This article is the second in a series of 15 articles to help you with hiring for your organization. Previously, we studied tips to recognize the need to hire new employees, and today we will shed some light on ways to budget for recruitment and hiring.

Most organizations prepare a recruitment budget, which acts as an exhaustive annual estimate of the total costs an organization will incur during the hiring process. The budget should be thoroughly planned, keeping in mind the growth objectives and plans of your organization for the year.

Follow this step-by-step guide to set a thorough budget for recruitment:

Determine Annual Recruitment Plan for New Hires

Avoid using a cookie cutter or scattergun approach to hiring on a year-on-year basis. Work out the following before the year starts to set an appropriate budget:

  • How many new people are you looking to recruit in the coming calendar year?
  • Establish the roles that are harder to fill
  • Identify the need for seasonal hires
  • Will you be running any recruitment drives at universities and trade shows?
  • What is your staff turnover?

The answers to the questions above can help you set your budget for hiring at the start of the year.

Break Down Previous Expenditure

You can run your eyes through some of your previous hiring expenditure to determine just how much it roughly costs you to fill in positions. The following figures can be useful in your calculations:

  • Average cost per hire
  • Professional social network hiring costs
  • Job advert costs
  • Recruitment event costs
  • Branding at recruitment events and adverts cost
  • Interview expenses

All of these expenses can be understood by going over your organization’s past records. These records will let you know just what you have to do differently this time around.

Track Time

Time is money, which is why you should also input for the time it will take you and some of your other senior employees to be present at university drives and other hiring processes. For instance, you will have members of your team and HR present at recruitment drives inside universities. Research indicates the smaller the company, the longer it takes for them to hire a good candidate. If you want your budget estimates to be factually correct, you should ensure that you track time as well as the cost of the time you spend on hiring.

Finally, once you have a formal budget ready, you should get it approved by your leadership. Most organizations do not have a hefty sum available with them, and have to hire on a budget. The next article in this series will look at tips you can follow while hiring on a budget.

We at JS Benefits Group have worked with numerous clients to budget for recruitment and hiring. You can get in touch with JS Benefits Group immediately to discuss and devise a strategy.