Someone’s handed in their notice. The immediate reaction? You need to replace them.
All of a sudden you’re sieving through the backend of your website to find that old job description and frantically emailing HR.
The result of this? You’re suddenly advertising for the exact same person you hired three years ago.
Before you hit publish, there’s a question worth asking: Do you actually need to replace them like-for-like?
Welcome to the first part of Glu’s Q4 Hiring Survival Pack – and we’re starting with the most important stage of the hiring process.
What does your business actually need?
Start with the gap, not the job title
Roles change. Someone who joined your team as an admin, might now be producing reports, supporting accounts and could be the only person who knows their way around that spreadsheet.
Your business is likely to have changed too. You might have introduced new systems, be working with different clients or changed your team structure.
So, instead of immediately replacing the employee who has left, look at the work that needs doing, where pressure currently sits and what skills are missing from the wider team.
You may discover you need a completely different role.
Ask the people who know
Your existing team can be one of your best sources of information.
Ask them the following:
- Where are the pressure points?
- What takes up too much time?
- What skills are we missing?
- What could a new person take ownership of?
You might even find there’s an opportunity for somebody internally to step up – leaving you with a completely different role to fill.
Think beyond the immediate problem
If you’re recruiting heading into Q4, don’t just think about what you need right now.
What does the next 6–12 months look like? Are you growing? Taking on new clients? Launching something new? Changing systems? Expanding a team?
The person you recruit today needs to make sense for where the business is heading too.
Otherwise, you could find yourself recruiting again sooner than you’d planned.
Must-have… or nice-to-have?
This is where the recruitment wish list can get slightly ambitious. A huge list of role requirements can suddenly have you looking for a unicorn.
Does somebody genuinely need this to succeed in the role?
Some skills will be essential. For example, if you’re looking for a brain surgeon, brain surgery experience and a PhD may be pretty necessary.
For other roles, skills can be taught.
Reality-check the market
You know who you need. Now you need to know whether your expectations match the market.
Before recruiting, check:
- Is the salary competitive?
- Is the job title one candidates will recognise and search for?
- How available are the skills you need?
- What are other employers offering?
- Are your expectations realistic for your budget?
Sometimes the answer will be exactly what you expected.
Sometimes we’ll have to break the news that your perfect candidate probably isn’t coming with ten years’ experience, immediate availability and a £5k pay cut.
Better to know now.
Your vacancy checklist
Before you start recruiting, can you tick these?
☐ We know why we’re recruiting
☐ We’ve reviewed the role rather than automatically replacing like-for-like
☐ We’ve spoken to the team
☐ We know which skills we’re missing
☐ We’ve thought about what we’ll need over the next 6–12 months
☐ We’ve separated must-haves from nice-to-haves
☐ We’ve reviewed the job title and responsibilities
☐ We’ve sense-checked the salary
☐ Everyone involved agrees on what we’re looking for
☐ We have a realistic hiring timeline
Passed? You’re ready for the next stage.
If not, that’s where we can help.
At Glu Recruit, we can help you sense-check your vacancy, salary, job title and expectations before the search even begins.
Because getting recruitment right isn’t just about filling an empty chair, it’s about finding the person your business actually needs.