While we have all heard about the ‘quiet firing’ method increasingly used within the workplace, the new phenomenon of ‘quiet hiring’ is only just starting to trend. So, what is quiet hiring, and how can your tech team benefit from using this approach in the future?
Quiet hiring is best described as when a company introduces new skills into its workforce, without officially hiring new full-time employees. What does this mean exactly? It can be referred to in a number of ways, from bringing on short-term contractors, to giving existing employees more responsibilities that expand beyond their current job description. For example, this could include moving them to other positions or taking on different projects internally.
Benefits of Quiet Hiring
Cost Effective
Quiet hiring is a cost effective way to fill gaps in your team without hiring any additional full-time employees. Your tech company can utilise internal talent instead, avoiding the lengthy, time-consuming, and expensive recruitment process to meet your immediate needs. You will save on recruitment process costs such as training expenses, as well as saving the time spent by you and perhaps other team leaders conducting interviews. In addition, if you don’t hire another full-time employee, this will also stop you from having to pay another full salary. Ultimately, quiet hiring is a highly attractive method increasingly used by employers to cut down on company costs.
Efficient
If you find that a new set of skills is required urgently in your company, going through the recruitment process to find a new employee may take longer than expected. By the time you’ve found the right candidate for the job, damage to your company might have already been done, due to the lack of immediate skills required at that time. Perhaps you might even be hurried into making a decision and end up hiring someone that is the wrong person for the team, resulting in the potential for even more issues further down the line. Internal quiet hiring allows for companies to respond to problems and efficiently adapt to unpredicted new changes or circumstances.
If a certain kind of technical skill is suddenly required in your tech team, before running off to a recruiter, why not look at your current workforce, and ask your employees if they might have the knowledge you are looking for. More often than not, you’ll find that your employees will be up for the task, be it short-term or on a permanent basis depending on your tech needs. Quiet hiring also provides flexibility in this sense, as not only can you quickly source the skills required internally, the employee who has the skills for the job can equally return to their regular duties once the problem has been solved. Or, if you think they are better off continuing in that new role, all you have to do is discuss with them and see if they would be happy to do so. If your tech team is already employing an asynchronous working style, this approach to quiet hiring shouldn’t be too much of a shock to employees, if they are already quite used to working flexibly across different tasks.
Upskilling
Upskilling your tech employees can increase engagement and productivity within the workplace, and quiet hiring is an excellent way to put this into practice. Previously, when tech employers can’t find the necessary talent in-house, they experiment with alternatives like hiring contract workers. However, now quiet hiring suggests that instead of hiring someone new, just train up your existing workforce! If your employees are aware of the possibility of job development or the potential to move into a different role at some point, you may benefit from higher staff retention. For other ways to increase retention in your tech team or project, read our article, here. Not only will your team remain loyal, they will be improving their skills one day at a time, creating a strong tech team equipped to handle anything that comes along. By introducing incentives such as promotions, in return for employees learning new skills and undertaking training in different tech fields, you create a company culture that rewards hard work, and promotes the individual progression of each tech employee.
Employee Satisfaction
While on the surface, quiet hiring seems to benefit a company’s employer more so than its employees, there are many employee advantages to be enjoyed too. Companies using quiet hiring are expected to offer some sort of compensation for the extra work and projects employees take on, either in the form of bonuses, extra time off, or flexible hours. The opportunity for tech employees to take on additional responsibilities not only expands their skill set and learning through the job, but they may also benefit from a pay increase or promotion. Many tech employees become unmotivated if their job role becomes stagnant, so this promise of ever changing tasks within the company will appeal to them. This can increase overall employee satisfaction within your tech team as they are likely working harder to put themselves in a better position for progression.
Tips for Ensuring a Mutually Beneficial Approach to Quiet Hiring
Think Practically
As a business owner, you must be careful that you don’t use quiet hiring in a way that makes your employees feel unappreciated. Quiet hiring can certainly benefit a business, but if you are thinking of implementing it in your tech team, make sure you don’t end up frustrating existing employees who don’t necessarily want to transition to roles they may not be interested in. We suggest that you really get to know your employees. In a small tech start-up, this will be easy, but if perhaps you are running a larger company, try to set some time aside to really get to know everyone. What are their strong points? What do they want to do in the future? This way, you will avoid delegating new roles to the wrong kind of workers. Really think practically about who exactly would be a good fit for the technical task you need completing, and if no one comes to mind, perhaps advertise the role internally so your employees can offer themselves up for the role.
Open Communication
With that in mind, you must make sure that your tech team really understands what the new task is that they have been offered. Before agreeing to take on a new role, make sure you have openly communicated the responsibilities that will be given to them. Perhaps it will be a more time consuming job, or extra training might need to be conducted beforehand. Or, if the arrangement is short-term to get the company through a difficult time, you should communicate that. The employee must know exactly what is going to be expected of them, to ensure a smooth and positive transition. Once they have started, it is also essential to keep an eye on them, and provide extra support until they feel comfortable in the new role. Just remember, the time you spend ensuring a successful quiet hiring will still be a lot less time than would be needed to hire a completely new employee.
Quiet Hiring: Benefits & Actionable Tips to Help you Implement it – Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that quiet hiring will save your tech company money, time, and resources. Looking internally at the tech talent of your existing employees might just help you on your way to finding the perfect person. When outsourcing tech talent with KWAN, quiet hiring becomes easier, as we constantly provide training to our employees! So if you need one of your team members to improve their skills in order to perform a different task, count on us to provide that specific training. And if you end up concluding that the task needs to be performed by someone with a little more experience, we’re happy to find that person as well! Get in touch with us, and let’s assess the needs of your project today.
