After over 20 years in the industry, I’m not too proud to say that I know recruiting is one of people’s least favourite things. It often feels like a distraction from your core responsibilities, and something you need to do in addition to your ‘day job’.
That’s partly true. Which is where we come in.
I really only want to get one key message across in this blog: if you’re intending to have additional permanent hires start between now and February 2024, you’ve really got to start the process now.
As a recruiter, I already know this. However, it hit home recently when I was putting together an offer pack for a senior hire to join our group. We started interviewing this individual in early September. She was located interstate, so by the time we add in second interviews, psychometric testing, meeting the team, reference checking, checking rights to work, rem package negotiation and so on…we couldn’t agree on a start date any earlier than mid-January.
Simple fact: great people are rarely unemployed, even in a talent-rich market. Most will have at least a four-week notice period, and I’m a firm believer that everyone needs at least a week off between jobs. Often longer, depending on when they last had a decent holiday. Starting a new job and all of the associated brainpower required to learn everything is exhausting at the best of times, so you really don’t want someone joining you who hasn’t had a decent break for over 12 months.
Do the maths on that and it lands you somewhere in early-mid December as the earliest start date. This is never a good idea, as everything they’ve learned over a frantic two weeks is 90% forgotten after the Christmas break, and you’re doing my least favourite thing in the world: re-work.
Now, let’s say you have a fabulous speedy decision-making process, so you’re not worried about the time delay. Think about the additional appeal of someone being able to take a proper break of a few weeks to spend school holidays with their families or get away for a decent break – especially after the year we’ve had. They will start with you in the New Year, fully refreshed and feeling highly engaged and full of gratitude for the opportunity you’ve just provided them.
It’s also hard to say how quickly the market will bounce back next year; the increased competition for talent and the resulting impact on how long and hard it will be to fill vacancies. There are no downsides to starting your permanent hiring process right now. Get in touch with your Clicks Account Manager today to talk through your headcount pipeline. They’re ready to provide you with salary guidance (or you can check out our award-winning Salary Search tool here), candidate profiles to benchmark your requirements, insights into the size of the talent pools of your desired skillsets, and how to maximise your EVP to high-potential applicants. We can also assist with position description design and creating bespoke interview guides and assessments later down the track if required.
Don’t forget Clicks’ focus on championing gender and neurodiversity, so if you would like advice on hiring from these talent pools we are the best people to call: 1300 CLICKS.
Chief Operating Officer
