Quiet hiring: This classic practice is having a modern moment

You’ve probably read about “quiet quitting.” In case you haven’t, quiet quitting is a response to unrealistic expectations and an unhealthy work-life balance. But did you know there’s a way to manage quiet quitting and the associated burnout/?

It even has a similar name: “quiet hiring.”

The concept of quiet hiring isn’t about acquiring talent through silent recruiters. It’s also not about skipping background checks, onboarding or other processes. Instead, it’s about helping employees find new purpose in their work while allowing businesses to adapt in the face of:

• fast growth or change
• labor shortages
• market demand
• off-season lulls
• development needs

Sound too good to be true? With the right approach and understanding, it isn’t.

Where does quiet hiring come from, and why are companies doing it?

Essentially, quiet hiring is a way to maximize your current workforce while encouraging mentorship, leadership and cross-department training. It allows employers to make the most out of the staff they have — and quiet hiring isn’t new.

In a survey from Monster, 4 in 5 workers said they’ve been quiet hired in some way. Just over half of respondents said they did work outside their aptitudes, with 63% seeing it as a chance to broaden their skill set.

That makes sense, because although the “great resignation” may have ended, the small talent pool left in its wake isn’t filling up anytime soon. Crossing our fingers and hoping the job market will rebound won’t do much good.

In fact, The World Bank predicts the number of eligible job candidates will shrink by 3% within 10 years. At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics documented roughly 4 million resignations a month from mid-2021 to late 2022.

Businesses can’t magically create new hires and applicants. They can, however, offset economic uncertainty and disengagement by upskilling preexisting employees.

What should HR professionals know about quiet hiring?

No one-size-fits-all strategy exists for quiet hiring. How to approach it best depends on business and employee needs. It’s also important to assess if the move requires additional compensation.

And not every attempt at quiet hiring is ideal. For example, expecting a software analyst to lead a seminar on highway safety would likely lead to a stressed-out employee — not to mention some highly confused delivery drivers. A few healthier — and more realistic — examples of quiet hiring could include:

• redeploying tax staff to other duties in the off-season
• allowing a seasoned employee to mentor talent in other departments
• using an internal communications specialist for relevant public-facing campaigns
• assigning a cashier to stock and organize inventory

Above all, quiet hiring isn’t a switch you can turn on. Finding the right moments to use it with your workforce can take trial and error. But when done correctly, it could prove invaluable.

It may go without saying that quiet hiring lowers the cost of recruitment. SHRM data reveals it typically takes 54 days to fill an open position. And to hire and onboard one person costs an average of $4,683.

That’s not even considering how much time an employee needs to reach their performance potential. Gallup estimates this process to take at least a full year.

Bringing on new employees is inevitable as a business grows. Quiet hiring helps offset the inefficiency of expansion; current employees who know the culture can be great for filling a need temporarily while new hires are onboarded.

Quiet hiring also helps HR get ahead of stagnation. In a Pollfish survey commissioned by Paycom, HR pros placed retention and engagement among their three top priorities for 2023. By quiet hiring disengaged staff, employers give development opportunities to employees who otherwise may look for another job to find them.

For businesses, it’s a great bench builder. Leaders should allow their employees to occasionally work in other departments so when quiet hiring is needed, an organization has muscle memory and can act quickly.

If an organization becomes flexible and agile through quiet hiring, so do its people.

How does HR tech help with quiet hiring?

The right HR technology already helps organizations replace outdated and slow processes. It also helps make quiet hiring fluid, transparent and more effective overall.

Plus, just because it’s called quiet hiring doesn’t mean it should be a secret. Exercise transparency by informing employees of the practice through open communication, including the self-service HR software they already may use.

Remember, not every employee will be right for quiet hiring, at least at first. Try conducting a survey — ideally with an easy-to-use HR software tool — to gauge interest and find volunteers. If the initial experiment works out, your early quiet hires can stir excitement for others.

Perhaps most importantly, don’t inadvertently overload employees with quiet hiring. Their ongoing development is as important as the agility of your organization. After all, any successful business eventually needs a fresh crop of leaders.

If employees are quiet hired, document what they’re doing outside their normal role through a performance management tool, and be sure to acknowledge their willingness to pivot when evaluations come up. You even could tie quiet hiring to training with an accessible learning management experience.

Related: How to handle ‘quiet hiring’

Ultimately, be prepared to accept that quiet hiring might take time. The urgency of trying to fill a need shouldn’t translate to a rushed or near-sighted approach. When done properly and strategically, quiet hiring becomes a resounding advantage for employees and the business alike.

Jennifer Kraszewski, Paycom’s vice president of human resources. She is SPHR- and SHRM-SCP-certified.