Right now, your company is either in ‘survival mode’, or ‘growth mode’.
Statistically speaking, you are in the majority like most else… survival.
Survival mode is emphasised by cost cutting, paused/canned projects, hiring freezes and a concentration of resources towards the core product only.
New ideas aren’t valued when the mindset is “let’s just do what we know.”
Turnover is an issue (whether too fast or too slow), motivation is low, speed isn’t where we need it and less people seem to be doing more work with few breakthrough results.
You aren’t innovating. You are stuck. So what are you going to do?
“What got you here, won’t get you there” – Marshall Goldsmith (great book by the way).
Yes of course there is a cyclical element. However, no matter your industry, how you grow dictates how long you are stuck in survival mode for.
It is who is in your team, how they behave and how they are organised which dictates how long you stay in each mode.
The innovators, challengers – the ones who land your ‘Aha’ moments. Fresh thinkers with the skills and mindset to challenge the stuck norm.
If you hire the same thinkers, you’ll get the same results.
It’s time for action, and January is where the action is.
Why January?
Well, are you prepared for the January Shift?
- Statistically, January is the most active month for candidates.
- There are more job applications in January than any other month.
- Candidates have 2 weeks off and get some introspection. “What do I really want, what more can I be doing, where else can I be learning more?”
We have been inundated by the top candidates (who we’ve been chasing all year), who have organised to meet in early January to discuss their new role in 2024.
Especially candidates in:
- AI / ML / Automation Engineering
- Sales
- Marketing
Now, January is also statistically the least active month for employers.
Except for the employers who don’t want to hire the bottom of the barrel, which those who wait, do.
- Every year, managers come back after Australia day, start planning, talk to HR etc. and by the time they actually hire, it is March/April – after the best candidates are all gone!
- Whilst they are recruiting for new hires from the bottom of the barrel, they are also backfilling staff with said barrel, too
Ring-Fencing:
Remember 2020 when tech salaries went through the roof?
The sole reason for that was demand. I.e. Atlassian yelling “we’re hiring 1000 Developers.”
The same thing is happening right now – the big dogs are already Ring-Fencing the best AI/ML, Sales & Marketing candidates right now.
We have client orders to go live with their roles from the first week of January in order to catch the best candidates – if not Permanent, then on Contract.
So, if you want to get out of ‘survival mode’, faster, ask yourself this:
Are you and the other leaders in your company happy with another 2023 or are you going to take advantage of the January Shift and move into ‘growth mode’?
