As you look at your business plan for the coming months, you should put together that sometimes unpleasant but absolutely necessary task: A contingency plan for staffing. Of course, you can always look at your needs over the past year and use that to project what future requirements will be, but to put your mind at ease, you should always prepare as well as you can for the unexpected – both positive and negative.
- Have reserves ready. Whether it’s for a sudden staffing increase or an unexpected departure of a key employee, you should always have candidates ready. Use a staffing agency like PrideStaff to find available quality employees, particularly since PrideStaff can vet and vouch for them. Using a staffing agency can help you fill positions, especially during your busy season. Always keep a file of previous candidates whom you may not have hired previously because you didn’t have a place for them at the time – you never know when the runner-up for a position may suddenly become a great fit.
- Consider the possibilities. Put together a list of what could happen with regard to staffing, and the probability of it actually occurring. Again, do look at what’s come before, such as a busy/slow season, a flu outbreak, or an economic downswing or upturn. Make sure to add in situations that may happen but aren’t quite as likely: sudden or prolonged injury, sudden or prolonged illness, dealing with a death, etc. Figure out how long each of those will require more or less staff, and estimate how many people you could need.
- Put an inclusive plan together. As you put everything together, make sure to consider how this will affect management and other supervisors: Will they need to shift their schedules? Take on more responsibility? Make decisions as to who will stay and who will go? How will you include them in the increase or decrease of staff, and how will that affect their day-to-day and extended goals and objectives? Consider asking them to help put the plan together as well; at the very least, get their input as you compile it. Don’t forget to consider the financial impact as well. When these scenarios become a reality, you want to know the potential costs and consider how you can reduce the impact by partnering with a staffing firm to streamline time and cost.
Putting together a staffing contingency plan, while stressful, will help alleviate strain down the road. Don’t feel you have to do it by yourself. With our experienced recruiters available to help, your company can begin assessing future hiring needs today!
