As December begins many businesses across the UK are starting to look forward to the festive period, making decisions on how to juggle their workload or close out those contracts. This will often mean a slowdown or complete pause on recruiting, leaving interviewing and hiring to be picked up again in the new year.
Frustrating for all involved.
While it’s relatively common for businesses to slow their recruitment down at Christmas, doing so could be a mistake as it might stop your company from gaining access to a pool of skilled candidates that are actively looking for new jobs over this quieter period.
In this blog, we look at why it is better to keep your recruitment efforts going over the Christmas and new year, along with the best ways of taking full advantage of this potentially fruitful hiring period.
Why you should keep hiring.
Many people see Christmas and the new year as a time for reviewing the business and making decisions about the new year/or quarter. This often leads to some key dynamics that make it advantageous to keep on recruiting in December:
● Many professionals will take time during the winter break to review their career priorities and think about moving on to a new role. This means Christmas is likely to result in a fresh influx of skilled professionals reentering the jobs market - especially since the number of people changing careers during the pandemic has been higher than average.
● Your competitors will often be slowing down their recruitment ahead of Christmas, whereas January tends to be one of the most active months of the year in terms of hiring. Additionally, the jobs market has become more competitive than ever since the end of lockdown, and demand for talent is outstripping supply by a considerable margin - creating even more reasons for proactive recruiters to act early and gain an advantage.
By keeping your recruitment efforts going during the winter, your company will be first in line to maximise on these trends, while avoiding the potential pitfalls that come with pausing recruitment.
Increase your recruitment efforts
Things to consider whilst hiring during the Christmas period,
● Offer remote interviews as an option, this will give candidates options and hopefully mean you can interview them sooner. Most businesses will have already taken this step during the pandemic, but it can be particularly vital during the holiday season, when visiting family, weather conditions and travel can make it difficult for people to attend in-person interviews.
● Maintain contact with candidates during the holiday period, even if this means sending an informal catch-up message or festive greeting during times when your offices are closed. If you allow a lead to go cold during Christmas and the new year, they may well disappear during this busy period.
● Do not put pressure or chase candidates aggressively, as for most people Christmas is a busy time and they just want to relax with their families and loved ones.
By following our advice, you will be able to make the most of your investment in recruiting over the festive period, and ensure you are able to go into January ready for success, with your key vacancies filled.
How can we help?
No matter what time of year you are looking to recruit, it will always be easier to find the right candidate by relying on the expertise and support of an experienced recruitment partner.
Syntech Recruitment has more than 20 years of experience helping companies with all aspects of their recruitment, from developing a compelling salary package to coordinating your hiring processes from start to finish. By relying on our guidance and support, you can take some of the pressure off your own internal teams this Christmas - and ensure you are able to start the new year in the best possible position.
Get in touch today by emailing info@syntechrecruitment.co.uk.
