Half of new hires either leave or need close support to be more productive according to the findings of a recent survey carried out by Project Brains, an AI-powered Fractional Work platform that helps businesses scale by matching people to specific roles and business needs.

The survey, which explores the challenges and opportunities in hiring and procurement faced by UK SMEs today, found that the recruitment process is often less than efficient. The survey found that 16 per cent of new employees either left or were let go within twelve months of joining the company. Another 35 per cent required close support from the organisation to improve their productivity, while 45 per cent said it took between two and three months to ramp-up new joiners, and sometimes longer. 

The survey revealed a degree of frustration, finding that while nine out of ten (89%) organisations wanted to match prospects' skills with business needs when recruiting, around seven in ten (68%) felt - at best - neutral or - at worst - dissatisfied with their current skills evaluation methods. It's unsurprising, then, that most businesses are open to adopting recruitment processes that transcend a basic job description. 92 per cent of respondents said they would use technology like AI to write specifications and set criteria to evaluate prospects' skills, and 89 per cent are open to using fractional models for hiring and services. 

Balram Pal, Director at Project Brains comments on the survey's findings: "These are all indicators of mis-hiring and paint a frustrating picture of businesses struggling to find the right people to fill their roles. With mis-hiring costing the typical UK business around £125,000, 89 per cent of respondents to the survey agreed there's a need for improvement in making hiring decisions."

Fractional work is gaining awareness in HR and recruitment circles and refers to the hiring of an employee or service provider on a part-time or project-by-project basis. Fractional employees tend to be highly skilled professionals who offer specialist services to companies as and when required. Unlike traditional full-time employees, fractional specialists offer unparalleled agility and expertise, swiftly addressing critical barriers to success, and outweighing the drawbacks of relying solely on permanent staff or consultants. Not only does fractional work save on the time and money that an organisation would normally invest in recruiting, training, and onboarding new starters, it can also reduce risk and fill in any talent or knowledge gaps that might exist.

Project Brains has created a platform that allows businesses to access a community of more than 6,000 professionals covering all aspects of a business's operating function - from finance and sales to marketing - all available on a fractional basis. Companies can bypass bad recruitment processes and bring in specialists to fulfil a variety of operating functions, and address specific problems based on agreed outcomes.

Pal concluded: "Traditionally, SME businesses have been able to fill senior positions based on their existing networks, bringing in hires to manage a specific outcome like increasing revenues or sales by a certain amount. However, it's not been possible to fulfil other key operational roles the same way, forcing companies into the job market. The survey's findings show, there is an opportunity - indeed, a real need - for technology and process innovation to improve these outcomes. The fractional approach champions a new era in the evolution of the workforce, giving organisations access to specific expertise when it is most crucial. We believe that, today, meeting a needs description is more important than matching a job description."

Project Brains polled 100 UK business executives including CEOs, founders, and directors of finance, operations, HR and technology, 62 per cent of whom led companies with 250 staff, while 44 per cent had revenues of £50m.

About Project Brains

Project Brains is an AI start-up helping UK SMEs accurately define business needs and get matched to specialist talent on a fractional basis. This addresses skills shortages and the risk of mis-hiring faced by most businesses. 

Our innovation lies in the focus on the demand side, assisting businesses to precisely identify needs, rather than use generic job descriptions. Our game-changing combination of responsible AI and fractional fulfillment is compelling for an expanding community of growth businesses and deep specialists.

For more information, visit Project Brains