Create A Strategic Hiring Plan For The New Year

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 By Koleen Singerline 

Have a Plan

Many companies wait until an emergency to think about what kind of skills they should add to the team in light of changing sales forecasts and changes in technology or what character traits seem to work best in our company. Looking at your current workforce and planning ahead for projected hiring needs can help you cover production levels  and create the company culture you want. Start by asking the following questions:

• What positions do you typically hire for and what can you anticipate for this year?

• Based on the hires your company made over the last two years, how were the best candidates found?

• Where do you believe the best candidates may be working now? A local competitor?

• What skills are most difficult for you to hire for and where is training needed?

• What current employees might be ready to take on additional responsibilities?

• What current employees are ready to retire or may be leaving the company?

• What did you learn from previous exit interviews that can help you strengthen the engagement of current employees?

• What projects are planned for the year that will help your company grow?

Based on your answers to these questions, you can approximate the number of new hires you will need for the year.

Like and Link for Future Success

Many employers think in terms of the unemployed pool of workers as the group from which they will find their next employee, but they might not find the perfect match in this limited group. In today’s world of social networking and online information, companies can “connect” with a larger group of potential employees and passive job seekers. Research conducted by Time magazine in 2010 indicated that less than half of American workers (45%) are satisfied with their jobs. Expand your search to include passive job seekers, such as the underemployed, those that are in positions with lower pay than you're offering and people who are in jobs that don't match their skill sets. Based on the last Gallup Poll, the number of uneremployed persons is 19.6%.

Use All Your Resources

During the economic downturn, many companies turned to temporary agencies to help them fill open positions. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the temporary help services industry accounted for 91% of the total non-farm job growth from June 2009 through June 2011. Simply put, nine out of ten employees added to the workforce, during a time of economic down turn, were temporary workers. Two key factors contributed to the increased use of staffing agencies to increase headcount:

• Lack of company resources to handle the hiring process

• Reluctance to add to permanent head count due to economic uncertainty

Hiring top performers is not a matter of luck. It comes from careful planning and following a hiring strategy.You can’t hire an outstanding performer if you only see mediocre performers. Consider multiple sources for finding candidates: setting up a candidate friendly website, employee referrals, networking in business organizations and partnering with an outside recruiter that has knowledge of your company’s culture.