The Pros and Cons of Informal Recruitment: Is it Right for Your Business?

Informal recruitment is often a topic that surfaces when businesses need to fill positions quickly. It refers to recruiting without the involvement of a third-party recruiter, including job boards, classified ads, and other informal methods. While it may seem like an easy solution, it’s important to understand the pros and cons of informal recruitment before deciding if it’s right for your business.

Pros

1. Cost-effective – One of the biggest advantages of informal recruitment is the costs involved. Formal recruitment, including hiring a third party recruiter or advertising job postings, can often be expensive. Informal recruitment methods like referrals, social media, and word of mouth can save the company money.

2. Faster process – Informal recruitment can move more quickly than formal recruitment methods, which can often be slow and tedious. With an informal recruitment approach hiring managers can make decisions faster and potentially fill positions quicker.

3. Employee retention – With informal recruitment, hiring managers can gain access to potential candidates from within their networks. They can leverage referrals from current employees who often share similar values and work ethos. This can result in better quality hires and higher employee retention rates.

Cons

1. Limited pool of candidates – relying on informal recruiting methods can often mean hiring from a limited pool of candidates. This can result in hiring people who are not the best fit for the role or the company.

2. Legal issues – Informal recruitment processes can be vulnerable to discrimination lawsuits or legal issues related to regulation, whereas formal recruitment is more likely to be compliant.

3. Reduced quality assessment – Without formal recruitment assessments, there is often reduced quality assessment as Hiring managers don’t get to engage candidates and their potential recruits in a formal setting during interviews.

Conclusion

Informal recruitment can be a useful tool for businesses that need to fill positions quickly and cost-effectively. However, before committing to informal recruitment, it’s essential to consider the pros and cons. To make it a successful hiring strategy, a company must evaluate the possible limitations it may have and take a strategic approach to incorporating the informal method. Businesses should weigh up the trade-offs against the speed, cost-saving, and benefits. It is important to recognize that certain positions are better filled through informal sources while others require a more formal approach, and businesses must evaluate the specific needs and position requirements before deciding which approach is best suited. Ultimately, a balance between the two recruitment methods could be an effective strategy.