Make This 2023 HR Trend Work For You, Not Against You
Everyone is at least a little stressed about the economy right now. A recent Time Magazine article cites a study that asked executives about their outlook and "98% of CEOs were preparing for a U.S. recession in the next 12 to 18 months." One of the most important implications of pretty much every organization out there preparing for recession is something that’s being called quiet hiring.
Quiet hiring is about optimization. Getting leaner, more efficient, more bang for the buck. It can take two different forms: internal quiet hiring and external quiet hiring.
Understanding each—and how/when to use them—could be the difference between the businesses that survive a recession (if it does come) and those that don't.
Internal Quiet Hiring
Quiet hiring when applied to existing employees is the expansion of a worker's role or responsibilities as a way for businesses to acquire new skills without the HR costs of hiring and training. It's not hard to see the appeal at a time when many companies are implementing a hiring freeze (or at least slowing down on hiring) while simultaneously pushing for growth. If handled poorly, though, it's the inverse of the pandemic-sparked trend of quiet quitting. In fact, it's the cause.
Quiet quitting is about work-life balance and being treated fairly. If workers don't believe there's any benefit, short or long-term, to going above and beyond then you're nuts to expect them to do so. (And it doesn't matter if your company is "mission-driven." If your company makes money then the #1 reason your employees took the job is to make money themselves.)
Quiet quitters don't trust employers to do right by them so they do just enough to get by, often while looking for work elsewhere. Some managers have responded with quiet firing: heaping more and more tasks on the quiet quitter so they literally quit, without any need to pay severance. You don't need to be particularly bright or experienced to see how both quiet quitting and quiet firing can quickly create a toxic workplace culture.
It Hinges on Trust
Quiet hiring is a chicken-or-egg situation that hinges on trust. An employer gearing for recession can't start giving out raises and promotions to employees if they don't have reason to believe that employees can perform in the new or expanded role. And the easiest way for an employee to make their employer believe that is to show they can.
On the flip side, workers are unlikely to willingly take on more work if the company hasn't proven that it takes care of its people. Has the employee been rewarded for going above and beyond in the past? Has the employee seen coworkers get rewarded for the same? If not, then pushing your people to take on more during this period of economic downturn is likely to backfire.
If done right, internal quiet hiring can be a benefit to both employee and employer. To make that happen, communication is key.
Employers need to take intentional steps to identify their brightest minds. Once you've identified those employees that are hungry for career advancement then discuss that potential with the employee.
Where do they want to get in their career? How would they like to see their role expand? What do they need from you in terms of training or education to acquire the new skills? What's a reasonable timetable for a promotion or pay raise?
Opening up clear communication about the process of quiet hiring is the best way for organizations to get more out of employees while simultaneously helping employees get more out of their jobs. Lean, efficient companies full of motivated and fulfilled employees are the ones that survive tough economic times.
External Quiet Hiring
The second kind of quiet hiring involves turning to contractors or agencies as a way for a business to fuel continued growth without having to commit long-term resources or employees. One of the big benefits to using outside talent is that it allows you to remain nimble—it's much easier to sever ties with short-term contractors than full-time employees. But there are additional pros and, of course, some cons as well.
As a creative agency, we at KURRENT know the flip side of quiet hiring extremely well. We are the outside talent that gets hired. But our founder, and every person on our team, has previously spent time as a full-time member of a company's in-house creative team so we know that side of the coin pretty well too.
Know the Risks, and the Rewards
Hiring a contractor is an exercise in analyzing potential return on investment. There's always the chance that a contractor doesn't produce the quality or quantity of work you deserve for the price you're paying them. But then, you never really know if a full-time hire is going to pan out before hiring them either. The point: external quiet hiring needs to be as intentional as internal quiet hiring.
There are a lot of benefits baked into full-time workers' contracts that don't exist for outside contractors: health insurance, 401Ks, HSA match, mentorship, the opportunity for promotion, stability, etc. This typically translates to a desire to perform.
A contractor has incentives to perform as well: short-term contracts often turn into long-term contracts and freelancers or agencies know they'll only secure long-term relationships if they get results. Word-of-mouth is crucial to a contractor's success as well so they want to please their clients. But it's fair to acknowledge that the relationship between employers and their in-house employees is different from their relationship with a contractor.
The "easy come easy go" nature of contractors is a double-edged sword that all parties involved should be aware of.
It's tough for a contractor to feel fully immersed in your company's mission because they likely have more than one client at a time. Their attention will be split in a way that in-house workers don't have to deal with.
When considering taking on a new client at KURRENT, one of the most important criteria is that the business has a mission we can get behind. We do care about the potential profitability of a business (or specific campaign) but we also want to work with companies that are doing work we can feel good about contributing to. (Plenty of agencies and contractors do the same thing.) But our relationship to that mission is still not the same as the employers or their employees.
This comes with its own set of pros and cons.
There are benefits to being fully immersed in a business and thinking about it day in and day out for weeks, months, years. Experience matters. But one drawback to that immersion is that it can create blind spots.
Your target audience isn't likely to be thinking about your product or service nearly as much as you do so the deeper you get in, the harder it can be to think like they do. Your relationship to your brand or mission is fundamentally different from all the people you're trying to reach with it.
A contractor or agency can offer fresh perspective, bolstered by experience with similar (but different) clients in the past.
Again, the key is, to be honest with yourself and the other party about what’s needed and what will be given in return. Quiet hiring is not a zero-sum game. If done poorly, both parties lose. But, if done well, both parties win.
And in a time of economic uncertainty, we’re all looking for as many wins as we can get.
Looking to “quiet hire” some design or branding help? Fill out our contact form to start the conversation with KURRENT.
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