In a Hiring Panic? Practice Strategic Staffing: STOP, DROP & ROLL!
Posted on Fri, Jun 10, 2011
By Koleen Singerline
It’s Friday morning and you are sitting in your office wrapping up the week’s projects, thinking about what you will be doing this weekend. One of your key employees appears in the doorway, and says, “Can we talk? Do you mind if I close the door?” Your heart sinks as you read her body language and see the piece of paper in her hand. You intuitively sense; she’s going to resign.
How could this happen? Our company gave her everything she asked for. We helped her get through that personal crisis. She was a part of planning the Christmas party. There’s no logic to this decision. You barely hear what she says next; your mind is already working on figuring out how you are going to replace her. You feel a sense of panic.
We learned the best way to deal with a crisis in grade school. It’s
what the fireman drummed into our head in case of fire! Don’t panic, don’t run: STOP, DROP & ROLL.
STOP Unless the perfect candidate is sitting in your lobby, our experience has shown that it typically takes four to six weeks to have your new employee working. You will need two to three weeks to identify candidates and complete all interviews. You must also allow two weeks for a working candidate to give notice to their current employer.
DROP what you were working on and use the two weeks notice you were given to get prepared to live without the employee.
Get a day by day calendar of all activities the employee is involved in. Ask for a list of:
- All passwords and logins used – computer, email, etc.
- Any vendors the employee works with - including contacts and any issues that are outstanding.
- Have a short meeting at the end of each day to review work completed that day – this will give you a chance to collect information you will need to handle the employee’s work when they leave.
- Review the existing job description to determine if changes should be made.
- Review the skill sets of the remaining employees and decide if any additional skills are needed – this could be an opportunity to upgrade skills with your new hire.
ROLL all the information together into a plan to move forward. Bring the team together to review how you will handle the departing employees work assignments until a replacement is found. Communicate with remaining employees how you plan to handle the replacement and what the anticipated timeline is.
If you need to get projects completed immediately, employing a temporary or contract worker from a temp agency will enable you to bring in help immediately. Ask the staffing agency to find you a candidate with the specific skills you need while you are deciding on the replacement. You can also use a temp-to-hire to see if the new team member will fit in before making a hiring decision.
Do you have some advice to share about hiring or using a staffing agencies in NJ? Why not subscribe to our blog or add your comment below?