Holidays are the Best Time to Source Top Talent

Studies indicate that the best time to connect with passive candidates is during the holidays and into January.

Why? 

• Most are reflecting on the past year, the new year -- and they are vulnerable to "listen" to new opportunities
• Let's face it -- work slows down and they have more time to take a call, meet for a cup of coffee, or sit down and talk!
• Many will know their ‘fate’ with respect to a year-end bonus. They will know what it is and when it will be paid out. If they are not happy, they will start a job search so they are prepared to leave once they have received it.

Now this doesn’t mean they will LEAVE their company and start with a new organization during this time. Rather, it presents a great opportunity to connect with top talent and start a positive dialog about your organization and their future goals.

As discussed in a recent blog most corporations struggle filling approximately 25% of their openings (average TTF for those positions – 113 days!)

Why? 

• Requisition management issues (common triggers – managers not engaged, position goes on hold but still being counted, sourcing req’s tainting data, etc.)
• Sourcing issue (recruiters not spending the time and/or don’t have the expertise to recruit passive, top talent)

CALL TO ACTION!

If you are not taking advantage of this GREAT TIME to recruit top talent for your difficult to fill positions, we recommend:

• Dedicating the time to do it! Maybe have fun with a sourcing blitz contest with your team?
• Outsourcing it! If you don’t have time to do it (or it is not your cup of tea).

There are quality firms out there that will identify and recruit top talent from your competition for half the cost of recruitment agencies. I will shamelessly plug our sister firm – The RIO Group (www.riogrp.com). I have seen time and time again how they have deployed targeted recruitment strategies to fill difficult positions and/or develop talent pipelines and your database of talented professionals.

THE TIME IS NOW!

I would recommend running a sixty day report and identifying those positions that are critical to your organization and . . . devise a plan to source for them over the next 45 days. From experience, it could be the best solution you can implement to start the New Year off right!