With the trend of massive layoffs across multiple industries at the start of 2023, this spring’s cohort of graduates may just have entered the job market a bit stressed. On the flip side, many corporate businesses have been shopping for more entry-level resumes as they continue to see a slow market recovery. Talent acquisition teams across industries, including tech, sales, accounting, and auditing continue to seek more affordable talent as inflation rates remain high. And more industries are sure to follow, giving entry-level talent more options than anticipated.
Strategize To Anticipate Future Needs
It’s essential to have a strategy in place in order for your business to stay ahead of these shifting trends. Having a pulse on your business’s talent acquisition needs at any given time is the place to start. Consider mapping out short-term and long-term talent acquisition needs that can be revisited by department heads each quarter. If your company has a particularly busy season, such as tax season, fashion week, or back to school, identify those time periods so your talent acquisition team can have a plan and budget prepared to recruit the desired number of candidates ahead of time.
Another element that should be considered is an applicant’s potential to change their role within the company throughout the calendar year. For instance, if you anticipate that your business will have a need for project management followed by demand in content creation, your talent acquisition team can prioritize resumes that demonstrate both skill sets. As a result, you can avoid revisiting the applicant pool throughout the year. It is far more economical to hire internally, saving your business financial investments in job listings and the HR team’s time. You can expect to see company morale and engagement increase, too, as employees realize their ability to gain new opportunities.
Anticipating staffing needs will also allow your talent acquisition team to better navigate hiring processes. If a season is approaching where essential hires must be made, talent teams should receive ample notice to make sure they have a sufficient budget to extend attractive offers to top talent. Make sure you account for any advertising, event, or website costs associated with your team’s recruitment practices when considering this year’s budget. To ensure there are no surprises, incorporate funds for unplanned expenses as well.
Reviewing the previous year’s costs and adjusting based on this year’s needs can help your team estimate future costs. When a particular skill is needed for a future opening, your business may need to hire a headhunter to fill the position. Anticipating these costs will position your company to comfortably hire the best fit for your office. A bad hire could cost your business on average as much as $17,000, so be sure to give your talent acquisition and management team ample time to strategize in this area.
Be Prepared For What’s Next
If your business is also seeking to invest in younger talent in order to scale back on staffing costs, consider creating or updating any training programs. If a particular software is needed for a department to function successfully, make sure there is a process in place to equip a new hire with those skills efficiently. Update any employee catalogs that may have outdated information and consult team leads on any specific training that should be scheduled during orientation.
To quote Taylor Swift quoting Benjamin Franklin, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Inflation rates may have steadied, but it has yet to show any evidence of declining, which means businesses will need to continue to buckle down and cut costs for the foreseeable future. To best position your talent acquisition team – and business – for success and avoid any surprises, map out your organization’s hiring needs for the next three, six, and twelve months. Rank the importance of each role to your business’s overall goals, and assign an overall hiring budget for the year. Set your team up for success by giving them a plan to follow that will give them the confidence to succeed!
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