In a recent live webinar, we interviewed Jazmin Addy, owner of recruiting and HR consulting firm Proximity Partners, to discuss what employers should be considering to rebuild their businesses during these uncertain times while keeping a forward looking vision.
As many businesses are slowly reopening and resuming work, there are still many questions unanswered about how to bring back the workforce and rehire. Thanks to the federal government’s stimulus package that was passed in early spring, there has been an injection of cash for many businesses to stay afloat and retain employees.
However, many business owners are still asking “how do I bring back my employees” while many individuals (i.e. employees) are asking ”how do I go back to work?”.
Even if you’re not a business owner and you’re an employee looking for work, the information below will help you see what’s on the minds of employers as they look to fill roles.
How should a business owner decide which positions to fill or bring back first?
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Take stock of revenue generating positions. These are the positions that bring cash into the company, such as sales and relationship management roles that obtain and maintain clients and customers.
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Once you assess your revenue generators, take a look at the positions that “do work”. Attorneys, marketing, and HR rolls fit into this category.
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If there is still room in your business’ budget remaining, consider filling support rolls such as administrative positions.
Every company and organization will have different priorities to assess and leaders should look at the business holistically.
As Jazmin states, “an organization is like a body. Leaders can get caught up with treating a symptom and not looking at the rest of the problem.”
Everyone has value, but there are strategic and intentional times to bring back certain employees.
It’s all about the people.
This is a time to revamp teams and make changes, either to your organization’s culture, talent pool or both. With over 20 million people in the United States unemployed as of May, candidate options are at an all-time high and is ripe for business owners to pick from.
Here are steps to rebuilding your human capital now and in the future:
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Create an organization chart if you do not already have one. If your vision and trajectory has been affected by COVID-19, that’s okay! You may need different people than you did 4 months ago.
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Dedicate someone specific to recruit who can be laser-focused on reviewing resumes, screening candidates and execute a compliant, standard hiring process. Don’t have an HR team? Contract or hire an HR strategist or company, like Proximity Partners, to help develop a process and plan with you. They will be instrumental in creating your hiring infrastructure and make sure you’re developing the appropriate roles for growth.
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Create a hiring budget. Talk to your money people! (i.e. accountants, financial planner, business attorney)
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Have a systematic review process in place to ensure you do not exceed those budgets.
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Revamp your interviewing process if necessary. Are there ways to improve your interview process to make it streamlined, compliant, and efficient? What type of culture do you want to establish in your business? Look forward, then start working backwards based on goals.
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Culture, culture, culture! Your organization and company is bigger than you. It’s about your team. You want to ensure you have a culture that is conducive to the success of your business.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
People are everything. As a leader, it is up to you to have a plan in place to move the needle forward. Whether it be by working with your internal HR team or an independent HR strategist, planning is key to create the team that will help you reach that next level of success. Though COVID-19 may have shaken up the world in 2020, there will always be employment challenges ahead. Take these key learning and implement them as a standard moving forward.
Your company is only as good as the team you build; so, ensure you have a solid hiring (and firing) plan in place that cultivates a culture that is conducive to the success of your business.
