There are a lot of companies currently facing the same issue – a talent shortage. Whether it’s a result of the great resignation, the pandemic, or other factors, it’s something you need to address.
Contrary to what you may expect a recruiter to say, hiring might NOT be your best option. Hiring quickly just to fill a void on your team makes it more likely you will make a hiring mistake. This could potentially make the situation worse.
Sometimes, hiring nobody is better than hiring just anyone. So you should carefully assess the situation before you take action.
HIRE BETTER TODAY
“If you don’t have any applicants who are likely to be reliable and possess a growth mindset, positive attitude, and decent communication skills, hiring nobody is probably preferable to hiring somebody — at least in the short term. In the meantime, consider how you can support your current employees and whether filling a different position may be a better approach,” says Margaret M. Luciano and Max Watson on Harvard Business Review.
How has the vacancy affected operations?
You may be surprised what you can learn about the effectiveness of a role when it sits vacant. Has a job been sitting vacant for a few months? What is the impact? Has there been a noticeable impact on performance? Have some of the responsibilities been absorbed by other employees? Has having the role empty made little impact on operations overall?
Assessing the situation will help you determine whether you need to hire as soon as possible, adjust the role, or potentially eliminate it.
Should you split up the job responsibilities and assign them to existing employees?
One option you have available to you is to split things up. Sometimes vacant job positions can simply be split up into existing roles. This is particularly the case if there is some redundancy in the role or if the previous employee was not as effective as you had hoped.
There are a lot of ways you can do this. Perhaps you assign more responsibilities to an employee and give a bump in pay grade or title.
Should you scrap the role altogether?
Scrapping the role will save you money. Seriously consider this if you have determined the role to have minimal impact on your company. It may also be an option if your budget is tight.
If you need help, you could consider hiring a contract worker or freelancer to fill the void. You could also use the salary savings and put it toward hiring for a more impactful role or newly identified positional need.
Get More Recruitment Advice On Our Blog
Why Having MORE Candidates in Your Hiring Pool Can Be a Good Thing
Need to Hire a Lot of People Quickly? How to Do It Without Wrecking Your Company Culture
Which Qualities Should You Be Looking for in Remote Employees?
IQ PARTNERS is an Executive Search & Recruitment firm supporting clients across the country. We help companies hire better, hire less & retain more. We have specialist teams of recruiters in Executive Search / Board & C-Suite, Technology, Media, Digital & Marketing, Accounting & Finance, Financial Services & Insurance, Cannabis, Startup, Data Science, Consumer, eCommerce & Retail, Operations & HR, Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Engineering, Legal & Professional Services, Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences, Non-Profit & Sustainability, and Sales. Click here to view current job openings and to register with us.
