It’s hard to believe we’re just 23 days away from the end of 2023. This can still be a busy time of year for small recruitment firms as there is often placement activity to complete before the holiday stretch begins in earnest. For many, this is also the end of the fiscal year, which creates a whole separate list of items for your to-do list. Here are some tasks to make sure you don’t overlook before December fades to January:
- Collect on any outstanding receivables for the calendar year—contact a partner like Adams, Evens, & Ross if you need help.
- Pay any outstanding bills—consider automating this next year if you haven’t already.
- Review software licenses, domain names, security certificates and other critical IT infrastructure—you don’t want to find out your website is offline because your domain name expired, or site visitors are getting a scary “DO NOT VISIT” warning because your security certificate has lapsed.
- Finalize next year’s budget—remember to include some funds for professional development!
- Complete any performance reviews (or schedule them for early January)—include changes in compensation and benefits in your process.
- Schedule a meeting with your accountant and/or tax professional—find out what records you will need to retain (and do that electronically wherever possible).
- Review any new laws going into effect next year that impact your business—this is an area that is changing rapidly! Staffing Legal News is a great resource for US-based small recruitment firms.
- Contact your web developer to make sure your website is ADA-compliant, update content, and review the overall structure to make sure you are following current best practices.
- Review your firm’s performance for the year against financial and other goals—and then modify your goals accordingly for next year.
- If you are planning to hire anyone, try to get that done this year so they can start in early January—you may want to have preboarding activities available that can be completed over the holiday stretch so your new employee can hit the ground running.
Lastly, celebrate your wins and take some time away from the office. Small recruitment firms are some of the hardest-working businesses I have encountered, so make sure you acknowledge that to yourself and your team before heading out for some well-earned rest, relaxation, and recharging!