Your go-to guide for handling urgent hiring needs

Whether your top performer quit, or your company is going through explosive growth, you’ll need to start your hiring process. When you have a role that needs to be filled quickly, it can feel overwhelming to start the hiring process.

We’ve put together your go-to guide on identifying and handling urgent hiring situations to ensure your organization can continue operating efficiently.

What’s the difference between urgent hiring and regular hiring?

First, when looking to fill a role, you may be teetering between needing an urgent hire, or having some time to bring someone on. To decide what you need, there are clear distinctions between the two options that will help you determine which path you need to take.

In general, urgent hiring is filling positions as soon as possible because of the sudden need for additional headcount for your business. In contrast, regular hiring allows for a more thorough and less time-sensitive process.

Understanding the difference between urgent and regular hiring is essential for knowing the recruiting strategy you must implement, so we’ve laid it out for you.

1. Urgent hiring for accelerated expansion

If your organization is experiencing intense growth, like a large project, an increased demand for your organization’s services, or is involved in a new acquisition, you’ll need more employees to help support these initiatives. Increasing your headcount will ensure you have the resources to sustain your organization’s growth.

2. Urgent hiring for turnover

Employee turnover and losing a critical role at your company happens. When it’s unexpected, it can throw your organization for a loop and might lead to your team scrambling to find someone to fill in.

3. Urgent hiring for sudden changes

There might come a point where there’s a big shake-up in the workplace. This can be anything from major industry changes due to new technologies to skills gaps on your team.

In any case, it’s important to have a recruiting strategy in place that will help you secure top talent fast. To achieve this, here are a few strategies to ensure you have a proper plan to handle any curveball thrown your way.

Urgent hiring strategies to implement

1. Identify your hiring needs

Recognizing what type of hiring need you have is the first step to implementing a strategy.

Building a strategy involves determining if the role needs a temporary or permanent placement and understanding why there is an urgency to place a candidate in this role. This can be due to sudden industry changes, unexpected turnover, or a demand for your organization’s services.

2. Be flexible

Be flexible when urgently hiring so you can quickly adapt to unexpected hiccups and fill open positions quickly. Practicing flexibility for an urgent hire can involve streamlining your current interview process.

Streamlining the interview process takes thorough preparation beforehand, such as having structured interview questions and understanding the skills an ideal candidate would have. Additionally, you should prepare for any question a candidate may have about the company, role, and job expectations. All this prep work is done in advance so you can speed up the hiring process to ensure that you hire a candidate that is not only a technical fit, but a cultural one, too.

3. Utilize temporary or contract talent

When you have urgent hiring needs, hiring contractors on your team is a beneficial solution. Hiring a short-term contractor can ensure your team has coverage while you determine if there is enough work for a full-time position or to find someone to fill the position permanently.

Talent solutions firms like Addison Group have experience placing temporary and permanent talent with organizations. Whether you’re in need of an urgent hire or just need help finding a qualified candidate for a position, our team of hiring experts can quickly tap our large talent pool to find someone that matches your organization’s needs.

4. Use technology as a lucrative hiring tool

Utilizing technology, like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and software tools, can speed up the search for candidates.

AI reduces manual work by automating candidate sourcing and screening. Recruitment software creates workflows to streamline candidate tracking and interview scheduling.

Also, virtual interviews and online assessments help your hiring team determine if a candidate’s skillset aligns with the role and if they would be a good cultural fit with the organization.

5. Be competitive in your job offer

When urgently hiring, you need to have competitive job offers to secure top talent.

Zero in on your comprehensive benefits package, flexible working hours, career growth opportunities, and top-tier compensation package.

Highlighting the unique perks of your organization’s benefits and salaries can help you stand out from competitors and show candidates that you invest in your employees.

6. Planning ahead

Developing a succession plan is essential to reducing urgent hiring.

It ensures you have a list of qualified candidates ready whenever a critical role at your organization becomes vacant and reduces the time it takes to fill the role.

An easy way to address urgent hiring needs

Addressing urgent hiring needs is more than a quick fix – it requires a thoughtful approach that recognizes needs, flexibility, and uses technology.

An all-encompassing strategy can transform urgent hiring from a challenge to an opportunity to hire dynamic talent who can drive growth to your organization.  

If you have urgent hiring needs at your organization and don’t know where to start, Addison Group can guide you through the process. For more than 20 years, we’ve been focused on quality not quotas. That means finding someone who is a perfect match for your team, not just who’s available. Connect with us today to find your next great employee.