There are a lot of things to consider when looking at the hiring process. The usual priority is getting the right person in the right role, preferably as soon as possible. However, when you have a new business or are experiencing an unprecedented period of growth, the challenge is ensuring that you don’t hire too many people.
Here are a few ways you can assess seasonality in your business and avoid over hiring during periods of hyper growth in your business.
Use Smart Scheduling Software
Technology has changed the way we do business on a global scale. At one time, teams had to be in the same building to function. Now, you can have team members scattered around the world with no physical location and grow a thriving business. One of the ways in which technology has helped profusely is in scheduling.
Using Online Employee Scheduling Software – Humanity to schedule employees not only saves time but can help create insights and analytics to identify periods of growth and increased employment requirements. It also helps give an indication of how long these periods last so you can identify and fill gaps temporarily. This technology can help determine seasonality in your business so that you can plan accordingly without overreaching.
Work with Contractors
Rather than hiring employees, reach out to contractors to fulfill your business needs. For example, if you have a content marketing startup and bring on a few new clients, outsource or subcontract some of your workload to ensure that the clients’ needs are well met. Rather than passing along client work, you may hand over the reigns on other daily tasks like social media marketing or customer service management.
Working with a contractor also gives you flexibility in trying different people out. You may find a contractor that you enjoy working with and offer repeat business to, developing a rapport and a long-lasting business relationship.
Term Employees
Hire employees for a term rather than offering a permanent position. This will give you some freedom to make changes if you discover that you’ve hired too many people during a period of hyper-growth. You may require these additional people until your permanent employees settle into a new routine and balance their workload.
If you reach the end of the term, you have the option to offer an extension and keep employees around longer. Alternatively, you may discover someone that you want to stick around your business for the long run and offer them a permanent position when their term ends.
Revisit Your Business Model
If you constantly find yourself without enough employees or hiring too many during periods of hyper growth, you may need to readdress your business model. Perhaps you underestimated how fast your business would grow. In this case, you need to sit down and reframe your business goals and plan based on the outcomes you’ve experienced thus far.
Take some time to make a plan for how your organization will function during periods of growth. If you’ve made the mistake of hiring too many people already, write a corrective action plan to avoid doing so in the future. It’s only a mistake if you can’t learn from it.
Slow it Down
One of the most damaging mistakes that businesses make is hiring too quickly. While you might be feeling panicked about the growth you’re experiencing, putting everyone under stress and causing late nights at the office, it’s better to have an extra week of chaos than to hire the wrong person.
Don’t let the panic take the wheel. Slow down the process and follow the necessary steps to hire a qualified employee that will contribute to the company culture. You may find that by the time you’re ready to hire someone, the period of growth has leveled out, and your organization has a new normal. Where does this leave you? With the right amount of staff and a handful of qualified candidates to consider in the future.
Periods of hyper growth are often temporary, and your people are more capable than you think. Take a smart approach to hiring to avoid overhiring mistakes.
