Workforce Management 101

It’s happened again. 

You have another vacancy after spending thousands of staff hours and an untold amount of training dollars. Unfortunately for you and your workgroup, the individual applied and received a higher-graded position elsewhere. Again!

Well, you might be at your wit’s end and feel as if you can’t afford to be on another HR merry-go-round but guess what — you still have options. One option for your consideration is filling the vacancy on a temporary basis.

Crisis Management

Below is a breakdown of the pros and cons for supervisors of filling the vacancy with a temporary employee.

And below is a breakdown of the pros and cons of taking a temporary position for an employee looking to advance your career, learn a new skill, or simply need a change of pace:

The Process

Let’s talk about workforce management — the process of having the right people at the right time. In other words, it’s about fulfilling the mission of the agency.

Filling a permanent position on a temporary basis is not only possible but appropriate. Of course, you will have to make a case for filling the position. For example, address (not just list) the mission-critical work that would go undone and the organizational impact, making sure that the impact is related in terms of your strategic plan.

Next, put together requirements, prerequisites, and necessary skills. If possible, reference a user guide, operations manual or job aid. Follow this up by asking for a statement of interest from interested individuals. The statement should be brief, no more than 300 words, indicating why an individual is the best candidate for the position. As this might be a rotating position, requires each successful applicant to update any written processing guides as well as train the new applicant.

If you are the individual applying for the temporary position, be concise about the impact you could make while in the position. You also want to indicate if you would be amenable to staying longer than the designated time frame or if you would be interested if (and when) the position were to be made permanent.

As an old (1546) English proverb written by John Heywood stated, “Remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained”.

After retiring from the Federal Government, Sandra Hill launched her business – New Horizen Coaching & Professional Growth Advancement.  She has a passion for coaching (life, business, and career), helping those who seek to build their confidence while facilitating transitions in their personal or professional life. Sandra is a best-selling author, podcast host and writes career coaching articles for Forbes and other industry magazines.

Fulfilling her personal mantra, “Each one Reach one”, Sandra also volunteers with several non-profits and serves as a mentor and partner with local schools. 

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