December is here, and recruiting during the holidays can be challenging. Current employees and job seekers are faced with difficult decisions to move to a new role now or wait until the new year.
Why is recruiting during the holidays difficult?
We think the key reasons which drives people to these decisions are:
- Money/Financial – if they leave now, they could forfeit a hard earned quarterly bonus, current commissions, year-end bonuses, or profit-sharing checks
- Disruption – They view job change as a disruption with family-related activities during the holidays
- Uncertain economy – Job seekers wonder if they should stay secure where they are or risk the “new person” mentality at a new company?
- Perks – Candidates may be concerned about losing perks. For example, gaining more vacation time by rolling over to new year with present company
- Insurance – Benefits are always important to job seekers, and starting a new health plan (probably with a waiting period) during the winter months could be a cause of concern
These holiday recruiting predicaments are nothing new, it happens every year around this time. It is just something to be aware of while moving through the process. You may want to ask your candidates during the interview stages when they will they be in position to make this move. Are they willing to make a change right away if selected? Being aware of these issues will allow you to be prepared to counter these concerns (or you’ll be prepared to grind it out and have a start date in January).
If your chosen candidate is not ready to start right away, what should you do?
During the time between when they resign and start, send them company related gifts and reminders such as company swag, shirts, hats, and gift boxes. Don’t forget to include their spouses/family. You could invite them to company parties, give ball game tickets, gift cards to local restaurants, etc. These little gentle reminders will keep your company and culture front and center.
You’ll want to reach out via phone and start to assemble a 30-60 day plan, and send any onboarding paperwork so that when the new employee starts, they will be ready to make an impact.
Recruiting during the holiday season can be tricky. However, thinking ahead and being prepared for some pushback, will help in getting the desired results.
CONTACT US:
To learn more about how GRN Coastal can help you land top candidates, please contact us!
John Salvadore
Managing Partner
jsalvadore@grncoastal.com
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