Filling the Gaps

How to Identify the True Hiring Need

If you’re like most businesses, you’re always on the lookout for talented employees to help you continue to grow and succeed. However, finding the right candidates can be challenging, especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for. That’s why it’s essential to follow a process for identifying hiring needs and filling gaps in your company’s talent profile.

The first step is to analyze your company’s current talent profile. This includes looking at your company’s culture and value system and its existing strengths and weaknesses. Once you understand your current talent profile, it’s time to break down the person’s job description into specific skills needed for success in that position. If any gaps are identified, it’s time to take some proactive steps toward uncovering candidates who possess those skills.

Finding the Gaps

Analyzing your company’s talent profile thoroughly is essential to understanding your REAL hiring needs and formulating a recruiting plan that will set your business up for success. The first step is a thorough review and development of accurate job descriptions, salaries, and requirements. Ask employees to help keep job descriptions updated and request feedback about roles and responsibilities when creating new positions.

Your front-line managers are the best folks to help identify skills gaps. Leverage their understanding of the daily roles of each employee and the places where their teams are struggling to pinpoint exactly which skills are needed to fill the gap. Use this information to create a list of requirements and hiring goals for your job search. To help you stay on track and focus solely on what your firm truly needs, document these hiring goals and refer to them often throughout the hiring process.

Finally, take a look at current and future projects and split your recruiting needs into short-term and long-term projects. For temporary assignments, consider using temp to perm staff; for longer-term initiatives, use permanent employees.

Fill From Within

As you create your listing for a new job position, take a moment to assess current employee performance and skillsets with an eye toward promotion and filling upper-level positions from within. It is often easier to find candidates with the right skillsets for an entry-level position and builds a sense of loyalty within your ranks.

While assessing your internal staffing, determine if there are opportunities to train current staff to fill the skillsets you require. Consider hiring a knowledge expert in these areas that can seed your existing team with the missing knowledge.

Following a process for identifying practical hiring needs is the first step to finding suitable candidates for your business. Whether you hire new staff, bring them on as temp to perm employees, or promote from within, it’s essential to take proactive steps towards uncovering suitable candidates for those positions you want to fill. By taking an honest look at your company’s current talent profile and hiring goals, you’ll understand what your REAL needs are and can then formulate a recruiting plan that will set your business up for success.