Recruitment Pauses How to avoid the pitfalls and maximise the opportunities

A decision to halt hiring is often made for sound strategic reasons - a market downturn, a merger or acquisition, geo-political uncertainty, an extensive change programme or a cost-cutting exercise.

However, if not handled with care, these pauses can wreak havoc on your TA team and their relationships with hiring managers, lower morale amongst your employees and dent the reputation of your employer brand in the market. The act of halting recruitment can be chaotic and damaging, leading to rushed decisions, poor hires and a strain on existing teams.

So what should leaders, TA teams and hiring managers do to avoid the pitfalls and maximise the opportunities? The answer is meticulous planning. Preparation to go on pause, strategic retrenching whilst in the hiatus, and a clear, step-by-step plan for lifting the recruitment freeze are all equally important. In a series of articles, we’ll be discussing the key actions you need to take during these three stages - starting with seven steps to prepare for a recruitment pause.

1. Assess your current recruitment situation

Data analytics are key in this process. A detailed recruitment dashboard showing what positions are in the pipeline, which are currently being advertised or searched for, which are at first and second interview or assessment stage and which are currently out at offer will be vital in making decisions about how the pause will be structured and implemented.

A workshop involving the leadership team and key TA team members can use this information to define the parameters of the pause – and how it can best be put into practice. Particularly important are discussions around which roles already in the pipeline are vital to delivering key business objectives immediately and should go ahead – and which can be paused.

2. Define the pause

Exactly what does this pause entail? Does it have specific dates on which it begins and ends, or is it tied to saving a specific amount of budget or other deliverable? Is the pause organisation wide, or does it only affect certain countries, departments, teams, levels or types of staff - for example senior hires or graduate trainees? Are roles that are already being recruited for all on hold – and if there are exemptions, what defines them?

What about any new projects that are beginning? Are the projects to be delayed? And if a key member of staff leaves, will they be replaced? What are the clear criterion for deciding what constitutes a ’key’ member of staff? Ensuring you have answers to these questions means you can communicate them clearly to your teams and hiring managers, so there is no confusion, and any exemptions from the pause are understood by everyone from the beginning.

3. Plan how you will communicate the pause

Involve your employer brand or internal communications team in this, if possible. They can help you to segment the messaging around the pause for your key audience groups and produce clear and timely communications collateral. Ask yourself – how is this pause best communicated to the wider Talent Attraction team, your hiring managers, and the business as a whole, as well as any external recruitment agencies? What channels, and messaging are best for each set of people? It’s important to position this as a pause – not a freeze – and to clearly explain the strategic reasons behind it.

4. Communicate with wider TA team and hiring managers

Once the criteria have been established, you can begin communicating it. Ideally this should be done with the wider TA team and/or RPO first, with face-to-face or video conference meetings to ensure the strategy and detail are all clearly understood. This can be supported with digital documentation that your teams can refer back to.

Communicating with Hiring Managers will also be key – and can be done by the TA teams, supported by clear documentation. When hiring managers understand up front the exact parameters of the pause, and what exceptions (if any) are allowed, this will avoid confusion and help reduce frustration. It will also lessen any resentment that hiring managers whose positions are put on hold will feel on seeing other hires go ahead.

5. Position with any external recruiters and advertising agencies

Communicating swiftly and clearly with any external recruiters, employer branding or recruitment marketing agencies you work with to ‘turn off’ the recruitment tap is vital. This avoids both wasted budget spend and alienating candidates and vendors unnecessarily, whether that be through applying for paused roles, or having an interview scheduled and then cancelled. From removing live roles from your website to turning off the advertising tap as quickly as possible, swift action helps to protect your employer brand reputation in the market.Position the messaging around the pause with the recruiters, so they can talk about it in a clear and positive way to candidates (some comms around positioning statements will help here).

6. Deliver organisation-wide messaging

People throughout your organisation will be affected by the pause. Some may be waiting for a new team member to alleviate their workload or bring an important new skill set to the team. Others will be hoping for a promotion, a move to a new department or relocation, and may be concerned that the pause will affect their internal mobility. Some may have been excited about being involved in a new project or initiative that will now be put on hold due to the pause. And everyone will have questions about what the pause means for the future of their organisation. Is it a signal that their company is in financial difficulty? Are lay-offs imminent? Should they be putting out the feelers for a new job?

In the face of silence, rumours abound. So getting out ahead of them and explaining the strategic reasons for the pause in the most positive (whilst honest) light is important. As well as company-wide communications, TA teams and hiring managers can talk directly to individuals whose promotion or change of role has been put on hold, to address their concerns, and assure them, where possible, that this is a pause and not a total removal of the offer.

7. Talk to candidates already in the pipeline and protect your employer brand in the external market

Make sure candidates at every stage of the process know exactly what’s happening, and don’t feel ghosted or rejected. At application stage, this can be through specially created automated responses. But for those who have already spent time on interviews or were about to receive an offer, a more personal approach may be appropriate, especially in key and hard to fill roles. Explain the circumstances of the pause, that you are still interested in their application, and will inform them immediately the pause is lifted.

Clear communication, and recognition of the impact of the pause on individuals will do much to protect your employer brand, and – particularly in interactive online spaces such as Glassdoor – from negative attention and comment. As will making sure any negative attention on social media is swiftly responded to.