Understaffed? How to Get Help without Overspending on Payroll
Few things prove tougher on an employer than being understaffed. You often ending up covering everyday work that you would normally delegate. Your current staff often ends up pulling longer hours, which drives up payroll costs in overtime.
So, what can you do to fill that gap without paying too much in payroll?
Ask for Referrals
Recruiting new employees is a deeply expensive process. There is the advertising, of course, but also the cost of time lost reviewing piles of resumes/applications and conducting interviews.
It still costs a pretty penny if you outsource it. Even worse, talented candidates will often negotiate for a higher salary than you slated in the budget.
Many employers overlook an obvious and less expensive source of new, affordable employees: current employees.
An understaffed business is as hard on them as it on you. Odds are good that your current employees know at least one or two qualified people who’d be happy to come on board for a reasonable salary. Ask them for candidate referrals to streamline your process.
Employee Training
Sometimes the problem isn’t so much that you’re understaffed, but that your current staff doesn’t have the right skills.
Rather than look outside the company for someone with exactly the right skill set, consider training your current employees for the role you need filled.
It’s the rare business that doesn’t have at least a couple bright, grossly underutilized employees.
Approach them and offer to foot the bill for training in exchange for a specific period of employment. Even if you toss in a raise, you’ll probably still save money on payroll in the long run.
Leverage Digital Options
If you need someone with specific skills but don’t need them full-time, you can often lean on digital outsourcing options.
For example, you can hiring a virtual bookkeeper for 20 hours a week to maintain your books. You can outsource HR functions on a part-time basis.
If the main problem is that you’re overworked, you can look into online/virtual assistant services.
Virtual assistants can handle a surprisingly wide cross-section of tasks, such as responding to emails, managing your calendar, and drafting routine correspondence.
Running an understaffed business puts stress on everyone there because it drives up everyone’s workload.
At the same time, you don’t want to kill yourself on payroll hiring new employees. Consider less traditional options, such as employee training, in-house referrals, and virtual employees to shore up the weak spots in your business.
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Category: Business
