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With the year almost over and recruitment activity starting to quieten down, now is a great time to reflect on what you’ve achieved and to start making plans for 2017.
Planning ahead is crucial; returning to work after the Christmas break can be busy and preparing now will ensure that you’re completely on top of things when you’re back in the office. Don’t forget, new vacancies might pop up over December that you’ll need to recruit for immediately.
So, what steps can you take now to prepare for the year ahead? Webrecruit recommends looking at the following four areas:
1. Analyse your recruitment right now
Before making any plans for 2017, you need to take stock and think about what you’ve achieved over the past year; did you accomplish everything that you set out to?
Take a look at your metrics and compare them to where you were at the beginning of the year. What’s your average time to hire? How much have you been spending on your advertising sources?
You should start to notice some patterns. For example, if your recruitment spend is higher but your vacancy-fill rate is lower, you might need to look closer at your recruitment strategy and cut out any sources that aren’t delivering you with quality candidates.
It’s also worth looking at factors such as candidate behaviour and mobile traffic, and make adjustments to your strategy accordingly.
Reflecting on the progress that you’ve made over the past year will help you to set your goals going forward and should give an indication of how much you’re likely to achieve.
2. Write a list of your focuses for next year
Based on what you’ve discovered from reflecting on your progress, you’ll most likely start to notice things that you can improve on moving forward.
Make a list of your main focuses for the year ahead; what do you need to focus on?
Consider things such as:
- Reducing time to hire
- Reducing cost per hire
- Improving the quality of hire
- Promoting your employer brand
3. Plan your resources for the year ahead
Once you have a clearer idea of what you’re going to be focusing on over the next year, it’s worth considering getting some tools in place that are going to help you.
For example, if you know that you’re going to be making multiple hires in 2017, it’s worth talking to your recruitment advertising suppliers in December to see if they can offer you discounts on packs of multiple advertising credits.
Taking advantage of any December deals can be a good idea as advertising credits are often valid for up to 12 months and this will help to drive down your cost per hire in the long run.
4. Think about your processes
Is your recruitment process as efficient as it could be? If not, it’s worth considering ways to make it more streamlined.
Whether there’s a member of your team who is holding up the vacancy approval process or you’re finding it difficult to manage your incoming applications via spreadsheets and email, it’s important to think of ways to tackle this.
Using recruitment software, such as an applicant tracking system (ATS), is a good way of improving your efficiencies, cutting down on your administration and making great hires. (Find out more about Webrecruit’s Fusion ATS).
Need more advise about preparing for your 2017 recruitment? Request a brochure to learn how Webrecruit can help you recruit smarter and more effectively next year.
