Right people in the right seats now – why recruitment is key at this time of year!
Internally we put a huge emphasis on assessing our tribe’s capabilities and structure at this time of year – considering if we need to hire or train up any new positions within the business in preparation for the new year and goals we have in place. In fact, pictured here is our Founder Martin with Carli & Lyndsay whom we created new office support opportunities for in November last year. Many of our clients do the same and the reason is strategic.
Its October already, within a month many organisations and employees will start thinking about year end. Holidays, annual leave, Christmas, social commitments, staff parties, end of year bonuses, shut down periods and all of the things that distract and divert attention at this time of year.
What does this result in? Employees deciding not to look for work until the new year, making it difficult to fill critical vacancies. And employers putting hiring off until the new year, affecting business goals and workloads, morale and the ability to kick off the new year in a productive manner rather than being focused on hiring and training.
What are the major benefits of hiring towards the end of the year?
1. Onboard now, engage and train staff ready to kick goals from early in the New Year!
Hiring at this stage of the year can be highly advantageous and timely. Onboarding, training and engaging new staff members at a social and more relaxed time is a great way to showcase your culture and form important relationships between colleagues. It also means that the engagement and training piece can be completed and the employee can be ready to commence and be effective from day 1 in the new year. Hiring in January, they may not commence until February and be effective until May after their initial 3 months integrating in to the role.
2. Company culture can be affected!
We often hear from candidates towards the end of the year who are burnt out from the additional workload they have had to take on due to staff leaving and hiring freezes being put in place. This is definitely prevalent in office support staff, who’s roles are often seen as able to handle a heftier workload. These are the candidates that often come to us and say they are ready to look at new opportunities in the new year as they feel undervalued and unappreciated – don’t loose your quality people this way!
3. If your competitors are choosing to wind down, why not ramp up?
Finding that ‘needle in a haystack’ candidate can be a lot easier when there is less competition. With less job opportunities available towards year end you are more likely to have an active or passive candidate interested in having a chat with you. And if candidates are not interested in exploring options until the new year, a ‘relaxed chat’ and introduction may be persuaded which can kick off a more serious discussion in the new year.
4. New Year hangovers!
Once the calendar clicks over to the New Year, some candidates think about changing roles for the sake of change. They are motivated by trying something new and taking a leap, but haven’t always carefully considered what their true motivators are, what will make them stay in a new role long term. Candidates that are actively pursuing something new right now, at this busy time, are often more considered and certain about the change they are about to make.
Whilst the candidate market is still buoyant, with many high value office support professionals still actively looking for a new place to call home and feel valued and appreciated (highest ranking motivators at present) we recommend proactive action when it comes to recruiting at this time of year. Want to learn more? MJD Recruitment are office support recruitment experts and our purpose is to unearth possibilities for our clients and candidates. Call us on 02 8042 1840 or email [email protected] and we can make a time to chat further about the current office support recruitment market.
