Why recruitment planning is worth putting on your to-do list today

There’s no better time to plan for the year ahead than in January. Planning your recruitment needs in advance will save you time in the long run and help you secure the best candidates to help your business adapt and expand.

Did you know that the average recruitment process (or ‘time to fill’) is 42 days in the UK? It can take anything from 13 to 63 days to fill a position, and sometimes longer. You don’t want to miss out on the ideal hire just because your paperwork isn’t in place when you need it.

Future proofing – the benefits of planning your recruitment ahead of time

Take advantage of the new year energy and set out your strategic recruitment plan. Then, if one of your key members of staff decides to take early retirement, or suddenly hands in their notice, you’ll already have drawn up an ideal candidate profile and have a selection process in place.

Perhaps you’ll land that big contract and need to increase your headcount sooner than planned.

A recruitment plan helps you to build the team you want for your company, manage expansion, budget more effectively, and cultivate the work culture and values you want by having paperwork and processes in place before you need them.

Down to business – what is a recruitment plan?

A typical recruitment plan sets out everything from hiring goals for managing growth, recruitment marketing strategy, and budget to selection and onboarding procedures.

To create your plan, you need to define your goals, forecast your future hiring needs, and identify the types of candidates you want to attract.

It is a fairly complex process, but, once complete, allows you to see a clear strategy for the year(s) to come.

Looking at data you already have can help to identify your company’s recruitment needs. For example, is there a particular time of year or department that tends to see a higher turnover than others? Are you due to close on a significant contract that will require a higher headcount? Or is a current client planning on increasing their orders? Use that data and plan around it.

The more prepared you are to begin recruiting, the smoother and speedier the process will be. According to recent reports, the best qualified candidates are off the market within 10 days. Don’t miss out because you’re not prepared!

Let’s not forget though, the recruitment process is often a lengthy one, even at the best of times. And, if you do it all yourself, it may take even longer when you consider all the stages involved:

- Identifying the role

- Advertising

- Screening

- Rounds of interviewing

- Selecting a candidate

- Waiting out notice periods

- Setting start dates

- Induction and training

Recruitment companies can help with the end-to-end recruitment process

If you don’t have time for this level of planning and strategizing, then a recruitment company can help. They are experts at defining job roles, preparing interview questions, posting openings on the most effective platforms, actively searching for candidates in their network, negotiating salaries and start dates, and much more.

What might take you several weeks, in between managing your other responsibilities, might take a recruiter a fraction of the time.

With Key Appointments, you’ll save time and effort by letting us handle the majority of the recruitment process for you. We dedicate our time to understanding your requirements and finding you the best candidates so that you are free to go about your business, knowing your hiring needs are in safe hands.

Key Appointments gives you added peace of mind by taking the risk out of recruitment with a free replacement guarantee in the unlikely event that an appointed candidate is unsuitable or leaves your employment within 3 or 6 months.

Planning to recruit? Contact one of our friendly members of staff for an informal chat. You can call us on 0844 504 4666 email us at info@key-appointments.co.uk, or use our contact form.