This month on the blog, we'll be talking about how you know when it's time to hire and how you should be tailoring your hiring strategy to your growth goals, as well as other considerations. One thing that we at TalenTrust strongly advise is to anticipate hiring needs and start developing a hiring strategy at least 90 days prior to the start date for every critical position. So now is actually an excellent time to start thinking through your 2016 hiring strategy to ensure you are prepared in the new year.
Start Thinking About a 2016 Hiring Strategy NOW
When companies don't have an adequate hiring strategy in place, they lose productivity, receive lower quality work, and diminish staff morale. When a critical position sits empty for a long period, it can severely impede growth. A report from Indeed.com and the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) revealed that, across the U.S. economy, over 330 million work hours could be added every month if companies could more effectively identify and hire employees. According to the same report report, 1in 3 jobs remain unfilled for more than three months.
At TalenTrust, we approach hiring from a completely different standpoint. Rather than hiring to fit a job description or skill set, we advise hiring to fit an overall culture, mindset and attitude. While skills can be taught, a leopard rarely, if ever, changes its spots, so hiring a person who will fit your company culture will help avoid some of these pitfalls immediately. If your company’s overall hiring strategy is in place as you anticipate and prepare for growth, you will already have a pipeline full of candidates who fit the culture, and can be molded to fit the position over time.
What Factors Affect Your Hiring Strategy?
ERE Media notes that the national time-to-fill average is at its highest in 15 years and that the industries with the highest time-to-fill averages are financial services, health services, government, and information. The Indeed/CEBR report notes that hospitality and manufacturing are the sectors that are most likely to have open positions for longer than three months. It also acknowledges that the time of year in which a job is posted can make a huge difference. Given these variables, an effective hiring strategy takes into account both your industry and specifics about the best times to hire for your position or industry.
The job itself greatly impacts hiring strategy as well. Senior-level positions usually take the longest to fill. We serve clients across the country, and tell our local clients in Colorado to be prepared for a 90 to 100 day hiring process for high-level positions. Though Colorado's economy is doing well overall, and we have a relatively low number of unfilled jobs here (below the average of 31.2%), it is very hard to find executives here. This can be attributed to a range of factors: educational attainment issues, talent pipeline leaks, and because many of the people flooding to the state are in a younger demographic (and therefore less likely to be qualified for executive or supervisory positions).
Finally, a huge part of determining a hiring strategy is your company's individual growth goals. We help our clients take a close look at their growth goals for the fiscal year as well as what is happening in the market regarding which positions are currently open, how quickly they are being filled, and other economic considerations.
We approach the idea of a hiring strategy in this comprehensive way because we believe that recruitment is a sales process, not a transactional event. The more work you do upfront in determining your company's specific talent needs, articulating and communicating your culture, and recognizing the specific advantages and limitations of your market, the faster you will reach your growth goals. So even though the New Year is still two months away, begin to plan your 2016 hiring strategy NOW. We promise you'll thank us next year.
If you're ready to start planning, contact us today at connections@TalenTrust.com to learn more about how we can develop a hiring strategy that will help you achieve your growth goals.