How to Step Up Recruiting Results this Holiday Season

The holidays are a busy time for just about all of us. Buying presents. Wrapping them. Cooking. Get-togethers. Errands. 

Our to-do lists are full, that’s for sure!

And for some industries, the holiday season is an extremely busy time for recruiters. Retail, shipping and other industries see massive surges around this time. 

Across every industry, many recruiters are left with tough-to-fill openings that MUST be filled by year’s end. For those organizations, they may feel as if they’re scrambling to meet those goals. But for others, the holidays can be a bit slow when it comes to recruiting. Although your work to-do lists may not seem as busy as your personal ones, that doesn’t mean your recruiting efforts should stall this time of year. In fact, letting things stall now can not only impact your Q4 results but can negatively impact how you kick off the new year as well!  These simple tips can help you keep things moving forward during the holiday season and set yourself up for success in 2020. And as a bonus, if you’re scrambling to fill openings by the end of the year, several of these recommendations can help you, too!

Update your candidate database

If things are a bit slow, use this time to clean up your candidate database. That could mean deleting duplicate records, removing old information, and -- this one is especially important for 2020 -- adding current information wherever possible. 

Gathering updated candidate information is very simple in BrightMove -- simply schedule an email, or connect with your texting platform to send a customized message to candidates asking them to confirm their information, or asking if anything has changed. 

BONUS: You’ll also be re-engaging potentially dormant candidates, which can improve your recruiting (and for staffing firms, redeployment) rates!

Focus on candidate engagement

Even if your desk isn’t full of reqs or internal openings, that doesn’t mean you can’t connect with candidates during the holiday season. A quick text message or email wishing talent a happy holiday can go a long way toward reopening the door of communication. Often times, a simple message leads to an ongoing conversation, which, like the previous suggestion, can help increase placements in the New Year. 

Improve your hiring process

When things are slow, it’s the perfect time to do some self-assessment. Where could you have done better in the last year? Were there certain stages that frequently resulted in a stalled out hiring process? 

Did candidates tend to ghost at the same point? Or provide critical feedback? Lengthy processes and poor communication are two of the top complaints among talent when it comes to their job searches. Take some time this holiday season to determine if and where you can improve in those key areas. 

Set goals for the New Year

Many organizations are reviewing their year-end performance around this time. In addition to any formal goals set by your executive leadership, now’s a great time to set departmental or even personal goals you hope to achieve in the New Year.

From decreased time to fill to increased redeployment, bringing your lunch every day to getting 10,000 steps every day, identity what’s most important to you in 2020. Then, set a plan to help you achieve those goals. 

Be mindful of candidate commitments

There is a recurring theme among many of these recommendations, and that involves candidate communications. This time of year provides excellent opportunities to engage and re-engage talent; however, it’s important to remember that just as your to-do list is busy, so are those of your candidates. 

If you don’t hear back from candidates right away, don’t pester them with messages. Avoid lengthy messages that ask for an immediate or involved response. Instead, keep any candidate communications short, sweet and to the point. Going overboard can result in frustrated talent -- and could have a negative impact on your bottom line. 

Is improved recruiting technology at the top of your holiday wish list? 

Here at BrightMove, our powerful platform is built specifically to address the challenges and goals of our clients. We know what drives you crazy about your current recruiting technology, and built BrightMove to make life easier while improving your results. We’re here throughout the holiday season -- let’s set up a call to walk through our platform and see how BrightMove can help you achieve your goals in the New Year.