Hiring for Bench Strength vs. Opportunity Hires

We are entering that critical stretch that seems to happen every year before summer when it comes to staffing needs, strategic planning, back filling employees who leave, and addition by growth.  I have been recruiting for going on 11 years now, and it never fails that May and June are two of our busiest months. 

This year feels different for two main reasons – employers adding to bench strength and making opportunity hires that may not have been in the recruiting budget to start the year.  It is happening for a myriad of reasons, and the biggest reason is that revenues are strong and companies want to stay ahead of the employment curve to capture talent in the market. 

So what is the difference between hiring for bench strength and making opportunity hires?  Not much really, but there are some subtle variations that can help sharpen the definition and possibly influence the final decision.

Hiring for bench strength is usually in the budget.  Not always, but quite often we hear clients mention the fact that they were planning on adding a particular position.  They just weren’t sure when.  That is similar to saying you are going to re-model  your basement some day, but only when you have the money set aside.  Chances are you will never have the full amount in your checking account, so you might take out a HELOC or short-term loan to get it done earlier.  Same goes for opportunity hires.  You may know you have wanted to add another account manager to a team, but only at a certain revenue threshold.  You may look at hiring the right candidate if they come along before then.

Making an opportunity hire is usually NOT in the budget.  This happens when a candidate comes on your radar who is moving home or is in the right situation to move quickly.  You don’t have an opening or even a projected opening, but you know good talent doesn’t pop up overnight.  Making this hire can be a great long-term investment.  If you don’t hire these types of candidates, you need to at least be talking with them and follow their career projection.

Hiring for bench strength is usually planned.  As companies looked at 2014 hiring needs they probably expected to have some turnover.  Especially looking at historical trends over the past 2-3 years.  With that in mind a good plan is to make a hire or two in critical areas when you may need to plan on some turnover.  If you budget well enough you could maybe even make a number of hires so that your pipeline is always full.

Making an opportunity hire is NOT planned very often.  This happens more often in sales-related roles.  I hear from clients often that they plan on hiring two, three, or even more salespeople in a given year.  Once they make that investment they turn off the hiring faucet.  But if that perfect sales candidate comes along after making the last hire that was planned, you may need to consider spending some more money to make money.

Hiring for bench strength is a safe bet.  What I mean by this is the risk vs. reward is usually in your favor.  For whatever reason you know you may need to hire for a particular role within 6-12 months.  So if you do it ahead of time it is not an issue.

Making an opportunity hire can require additional resources.  Especially if you are hiring a sales-related candidate.  You may have to think on these types of hires a little more.  The issue is that the entire essence of making an opportunity hire involves risk.  I always encourage clients to at least have the conversation.  It never hurts to talk about an idea and perhaps you execute it later.

Have you added to bench strength this year?  Or made an opportunity hire?  I would love to hear your perspective on the market as well as we attempt to stay ahead of the always-moving proverbial curve when it comes to finding good talent.