Quiet hiring done right

While unemployment is at its lowest level in over 50 years, experts still anticipate a recession. As a result of the economic uncertainty, many organizations are intentionally slowing down on hiring externally, which has given rise to quiet hiring, a concept Gartner analysts consider to be a top HR trend in 2023—where companies turn to their employees for their re-recruiting efforts.

At a time when 40% of American workers are experiencing burnout, leaders should not look at implementing quiet hiring practices to simply do more with less. Instead, quiet hiring can be a way for companies to reprioritize what’s most important for the health of the company and its teams. This includes acknowledging what is no longer a priority. Suppose managers think of quiet hiring as a way for employees to expand their skill sets or take on new, not necessarily more, responsibilities. In that case, they can help the company fill critical gaps without increasing their headcount.

The big question is, how can organizations implement quiet hiring in a way that will add the most value to the company and the people?

Stop being so quiet about your hiring needs

The most important step for quiet hiring to succeed is to first communicate with the team that the company is exploring new and creative ways to address the current market and needs within the company. This gives employees a chance to process the upcoming changes, provide feedback, ask questions, and reduce some of their concerns and fears.

Being honest and transparent with employees can reinforce their trust in the organization and leadership and even inspire them to be active participants in what the company is working toward. For example, a recent Gallup survey showed that employees who strongly agree that their leaders help them see how changes made today will affect their organization in the future are much more likely to be engaged and less likely to feel burned out or stressed.

Communicate internal priorities and opportunities

Once employees have been made aware of the changes and have had time to process the new approach, clearly share what type of skills are being sought and what new job openings are available at the company due to the reprioritization efforts. Similar to external recruiting efforts for job openings, this can be done by forming a dedicated internal job board. By providing a complete overview of the needs within the company, employees can make informed decisions on which skills they want to develop to confidently pursue these internal opportunities.

Make learning easy and attainable

Provide employees with ample and easily accessible training opportunities so they are supported in developing skills that address their unique interests and achieve professional goals. This can come as learning and development (L&D) stipends for skills-based courses on platforms like Coursera, Udemy, Degreed, or Section4. It’s essential employees are aware that these stipends are available and encouraged.

Learning and development efforts must also take place within the organization. Companies that create a strong culture of internal mentorship and knowledge sharing are the ones that drive operational excellence within their teams. When employee knowledge is easily accessible and shared with other teammates, rather than keeping it siloed to the individual, it gives the employee the guidance and ability to achieve more and gives the company a competitive advantage in growing revenue, building product, and serving customers.

Stop punishing employees for wanting to develop new skills

Building a culture of knowledge sharing won’t happen overnight. Leaders need to provide guidance and encourage a collaborative work environment where individuals don’t feel the need to keep information close to their vests. In addition to helping workers feel safe to spread their unique insights with others, they need to ensure proper documentation is in place for the processes, tools, and responsibilities associated with each team. Without documentation—especially resources that are easy to create and share—institutional knowledge will undoubtedly remain siloed and ultimately lead to reduced progress.

We’re big on using our own product for knowledge sharing. We use Tango to create how-to guides for helping other teammates quickly gain access to the tips, tricks, and knowledge needed for a certain task, and Loom for voice-over on our training guides.

Moving to the next phase of organizational transformation with strong employee supports

For employees interested in taking on a new role or developing a new skill set, it’s crucial the organization provides a psychologically safe process. There can’t be negative repercussions for workers who want to upskill or reskill for a new position, like dealing with any managerial or co-worker backlash. Likewise, employees’ career trajectories or promotion paths should not be reset if they pursue a different role inside the business.

Employees who decide to upskill should also be expected to work more flexible hours. While there might be an initial period where more hours are spent building new skills, expecting longer hours in the long term is a guaranteed path to burnout. Additionally, organizations can’t expect similar levels of output across the same number of projects for these employees who are taking on new responsibilities.

HR and managerial support will be critical to starting this new chapter on the right foot. Leaders should work with HR to make appropriate compensation adjustments that reflect a worker’s increase in scope and responsibility; and, where applicable, retitle the “new” employee’s role. Providing managerial incentives could also be a great way to encourage them to help direct reports feel comfortable and motivated to explore learning and development opportunities.

Ultimately, smart business leaders looking to cautiously weather another year of uncertainty can effectively use quiet hiring practices by supporting their people’s personal growth and development. Organizations have been forced to embrace flexibility over the last three years, adapting to change while simultaneously prioritizing what’s most important to the business. During this next phase of organizational transformation, quiet hiring offers an opportunity for companies to avoid keeping the status quo. It’s about creating a culture of learning and knowledge sharing that will benefit both the employees and the company.

Ken Babcock is the CEO and co-founder of Tango. Before setting out on a mission to help people be their best at work, he spent 4+ years at Uber riding the rollercoaster of a generational company. After getting his feet wet with entrepreneurship at Atomic VC, he went to Harvard Business School, where he met his co-founders.