’t an easy task, but you’re the only one who knows who will help pull the business out of this crisis.
If you can’t bring everyone back at the same time, you’ll need to decide between prioritising your top billers or the recruiters who work in industries that are busy right now. Could your top biller pull in more revenue on a quiet desk than an average recruiter could on a busy desk?
It’s also worth thinking about who is likely to thrive in this new job-short market and who might struggle to adapt to it.
Deciding who to bring back first is a minefield, and you might end up with some furloughed recruiters who are unhappy that they’re not your first pick. However, you need to prioritise making decisions that benefit the business – even if you hurt some feelings along the way.
Should your recruiters work 360 or 180?
The 360-recruitment model has declined in popularity in recent years, but could this be the best model for your part-time recruitment staff?
The 180 model had some clear benefits when the market was candidate-lead: Sourcers used their expertise to find top talent (which was in short supply) and sales staff used their skills to win new business. But now that unemployment is on the rise, you’ll be getting overloaded with applications to every job, so 180 sourcers aren’t what you’re going to need right now
The 180 model also relies on clear communication and cooperation within your team, which might be hard to do when some (or all) of your staff are working part time.
With this in mind, it’s worth really thinking about embracing the 360 model with all your recruiters – at least until the market picks back up again.
Which days should your recruiters work?
If you’re bringing some of your recruiters back for a one, two, three or four-day week, consider which days you’ll get the most productivity out of them.
We’ve all heard the saying that Monday is the most important day of the week, but is that really the day your recruiters are most likely to win new jobs?
The days that are most effective for your recruiters will depend on which industry they work in – so it’s worth looking at the stats in your CRM to see which days really are the most productive.
If you’re bringing back two recruiters at the same time, you might not have to make this calculation at all. You could put two part-time recruiters on the same market, with one recruiter working the first half of the week and another for the second half. This is known as ‘job sharing’, and it’s a popular option in other industries.
If you think job sharing could work for you team, it’s worth trying out. Exploring strategies like these can give your agency a competitive edge which will pay off long after Covid-19 is over.
Should you recruiters work core hours?
Recruitment has never been a 9-5 job, so why make your part-time recruiters work those hours?
Just like deciding which day your recruiters work, deciding the hours they work will completely depend on their industry focus, so spend some time looking into your CRM to decide when their BD golden hour is so you can work their schedule around when they’re most productive.
It’s also worth considering if it’s really important your recruiters stick to an eight-hour day. Could their new part-time structure involve five half-days a week? If you choose to go down this route, keep a close eye on their hours. If your recruiters are found working more than is permitted under the furlough regulations, you might land yourself a hefty fine.
Right now, every agency owner is closely looking at their current strategy and seeing how they can adjust it to fit into a post-Covid-19 world. We're currently running a survey to find out how agency owners and directors in the UK are planning to tackle the current businesses climate over the next year. If you participate in the survey, you'll receive first access to the report so you can use the industry insights to build your business plan before everyone else. It only takes three minutes to complete, click here to take the survey.
And if you're considering a new business strategy for the upcoming year, download the eBook below to learn about the five different recruitment business models that could help drive your business through this crisis.
