When there’s a missing puzzle piece, it is a normal human response to find it and put it in its place. Otherwise, you’ll be looking at an unfinished puzzle that could’ve been a masterpiece. In the industry, we also tend to act similarly. In need of someone who can make content to market your firm? Get a content creator or a social media manager. But what if you need blogs on your website? Get a writer. Now, reels or short-form videos are on the rise. What then? Hire a videographer.
While hiring more people is good since it oftentimes fixes the skill gap or responds to the demand, it can also be disadvantageous in the long run. You’d end up with too much manpower, and eventually, it would be difficult to sustain their paychecks. However, we are not saying that you should overload your current team or give them tasks that are beyond their scope, either. To fill in the skill gaps at work effectively, what you first need is to take a closer look at your current system.
Do You Need It, Or Are You Overhiring?
Overhiring is a phenomenon that negatively affects companies, expense-wise and culture-wise. It happens when a company fails to strategize and mistakenly hires more than needed. To visualize this phenomenon, think of it as a hotel that failed to count how many vacancies it still has and overbooked, resulting in losses, bad reviews, disgruntled customers, and overwhelmed employees.
But why do employers overhire? In an article, it can be simplified as one thing: bad math. When there is an excess of money, low productivity, overestimation of workload, and there is an opportunity for additional manpower, companies would start hiring more people. Instead of analyzing the needs of the company, because our minds like simple, linear models, we just end up hiring more people. Without thinking about the possible implications of overhiring and checking other options that can be more beneficial to the company, employers think hiring can fix their issues.
However, hiring more is not always the solution. When employers overhire, it can result in increased expenses, decreased productivity and motivation, limited resources, poor company culture, and mis-hires. When there are too many chefs in the kitchen, it spoils the soup.
Fix the System First, Before Adding
When there is a lack of productivity in the company, it doesn’t immediately mean that you lack personnel to do them. The first thing employers should consider is whether the jobs and responsibilities are clearly defined. Are all members of the team aware of what they need to do? Or is everything just implied, and everyone’s under the impression that someone else is in charge of the task (that is actually intended to be theirs)?
Effective communication goes a long way toward encouraging employees to be more productive. Let everyone understand their core responsibilities and their specific tasks. That way, there is no presumption of responsibility, and even without supervision or intervention, everyone can do their tasks and fix any issues that might arise.
Now, what do we do when there are real skill gaps? This is when employers should consider hiring more manpower, but hire intentionally and carefully. Ask yourselves, is this what the company needs temporarily, or is this needed for long-term success? Next, understand the job description and see if it responds directly to the company’s needs. This kind of intentional and careful process of hiring mitigates the problem employers face caused by overhiring, and they are able to fully utilize the talents and skills of their team.
However, some companies opt out of fixing these skill gaps out of fear of paying more than they can afford. But this can be mitigated by outsourcing work from other countries. Specifically, there are some companies that offer professional work without the additional managerial cost and at a lower cost than hiring locally. By considering this option, you can have the additional manpower to increase productivity without the headaches that come with it.