HR forecasting is part art and part science. Ask any two recruiters about forecasting, and they’ll likely have different ways to predict their future goals. That’s why recruiting is often a hurry up and wait kind of game.
Forecasting your hiring is even more important when there are more than 10 million open jobs for candidates to choose. The candidate-driven markets of today force HR teams to need more hiring lead time. An early forecast means organizations can pipeline candidates and stay more prepared.
If you haven’t set your 2023 hiring forecast, this blog will help.
Strategic Hiring Requires Forecasting
Organizations can begin with the business case driving growth. Or, if retention is a problem, an attrition plan can serve as the baseline for forecasting numbers. Some good questions to consider include:
- Hiring can follow sales numbers. If the sales team is increasing quotas for next year, how will that impact hiring?
- How well did the company do last year in retaining its workforce? Use last year’s numbers to predict how many seats you’ll need to fill on the bus this year.
- What about IT initiatives or other strategic imperatives next year? Are you planning to open new offices? Are you creating a new digital product and know you lack resources internally?
- What about retirement? How many workers in your business are nearing retirement age?
- Also, promotions. Has the organization groomed several managers to slide into leadership roles? How will this impact hiring?
As you begin to look at hiring with a more strategic eye, you’ll also reap the benefits of this process.
Benefits of Hiring Forecasting
As you formulate what hiring will look like next year, a few key benefits will present themselves, including:
- Hiring forecasting raises awareness of hiring across the organizational culture. Instead of a knee-jerk reaction to an open seat, you will have a more strategic approach or the long term.
- It removes some of the pressure of hiring by allowing you to hire strategically. This increases your ability to find better candidates.
- Forecasting can save you money. Hiring a new employee is like shopping. If you have an urgent need for the candidate, you’re less likely to have a clear head and may impulsively pay too much just to fill the seat.
- This process buys you time and puts you more in control of a process that can seem arbitrary and reactive.
- Forecasting also forces the entire organization to consider promoting from within as well as conducting succession planning for retiring employees. This elevates hiring to an entirely new level that can help you build a better culture that gives employees a career path to success, and not just a job.
The PrideStaff team is here to support your hiring forecasts and goals. We work closely with our clients to plan proactively, building a steady pipeline of top-quality candidates. Call on us to find out how we can help your business.
