Develop a Strategic Hiring Plan to Keep Up with Hiring Demands

There is a 3% economic growth forecasted for 2015, according to experts at Goldman Sachs, which is above the most recent U.S. economic trend. Some of the positive contributing factors that are affecting this number are the solid increases across key areas of private domestic demand, like home building, along with an increase in consumption and an increase in investments. The recent decline in oil and gas prices will also positively affect spending and growth in 2015, leaving dollars on the table to be spent on other expenses, such as hiring new employees.

2015 has begun with a 5.6 percent unemployment rate, which is the lowest U-3 unemployment rate since 2008. The U-3 rate counts the total number of unemployed as a percent of the civilian labor force. This figure is thought to be a bit misleading, because it does not account for those that are marginally attached to the labor force and/or those that are underemployed. This number gives the illusion of being near full employment, but leaves a huge segment of the market without full-time employment. This statistic can play into your favor when creating and implementing a hiring plan, because there are still many people who are looking for employment this New Year.

The outlook for 2015 has many positive aspects—the most important being an eager and skilled labor pool still available. Armed with this knowledge, each business owner needs to assess their staffing needs and develop a strategic hiring plan that will accomplish several goals. Some of these goals should include:

• Making the most of financial resources and keeping costs at a reasonable level
• Finding the most cost-effective way to market open job positions while reaching the desired audience
• Hiring the right people for the job
• Aligning hiring goals with corporate goals to demonstrate congruity and singularity of mission
• Looking at all viable staffing options from partnering with a staffing firm, such as direct, temporary and temporary-to-hire services

Putting a hiring plan in place begins with understanding your staffing needs, the economic cycles that affect supply and demand, as well as prioritizing your goals related to production or provision of service. It is also critical to have a full understanding of the labor pool that you rely upon to meet staffing needs.

To get a better understanding your hiring and staffing needs, follow these three steps:

• Define critical staffing issues to begin creating your hiring plan. During this phase of the process, identify and prioritize your most critical staffing issues and select those for which specific staffing strategies are required. There is no need to examine staffing needs for the entire company; only look at segments of the company that require a specific plan.

• Define staffing gaps and surpluses. This second step looks at developing a staffing model, forecasting staff availability, comparing supply and demand and calculating staffing gaps and surpluses for each job during your planning horizon. Having intimate knowledge of your staffing needs is the basis of a good strategic plan.

• Develop and outline staffing strategies and plans to meet the identified needs. This part of the process is where you will consider all of the hiring and staffing options available, such as hiring full-time verses part-time employees, temporary or permanent workers, or choosing direct hires.  Not every position or staffing need requires a full-time, permanent direct employee. For example, some jobs are primarily high volume, and as a result, require a great quantity of laborers, but may only be seasonal in nature. On the other hand, some jobs can be purely operational, only providing support services to the critical functions of the company and could possibly be provided by a staffing firm, which will reduce expenses as they relate to recruiting, hiring and training.

When creating a hiring plan, it is important to identify potential staffing issues, or in other words, create a scenario plan that accounts for unexpected changes in operation. This is a strategic planning method that some organizations use to make flexible long-term plans. Some of these considerations are:

• Changes in business focus
• Business expansion or contraction
• Changes in markets or customer base
• Major capital expenditures/projects
• Changes in production technology
• Changes in competitive positions
• Productivity/quality improvements
• Changes in organization structure
• Merger and acquisition activity

Having a hiring plan in place will help to manage one of the most important functions of any business. Taking in in-depth look at staffing needs will help to manage peak times of production, as well as cyclical lulls. It is vitally important to understand the number of employees needed throughout the year but to also understand what types of people are needed to meet the company’s needs. Creating and implementing a hiring plan is an ongoing practice that will take away the fear of the unknown by considering all options.

If you’re looking for more information about creating your hiring plan for 2015 or the benefits of working with a staffing firm, click below to visit our Employer Resource page!

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