Haven’t we all at least once been in that situation where we wish we had made time for something a few months back?

Well, recruitment is one of those things. If you are thinking of hiring a new staff member in January, we would strongly advise you to start looking now. The “New Year – New Career” mantra is a thing and research would suggest that most people start this thought process many weeks before the Christmas break.

Statistics suggest that you will need to pay at least 10-15% more on a basic salary to secure the people you want for the most competitive roles in the January transfer window. Also, the recruiting life cycle tends to take 5-10 days longer to complete for jobs posted in January. So why not get ahead of the curve?

“We can see a real shift occurring,” says Leigh Broderick, SEEK’s Senior Customer & Analytics Manager. “Employers need to broaden their recruitment approach, fine-tune their workforce planning and adapt their value propositions to remain relevant.”

To overcome recruitment challenges in the future, Broderick says employers must place a greater focus on workforce planning and strategy. “This includes understanding your current workforce and their existing skills, so you can identify where the gaps are and what your business will need in the future.”

But hiring is not an exercise on its own; for example, OfficeVibe states 69% of employees are more likely to stay with their company for 3 years if they experienced great onboarding and 20% of employee turnover happens in the first 45 days. So, if you don’t like to re-do the whole process any time soon: Have a plan and get your processes in place!

Here are some quick tips to help you get ahead of the curve in January 2020:

  • Implement a simple people strategy to your strategic business plan
  • Use Workforce Planning as a tool to manage, develop and increase your team’s capabilities through training, coaching and recruitment. November / December and April / May are ideal periods to review your workforce plan!
  • Meet with your staff before Christmas. Inform them individually of their personal opportunity and contribution and the role they play within the company’s plan, creating commitment and unity.
  • Recruit ahead of your competition. January sees a peak in job ads, while most job seekers are open to the idea many weeks before Christmas. Recruit them now but delay the start date to January.

Wondering how?

We’ll talk more about this and other great tips in our upcoming webinar!

Join us on the 13th of November 2019, where we will be discussing these and many other topics to ensure that you have a great finish to the end of the year and a fantastic start into 2020.