As job market shows sign of clear revival, it is time to prepare for the hiring binge. Naukri.com JobSpeak Index for Nov 2009 is up 8%+ month-on-month. More importantly, it is up 15% for HR professionals, which is a leading indicator of hiring activity throughout the economy.
Recruitment is highly cyclical. In a downturn, first reaction is to stop all future projects and hiring. Hiring is also a long lead time activity. The whole process involves several steps – approval of the requisition (internal company processes), creating a Job Description, sharing it with consultant/internal hiring team, collecting resumes, short-listing candidates, interviewing, final decision, making the offer and waiting for the candidate to join. The whole process can take a minimum of 2 months to anywhere between 6 to 12 months. Therefore, if you are planning to hire for 2nd or 3rd Quarter 2010, you need to start now.
If you head the HR department of a company, this is what you may want to consider –
1. Restore all benefits which were withdrawn over the last 18 months.
2. If promotions were denied or salary increases postponed, consider them at the earliest.
3. Create a list of critical executives and make sure there is enough protection in terms of compensation (vis-à-vis market) and stock options (value of unvested stock).
4. Seek an estimate of attrition over the next six months, from the heads of businesses.
5. Seek hiring requirements from heads of business
6. Identify hiring targets by skills and role. Break the target by campus recruitment and lateral hiring
7. Seek high level business approval for hiring budget. If hiring team does not have sufficient resources, hire the recruiters first.
8. Ask the question – is the business willing to wait for a few months for new hire to join, if a critical resource leaves. If no, is it ok to hire for expected attrition?
9. Performance reviews happen in most companies in either the First or the second quarter of the calendar year. Attrition increases in and around this time. A large number of MBA aspirants (or for another post graduation course) leave in the second quarter. Take these factors into account.
Wish you a happy head-hunting in 2010!!
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