Waiting Versus Being Paralyzed

In my post last month, I talked about different leadership styles surrounding the question, "How long do we wait before we start hiring again?" 

At the time, two of the most common responses of were:

1. Be aggressive and hire top talent today that would not typically be available under normal circumstances.
2. Put hiring on hold to reduce overhead, build contingency plans, and develop the right strategy to move forward.

Unfortunately, there is a third option that is starting to become more prevalent (which on the surface is similar to option 2 above – but is actually very different):

3. Put hiring on hold. Wait to see what happens (and hope for the best).

Over the past few weeks I’ve spoken to a lot of Clients (and even some Candidates) that are just sitting on their hands and ‘waiting for things to go back to normal’. They are not strategizing or planning; they are not doing any research; and seem to have given zero thought to what their business might look like if ‘normal’ changes to something new and different from the past. They are frozen, and do not want to concede that their market might not ever be the same.

To be clear – being an Executive Recruiter I am obviously a bit biased, (I really appreciate my Clients that are hiring today). However, I am also very busy with Clients that have put hiring on hold. While they are not in the position to pull the trigger on new hires, they are still actively interviewing for a number of very good reasons:

• Develop a strong Candidate Pipeline so when they are eventually ready to hire again, they are not starting the process from scratch. As long as you are setting fair expectations upfront – this is a very valid approach. Candidates do not mind doing an ‘Interest Interview’ for a role that may come up in the future (it helps them too). You just have to make sure they are aware of this at the start of the process.
• Gives them key information to help them build plans / contingencies for the future. For example, if you think you might want to focus on developing your ecommerce strategy – now would be a good time to talk to an ecommerce expert to help you decide if this direction makes sense.
• Do some industry / market research. A great way to find out what is going on in the marketplace is to interview some key employees from a few of your competitors.
• Stay relevant in the Marketplace. Don’t discount this one – this is a great way to build up your Brand (especially right now when traditional Marketing channels are not as available).

Lately, when one of my Clients tells me they want to wait – my immediate response has been “wait for what?” - Waiting for things to magically go back to the way there were pre-Covid? Waiting for their competition to dictate their market when the ‘new normal’ arrives? The reality is they are not "waiting". They are paralyzed. 

I totally understand, and in many situations, I agree with the impulse to play it safe. However, playing it safe does not mean doing nothing. Right now, it means using this time as an opportunity to blueprint potentially new directions for your organization. Try new things. Take action now to help determine what your future should look like. Have a virtual coffee or two. Maybe you’ll hire them one day – but even if you don’t, at the very least it will give you some extra ammunition to figure out what your hiring needs will be.