Thinking ahead is an important part of running a business. This includes with staffing and hiring. When you invest some time and effort into planning for the future, you can avoid hiring headaches and surprises, or getting caught understaffed. Yet, how do you forecast hiring needs months down the line? Here are some tips to help you.
Understand the cycle of your business.
When are you slowest and when are you busiest? Understanding the cycle of your business is an important first step toward forecasting for the future. This will also help you plan for employee schedules, so you know who you need in-house during certain times of the year.
Keep seasonal hiring in mind.
If summer is your busy time of year, then you know you’ll need to start hiring now. Start networking and recruiting, so you have a robust pipeline of candidates in the works. If, however, December is your busy time and you hire seasonal workers, make sure you’re taking the time to maintain relationships with past temporary employees, so when the time is right, you can reach out and inquire about interest in future seasonal openings.
Take sales into account.
If you look at your sales figures and they are consistently headed up, plan to hire in the short-term future. This means you have more demand that has been sustained over a period of time. As a result, you will likely need more employees to fill those needs and keep up.
If, however, sales are headed in the opposite direction, then you might want to consider other options, like temporary staffing. This way, if there’s a short uptick in business, you can bring workers in for a temporary period of time.
Use the right software.
When you’re trying to forecast hiring needs, the right software can come in handy, like a program for employee schedules. This can help you identify gaps immediately, so you know when you need to bring temporary or full-time workers on board. Over time, you’ll also have insight into different trends and patterns that are unique to your business, making staffing and hiring easier.
Let Provisional Recruiting help.
Staffing and hiring doesn’t have to be a guessing game. With our Northwest recruiting team, we can create a strategy for keeping your business optimally staffed, then provide the right services, like temporary or direct hire staffing, to meet your needs. Contact us today to get started.