Happy New Year! Congratulations on getting through December and to the end of the roller coaster year that was 2022.

Now, we begin again and that means hiring.

Like most leaders we've been speaking with, those who have committed to ambitious 2023 outcomes need to make a few strategic hires. But how do you do that if 2022 included a few downsizing rounds that impacted your Talent Acquisition team?

Here are our perspectives:

Prioritize

The activities necessary for recruiting, and hiring can quickly hijack everything else. While every functional leader has a case for why their hire is necessary, not every role is an urgent priority. Ruthlessly prioritize to ensure time and bandwidth are invested in the most critical hires that push growth outcomes forward.

Think 0-1

It's time to restart and approach this new year with a fresh approach. We call this getting into a position of readiness.

Get Active

Passive hiring is not the solution. Simply putting up a website or LinkedIn posting and praying the right candidate is going to see it and apply doesn’t usually work. Postings are a good way to market your company's brand, but most employers we speak with admit they don't often result in senior-level or strategic hires coming inbound. 

If you are questioning whether to spend money on postings, think twice and research whether it makes sense given the role’s seniority and specialty.

Engage

Leaders are people called upon to find solutions during difficult times. Leaders are also best positioned to communicate the vision, the story, and why someone should choose to resign from their employer and walk across the street to work at your company. They are most likely the ones who know the experiences they need and can identify that talent. All of this puts them in a prime position to temporarily tackle strategic departmental hiring.

While time-consuming and labour-intensive, when lacking capacity in talent acquisition teams, leaders will need to add the function of "Recruiter" to the list of hats they wear.

Rehire

Q1 2023 may be the time to make a few strategic hires to support the company’s operation and re-strengthen the TA team. If you do make that move and hire Talent Acquisition folks, ensure their experiences and outcomes are aligned with what you need to achieve. We've learned many lessons recruiting for our own firm, including, not all internal recruiters can actually outbound recruit.

Partner

If the time it's going to take to build, onboard, and train Talent Acquisition support is not aligned with the outcome timelines you committed to, then partnering with a search firm may be a solution.

It would be unfair to assume every recruiting firm operates the same way or has the resources to complete the searches you require. In fact, we know that we are not the right solution for many companies, yet we are for others. Do your research and align yourself with a search firm with proven experience recruiting the kinds of positions and candidates your organization needs.

From where we sit in the market, speaking with tech Founders and CEOs who share their dreams and plans for growth with us, it's hard not to get excited. What are you excited about this year? How are you planning to overcome the challenges of hiring strategic players?

Connect with us today to learn more about the current hiring market, salary insights, and how our recruitment practice can become an extension of your team.