Social distancing. Flattening the curve. Events both personal and professional are cancelled, postponed, or have moved online in small screen gatherings. Words and way of life has changed. For now. COVID-19 has arrived, and the crises in its wake have affected our daily lives on a global scale.
While most businesses have moved to remote working policies, have had to lay off or furlough employees, and may wonder if business will ever be the same, there is a surprising advantage to this storm we’re now weathering.
Businesses who are prepared, who take the time to re-evaluate and review their growth plans in the months to come will finish this year much stronger than those who do not. It’s how we manage during a crisis which will have the most impact on our performance at the end of the year.
If you are a company with an ambitious hiring plan to attract Legal and Contracts Management experts, it is difficult enough at the best of times, let alone in the current setting. Yet now is not the time to weaken your resolve to move through this crisis. Now is not the time to panic. Stay the course and ask yourself if you will be ready once the storm has passed, or will you be left behind?
As tenured experts in the market, having weathered multiple crises over the years, we recommend you continue having thorough and considerate conversations with Legal and Contract Management candidates in the market. The advantage of this particular crisis is that most people are working from home and can carve the time out to have these conversations.
Now is the time to develop meaningful relationships with high quality candidates that you might consider for employment within the next three to four months. When all the travel bans are lifted, and restaurants and bars are full again, the relationships you develop now will put you that much ahead of your competition. Below are some examples of how both strategies could play out.
Example:
Growing Danish Law Firm (founded 2014)
March, April, May - A growing Danish Law Firm invests in deep meaningful dialogue with passive and active candidates via phone calls and video chats. They uncover the market potential through this time and shortlist several candidates in time for the end of the virus outbreak.
June - the world has calibrated, and life continues “business as usual”. The growing Danish Law Firm schedules multiple onsite visits and offers are made within the month to their top choice candidates.
Result: Multiple hires from a buoyant candidate population that represents the top 1% of candidates in the space.
Top Tier Danish Law Firm (founded 2000)
March, April - Top Tier Danish Law Firm suspends interviews and shortlisting until news outlets paint a brighter picture of what the world health looks like. Candidates in process or interested in this Top Tier Danish Law Firm lose interest and move on to conversations with Growing Danish Law Firm and/or the competition.
May - Top Tier Danish Law Firm engages internal recruitment team or external recruiting partner to go to market, picking up where they left off in mid-March.
June - The top candidate profiles reached are in the offer stage with their competitors. As a result, Top Tier Danish Law Firm will not be considered as those candidates have moved on in their search and will not be on the market long enough to consider an offer.
July - Top Tier Danish Law Firm changes hiring strategy and reconsiders the brief before going back to market.
Result: Hires will be attempted within the population of candidates outside of first and second choice tiers. Extended time to market leads to a narrow selection of candidates, excluding those the top 1-3% who have been secured by the competition.
This is a stressful time for businesses the world over. But, by taking a measured approach to your hiring plans now, your company will be in the best place to advance beyond this pandemic, and any obstacles associated with it.
The pitfalls of losing out of the best talent in the market could be the difference between you and what you didn’t perceive to be a competitor. This is your opportunity to beat the market by not giving in to the panic affecting your competitors. You can be the solution simply by keeping the conversation going.
As your trusted advisor and Legal and Contracts recruiting partner, we are available to discuss ongoing trends in the market, our position on recruiting during this time, and how we can be a part of your solution going forward. Together we will ride out this storm and sail into the next stage of business with renewed clarity.
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