Saving money on staffing costs for your business

If you own your own business as a parent it can be tough to juggle. Managing your time and your employees is important. Employee costs are likely to be one of your biggest expenses when you expand your business. In addition to paying wages, you also need to pay National Insurance and employer’s liability insurance, provide workspace and equipment for your employees, and pay various other expenses. Hiring people can help you to grow your business, but it’s also a big step for your company. When you start hiring people, finding ways to save on staffing costs can reduce expenses for your business and might save you time too.

There are many ways you could be saving money on your staffing costs. Take a look at the tips below to hire the best people for your company while keeping your expenses under control.

Know When to Outsource

Before you hire people, it’s important to know when it’s really necessary. There are several advantages to outsourcing work that needs to be done instead, although it can also have its own disadvantages. Outsourcing is often the cheaper option because you don’t have to pay for the usual costs associated with having an employee. You might use freelancers, an agency, or a temping agency to get the help that you need. It’s usually the best option for short-term projects when you don’t need to permanently expand your team. However, at some point, it may get more expensive than hiring permanent staff. Additionally, you might not be able to integrate people into your company as well as you would like.

Save on Recruitment

When you do decide to hire people, recruitment costs can be some of the most significant expenses that you face. You might decide to save by taking care of recruitment yourself, but this is likely to be very time-consuming. If you use a recruitment agency, try looking for fixed-cost agencies so that you can stick to a budget more easily. Another way to save is by speeding up the recruitment process. The longer it lasts, the more it could end up costing you. Try reducing the interview time by making use of phone and video interviews. Not only does it help you to save time and narrow down your choices, but it’s convenient for candidates who have to travel too.

Hire Part-time Employees

If you want to hire a permanent employee for your business, you might not need someone full-time. A part-time employee could help you as much as you need to, and you can keep your costs down. They’re still able to become a valuable part of your business, but you don’t have to pay them for hours when you don’t need them. You might hire someone on a part-time business to take care of payroll or bookkeeping or to help out with office admin in some way. If you only need help from someone for a few hours a week, a part-time employee could be the answer, whether it’s for marketing, manufacturing, maintenance, or anything else.

Hire Generalists

For small companies, it might not make sense to hire people with highly specialist skills. Firstly, this means you will likely need to hire more people. Secondly, you will most likely also need to offer higher wages to get people with the skills that you need. It often makes more sense to hire generalists who know a little bit about several things. They might not have the in-depth knowledge of someone who is a specialist in their field, but they can help out with a number of different things and put their mind together with others working for you. It’s a great way to save on staffing costs when you really need it.

Track Employee Working Time

Knowing how much each of your employees is working is essential if you want to save money. You need to know when they’re clocking in and out at work, and when they’re taking unpaid time off. You can make use of small business time clock apps to accurately track your employees’ working times. You can use these tools to input your payroll policies, which means you don’t have to worry about keeping track of things like shift work or absences. The tool will do it for you, saving you time and money.

Reduce Employee Turnover

One of the highest staffing costs for some businesses is high employee turnover. If your employees don’t last long, you could constantly be on the lookout for new ones. This drives up your recruitment costs, and you also have to spend money on training and onboarding new employees. If you can lower your employee turnover, you could save a lot of money. To do this, you need to make sure you’re hiring the right people. Offer the right things to attract the talent that you need and take good care of your employees to get them to stick around.

Take Steps to Reduce Time Off

Having your employees out sick isn’t very convenient, but it’s a reality of any business. Sometimes people get sick, and they need time off to recover. They might also need to take time off for other things, including important appointments or family matters. While you need to accept that there will be some absences, you can also help to reduce the amount of time your employees need to take off work. You could help to improve employee health with an employee wellness programme, for example. You could offer flexible working hours to make it easier for people to fit their other commitments around their work.

Automate Tasks

If you want to avoid hiring someone new or reduce the hours that your current employees work, consider automating some tasks. When you automate tasks, you can just leave them to complete while your staff gets on with other things. It could be a good way to reduce the amount of overtime your employees are working, or it could give you a little more time before you need to hire a new employee. Many tasks can be automated, saving time for your employees and allowing them to do other things.

Switch to Remote Working

When employees work in your office, you also need to give them space and the tools that they need to work. By switching to remote working, you can reduce the amount of office space that you need. You might choose to provide employees with the devices and tools that they require, but you can save a lot of money when you don’t have to provide them with desk space. Remote working is becoming more and more common, and it’s perfectly possible for many companies. You don’t always need to have people on-site, and there are plenty of ways for remote workers to remain connected to the rest of the team. Not everyone needs to be a remote worker. You can decide who would work best in the office and who can work remotely.

Create a Community Spirit

Paying for a cleaner might be one of the costs that you’re not sure you can manage. If cleaning costs are too high, consider trying to promote more of a team effort to keep your business tidy. If your employees will all pitch in, they can help to keep everything clean and tidy. Ask them to clean up after themselves in the kitchen or other areas and perhaps have a rota for completing certain tasks. You might still want to have a professional cleaner now and then, but it could be once a week or even once a month if your employees do the rest.

Save money on your staffing costs with these tips, and you could have more funds to help your business grow.