Staffing has always been a challenge. Finding the skilled people, when you need them, is hard. However, in a pandemic world with rampant worker shortages and aging employees retiring in droves, it can seem impossible. How can you plan ahead to run your business with optimal efficiency in 2022 with today’s endless obstacles? Here are some steps to take:
Step 1. Set your goals.
Forecasting starts with clarifying your company’s goals for the year ahead. What projects will you be taking on? How much do you expect your client or customer base to grow? What will revenues look like each month? In order to plan ahead for the people you need, you must begin with what you plan to achieve in the New Year.
Step 2. Talk to managers.
If you own or run a company, it’s important to talk to all your hiring managers to get their perspective on hiring needs. If you’re looking at the big picture, you need your team to inform you about the details and day-to-day moving parts that will impact staffing for the year ahead.
Discuss what 2022 looks like and what resources each department requires for successful operations. Get specific information upfront, including positions, job descriptions, qualifications and salary ranges. This will help you save time during the recruiting process, so you can work more efficiently.
Step 3. Create a talent pipeline.
You should be recruiting candidates and hiring new individuals before you actually need them. This way, once the work really gets going, your team will be trained and ready to hit the ground running. If, however, you wait to recruit and hire until you urgently need people, you’ll put your core staff in a crunch. It’s better, instead, to always be networking with candidates and recruiting and hiring, especially for high-demand areas.
Step 4. Take into account turnover and retirement.
In the year ahead, plan to lose a few people. If you can find out ahead of time, such as in the case of retirement, then that can certainly help you to forecast more accurately. If you’re not sure where the turnover will be, look to the last couple of years as a guide to what to expect in the year ahead. If you’ve noticed an uptick in turnover, try to find out why, so you can improve your retention efforts.
Step 5. Prioritize staffing needs.
This can be difficult to do when all of your hiring managers need more people. However, it’s imperative to prioritize where to place your time and efforts, as well as your budget, when it comes to staffing. To do this, take a look at which positions and potential new openings are absolutely essential, which can wait to be filled, and what the consequences will be of not filling those roles immediately so there aren’t any surprises.
Step 6. Inventory existing employees.
If a department is need of talent and you don’t have the budget to hire, then consider re-assigning an existing employee. If they have a certain skill set and there’s a gap they can fill, it might be worth it to promote from within instead. This can give your managers the people they need, while also creating a culture of upward mobility, which will help with future recruiting efforts.
Need more help forecasting hiring and meeting staffing needs?
At Provisional Recruiting, we’re one of the Northwest’s leading staffing agencies. We can work with you to evaluate your goals and staffing needs, and then create a hiring plan that helps you operate at ideal staffing levels for 2022. Contact us today to get started or learn more.
