Quiet hiring: everything you need to know

As companies expand and technology develops, companies need staff members to take on new roles and responsibilities. Conventionally, this means hiring new employees but one of the workplace buzzwords of 2023 is "quiet hiring". This refers to leveraging your current employees' potential rather than hiring new staffers. 3Cube Property Solutions takes a deep dive into quiet hiring and everything you need to know.

Advantages of quiet hiring

For starters, quiet hiring allows employers to get evolving jobs done without increasing their headcount. Over and above this, it creates opportunities for existing employees to futureproof their skill set and discover new potential career paths. In the era of proverbial belt-tightening, quiet hiring allows companies to stay on the cutting edge of their industries and ahead of the technological curve without having to find the additional funds to hire new staffers.

Quiet hiring means you get to avoid tedious recruitment and onboarding processes simply by smartly leveraging the talent you have within your company. With the massive developments in technology and artificial intelligence that have taken place in recent years, it is worth considering where these tools could be put to use in your business, thus freeing up talent to be used where you need it most. 

Potential pitfalls of quiet hiring

The biggest potential pitfall of quiet hiring is an obvious one: laying too much work on existing employees' shoulders. In a scenario where quiet hiring leads to an employee needing to work longer hours to get their job done, burnout and dissatisfaction will follow. Burnout is one of the key causes of quiet quitting - which refers to an employee meeting the requirements of his or her job without going the extra mile or putting extra effort into their work. Quiet hiring needs to be viewed by your team as an opportunity for professional development, rather than an addition to their workload.

Rather than asking employees to do more, quiet hiring involves identifying the areas of your business where talent is most needed and finding - from within your existing staff - people who are both able and willing to turn their attention to these tasks. If extra work is required, compensation should be offered - whether that involves an increase in salary, time off or greater flexibility in their working conditions and hours. Care must always be taken not to overburden staff - and channels of communication must be kept open in both directions.

Simply put, employees need to be presented with the opportunity, introduced to the potential benefits to their career paths and then choose whether they wish to be "quiet hired". One of the biggest potential pitfalls of the philosophy of quiet hiring revolves around potential abuse by employers and this must be avoided at all cost.

When interviewed by BizCommunity, Nadeem Mahomed, a professional support lawyer for Cliffe Decker Hofmeyr, makes the point that while a typical contract of employment allows for alterations or additions to job descriptions under certain circumstances, it does not create carte blanche for large-scale changes. According to Mahomed, it is important to have open discussions with employees about prospective changes to their duties and to put said changes in writing once an agreement has been reached. He also stresses the importance of upskilling staff members to fulfil their new obligations if necessary.

2023 is a challenging but exciting time for all companies, and human resources methodologies are just one of the shifts taking place. If your current premises are holding you back, reach your full potential by contacting 3Cube Property Solutions and finding the ideal premises to buy or rent in Gauteng today.