A common mistake that companies make when trying to scale is taking on more work than they can handle. This causes several issues. Employees become so overloaded with projects that current clients become the victim of missed deadlines and poor-quality work. The thought of all this can be a nightmare. One way to avoid these issues when scaling your business is to roll out a passive hiring strategy. Passive hiring is when you constantly collect resumes of qualified people who are looking for work or new career opportunities. This way, when you become overwhelmed with projects and a high work load, you have qualified people on reserve waiting to fill your needs.
If you are ready to start scaling your business quickly without compromising the quality of your work, read below to find out how passive hiring can help you accomplish that.
Keep resume submissions open at all times.
Although it may seem like a chore to have resumes constantly coming in, it can help you avoid slow-down and missed opportunities down the road. Undercover Recruiter advocates for passive hiring because although some of the people you are reaching out to are currently employed, at least 60 percent of them are still open to discussing a new opportunity. Many often check out job boards to see what’s out there and available, in terms of new opportunities. Instead of taking down a position posting on your website, leave it up to see who comes your way. The more resumes you get, the better. This way, once you acquire a new client you have the extra help already sourced. This allows you to deliver the quick turnaround you promised the client, because you won’t have to spread the work among your current employees who are already busy with projects and tasks.
Cherry pick the best resumes.
To avoid becoming overwhelmed with resumes, reserve a time slot once a week to go through the submissions you receive. We scan our employment inquiries and eliminate anyone with a grammatical or spelling error, along with anyone that doesn’t have any transcription experience. When looking at skills, you need to think of what future business you see coming your way. Fast Company writes, “One rule of thumb is to think about the product or service you deliver, and work backward: What sorts of employees will you need to help you deliver it at scale? Toptal CEO Taso Du Val, who has been featured on CNBC and Fox Business, has said that, ‘Your people determine your product.’” Having the most qualified candidates on your radar will ensure that your service will continue to maintain its credibility.
Contact potential new hires.
Now that you have narrowed down the surplus of resumes you received to a few candidates, contact them the minute you know new business will start to come in. From here, discuss the details of the job and whether or not they are open to taking on more work. This doesn’t mean they have to leave their current job — often, this is useful for those who are independent contractors, like who we hire. They are the first ones to know when to say no to extra work. While they may not be available now, keep them in mind, and contact them again in the future if a need arises. Since their workload can fluctuate, it makes sense to continue reaching out to interested candidates.
Communicate effectively.
Things can go south rather quickly if you aren’t communicating effectively with your staff. You run the risk of them not knowing the who, what and when of the project. Working this out while on deadline can end up taking more time than it needs to. If your communication has not been good with new hires, it can feel as if you haven’t hired someone to take on the project in the first place. This is why it is so important to find a communication channel that works best for you and your company. A system needs to be in place in the event that you don’t hear back from a candidate about taking on a project with you and your company. You always need a backup plan to ensure you hit all of your deadlines.
Market your business.
Now that you know you have the manpower to take on more projects, you can start to aggressively market your business. Make your business easy to find and explain to people that you have the resources to give them what they need faster than any of your competitors. With more business coming in, you have access to more capital to inject into your marketing, which can lead to fast growth. You’ll never have to turn anyone away or comprise the quality of your service when you have the staff in place to handle your current and future workload.
Scaling isn’t just about getting bigger; instead, it is about getting better. If you grow too quickly, it can backfire and be detrimental to your business. Passive hiring allows you to always have qualified candidates waiting in the wings so you can promise your new customers quality work in a timely manner. It takes a lot of time and effort in the beginning, but the reward of seeing your business grow is well worth it.
Image: PEXELS
