Some people like uncertainty and risk.
Insurance sellers. Mountain climbers. People who manufacture, sell and/or eat fortune cookies (so crunchy!).
But folks in HR? Not so much—that’s because when something unexpected happens and hiring needs to happen now, they’re going to get an email or a Teams message every 20 minutes for the next four weeks until someone signs a contract.
And sometimes there’s not much you can do about that—HR is all about people (who are unpredictable) and is also very sensitive to business needs (which can change on a dime).
But that doesn’t mean that businesses are helpless in the face of uncertainty.
Especially today, when it’s hard to predict how the economy, politics, or technology will change next, it’s more important than ever to have a plan for contingencies.
How do you do it? Here are Raise’s four key strategies for hiring in uncertain times.
Hire (More) Contingent Workers
In any scenario, there are lots of things to like about hiring people on contract. You get:
- Highly skilled workers experienced in adapting to new employers
- The ability to scale quickly
- Limited-term commitments
- Cost savings and fewer burdens in terms of benefits, etc.
But in times of uncertainty? These upsides become even more pronounced.
Contract workers will hit the ground running, and you always have the option to extend them if work goes long. If it’s a good fit for both parties, you can even convert them to FT positions down the road.
Contract workers are a contractually simpler way to hire in terms of the burdens on HR. While they might miss out on some of the benefits of full-time workers—like long-term relationships with your existing staff, or strong integration in your company culture—the straightforward relationship you have with contract workers has many benefits. Making a great hire of any kind is going to make a positive impact for your business. But the rewards for hiring the right person on contract can be exceptionally valuable because of the flexibility and speed it provides.
In short, contract workers are a much simpler way of getting work done, which is exactly what you want when you’re not sure what’s coming next.
Forecast Your Business Needs
I know what you’re thinking. Why is he talking about forecasting after just pointing out, in excruciating detail, how uncertain everything is!
But forecasting isn’t about predicting the future—it’s more like a pace car for your business that you can check your speed against as the race goes on.
Forecasting tells you what should happen barring surprises, so you have a baseline for decisions. If something drastic happens, like one of your main competitors going under, you can calculate the expected impacts on your business—how many new hires you’ll need, how fast you’ll need them.
Having that baseline understanding of your business is critical. But this can be a very difficult task for large organizations—especially those working with multiple vendors for their sourcing and/or payroll.
The key there will be getting an expert analysis of your program that will identify where you can streamline and find efficiency, like Raise did with a leading Western Energy provider.
Identify Mission-Critical vs Nice-to-Have Roles
When revenue flows like water to the sea, it’s easy to hire your way out of problems.
But when things are tight and you’re not sure what’s coming next, it’s time to channel your inner beaver and build some dams.
Once you understand the fundamentals of your business, and the connection between your delivery and your labour, you’ll have a much better idea of what hires can wait until next year and which ones need to happen yesterday.
Most businesses will know when they’re missing something truly important, like a server without a chef. But what about the Maître d’? The bussers?
They grey area can be immense—your ability to sift through and come up with a strong list of priorities can make a huge difference to your organization. It can also give you goals and a trajectory for your business, as you check off critical hires and start planning for expansion into your nice-to-haves.
Outsource, Outsource, Outsource
The best kind of risk for your business is the kind you can pass on to someone else.
Outsourcing parts of your hiring—whether sourcing, payroll, or direct sourcing—insulates you against sudden and dramatic shifts. If your business contracts and layoffs are unfortunately needed, your recruitment partner takes care of the details with no additional burdens on you.
If you need to scale up quickly, an experienced partner will have the people, process and tech to make that happen quicker than you’d be able to manage on your own.
Outsourcing provides speed, efficiency, and a straightforward relationship with your workforce that is essential in times of uncertainty.
Wrap
You can’t plan for everything. Getting things right in uncertain times will always be a mixture of luck, smarts, and preparation.
What you can do is stay agile by hiring a flexible workforce that includes contract and outsourced workers. You can do a deep dive on your business needs and forecast your critical hires in the short and medium-term.
But most importantly, you can work with a partner that has experience in your industry like Raise, who is able to provide oversight and guidance for your workforce needs.
