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As December begins, businesses across the UK are planning ahead for the festive period, making key decisions on how to prioritise their workloads and initiatives around the holidays. For many businesses, this will mean a slowdown or complete pause on recruitment, leaving interviewing and hiring to be picked up in the new year.
While it’s relatively common for businesses to slow their recruitment down at Christmas, doing so may be a strategic mistake that stops your organisation from gaining access to a pool of skilled candidates actively looking for new roles.
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.
The advantages of hiring in December
Many people see Christmas and the new year as a time for reflecting, taking stock and making decisions about the next phase of their lives. This creates two key dynamics that make it advantageous to keep recruiting in December:
● Many professionals will take time during the winter break to examine 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.
● Rival companies 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 organisation will be first in line to capitalise on these trends, while avoiding the potential pitfalls that come with pausing recruitment around this time.
How to make the most of your Christmas recruitment efforts
For those companies that have made the decision to maintain their hiring momentum during the Christmas period, it is important to remember to tailor your recruitment strategy to account for the unique circumstances that can arise when recruiting during the holidays.
You should take the following factors into account:
● Make sure you are offering remote interviews as an option. Most businesses will have already taken this step during the pandemic, but it can be particularly vital during the holiday season, when inclement weather can make it difficult for people to attend in-person interviews, and many candidates will already be spending much of their time in transit as part of their holiday plans.
● Maintain contact with prospective leads 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 have moved on by the time you resume your recruitment activities - keep the channels of communication open, and you will be able to manage expectations more effectively.
● Do not apply too much pressure or chase candidates too aggressively during December, when most people are either extremely busy, or looking to unwind with their families and loved ones. In particular, contacting a candidate on Christmas Day should be avoided at all costs - by respecting the candidate’s time, you will make a much better impression.
By following this guidance, 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 agency to help you develop the most effective approach.
Employment Solutions has more than 20 years of experience helping organisations 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.
To learn more about how Employment Solutions can support you, call the team on 0161 839 5353, or complete the contact form below and we will be in touch soon.