Summer is past, September is in full swing, and many businesses are prepping for a fourth-quarter hiring spree.
Past September jobs reports show the addition of hundreds of thousands of new jobs in areas ranging from healthcare to construction. This annual uptick in hiring, which peaks in September and October, is known as the September Surge.
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- How to Leverage September Hiring Surge Trends
- Key Phases of the Hiring Season
- September Surge Support
How To Leverage September Hiring Surge Trends To Meet Company Goals
The September Surge helps companies plan for Q4 and beyond. New talent can help businesses meet year-end goals, offer support during the busy holiday season or enable companies to ensure they have the headcount they need to tackle next year’s planned strategic initiatives. To take full advantage of the hiring season, however, companies should have a pre-, mid- and post-surge plan in place.
Three Phases of The Hiring Surge Strategy
For HR teams and hiring decision-makers wondering how to prepare for the September Surge, this is not a two-month endeavor. There are three phrases to the hiring season, and to find success, teams must prepare for each. The following are steps to consider along the way.
Pre-Surge: Understanding Organizational Priorities
Hiring decision-makers should begin by determining their immediate September surge hiring needs.
Companies can do this by reviewing organizational structures to identify open and immediate position gaps that need to be prioritized when hiring in September. Planning ahead will provide decision-makers and HR teams the peace of mind and confidence to take full advantage of the hiring season.
For companies requiring talent with niche skills, advance planning will allow sufficient time to source hard-to-find candidates or reach out to a staffing partner to expand their reach.
In the rush to fill open positions, hiring decision-makers can also sometimes overlook important details within their recruitment process. Prior to September Surge hiring activity, hiring decision-makers should review and consider how to enhance their hiring process The goal is to ensure it is efficient and that sought-after candidates are moved through the process quickly to minimize the risk of losing them to a competitor with a tighter process.
A successful hiring strategy may involve:
- Updating job descriptions.
- Confirming benefits and salaries are competitive in the current market.
- Verifying next steps after a candidate has been offered a position (such as conducting background checks or calling references) to optimize the onboarding process.
This may involve updating job descriptions, confirming benefits and salaries are competitive in the current market, and verifying next steps after a candidate has been offered a position (such as conducting background checks or calling references).
Companies can also consider working with a talent solutions partner to streamline the process from recruitment and hiring through employee productivity. A clean and efficient process, fortified by a strong internal support network, will enable new hires to get up to speed more quickly and become productive contributors faster, which will improve long-term retention.
Mid-Surge: Refining the Recruitment Process
Hiring decision-makers should make sure the candidates they are considering are the best fit for the company’s culture and goals.
One way to do this is to emphasize the company’s employer value proposition (EVP) to all candidates. This makes it easier to touch on topics that are important to candidates, including:
A strong EVP will attract candidates who embrace similar values, which in turn will support retention efforts.
During this phase, it's important to consider the full scope of the candidate’s experience. Too often, employers place an outsized emphasis on hard skills, which can cause them to pass on candidates who may be a great fit.
Instead, consider a candidate’s soft and transferable skills for a better picture of how they may adapt and perform. As AI becomes more integrated into all facets of work, these human-centric skills are becoming increasingly important. In fact, in a recent list of fastest-growing skills, soft skills like conflict mitigation, adaptability and innovative thinking were among the most in demand. Being open to workers with strong soft skills or transferable skill sets can prevent hiring decision-makers from overlooking qualified candidates.
Post-Surge: Planning for the Year Ahead
Once the hiring surge has ended and open positions have been filled, hiring decision-makers should review and assess the season’s hiring activity and plan for next year. Determine what was and was not effective in recruitment efforts and plan to make changes where necessary.
This is a yearlong process that begins with looking at new hire onboarding and considers instances of attrition. By examining the full life cycle of an employee, companies can determine what was and was not effective and make changes where necessary. This may involve rethinking the onboarding process or implementing new employee retention strategies.
Evaluating the learnings from 2024 will support 2025 September surge hiring effects and strategies. It will provide hiring decision-makers even more time to identify tentative lead time and time-to-hire for highly specialized or niche skillsets. A staffing or talent solutions partner can support you in charting a path forward for planning future contingent workforce needs.
September Surge Support from a Trusted Partner
As hiring decision-makers begin their post-surge analysis, they should consider bringing in a talent solutions partner like Aston Carter.
Aston Carter can help hiring decision-makers think strategically about their hiring goals in the upcoming year, ensuring that hiring efforts support business objectives. Additionally, Aston Carter’s national network of candidates can help employers source specialized talent in accounting, finance, human resources, talent acquisition, procurement, supply chain and select administrative professions, often with a quicker time to hire.
Aston Carter can also support the entire recruitment process through new-hire onboarding. This enables hiring decision-makers to capitalize on the September hiring surge without disturbing day-to-day operations.
Aston Carter is a cost-effective alternative to large consulting firms, and we offer access to the same, if not better, talent to help solve our customers’ business challenges. By building and delivering talent solutions customized to our clients’ unique needs, we help facilitate the successful completion of our clients’ most important projects and initiatives on time and within budget.
Contact us today to learn how we can help find the talent you need during the September surge.
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