No. 53. Using quiet hiring to your advantage

How to navigate this workplace trend in 2023

Last year, everyone was talking about quiet quitting, but with a potential recession on the horizon, many companies are slowing down on hiring. Enter: quiet hiring.

This is a concept where employers use current or former employees to fill certain roles, either by re-structuring roles, rotating employees within the company, recruiting former employees, relying on contractors, or training and upskilling current employees.

Obviously, this is good for the employer, but what does this mean for employees? How do we navigate this if we see our roles shifting? 

Speak up for yourself

Your employer will always look out for their corporate interest first, which means it is up to you to look out for your interests. Yes, be a team player, but remember that at the end of the day, you own your career.

So, if your employer asks if you can take on a new role or additional work that is above and beyond the job you were hired to do, even if it is just to help out temporarily because someone else is short staffed, negotiate! Ask for a raise - it is cheaper for your employer to keep you than to hire someone else and they know it. Or, if it is important to you, ask for a more flexible schedule or to work remotely. 

If the added workload stresses you out and is going to cut into other areas of your life that are important to you, have a conversation with your boss where you list everything on your plate currently at work, and then ask him or her to prioritize where you should fit in the new tasks or role that you’re being asked to take on in addition to your current tasks.

You have to draw the boundaries with work, or it could cost you greatly in every other area of your life. 

Leverage this to elevate your career

If you are asked to take on additional work or a new role, ask how this is going to impact your career. For example, “Is this going to help me get promoted earlier?” If there is not a clear answer, keep the discussion going before you take on this additional work.

You need to focus on doing the work that is going to move the needle on what matters to you, so if you are looking to move up at work, use this shift in responsibilities to your advantage and carve out a plan on how these changes could potentially get you faster to where you want to go. 

Note, if the answer is no, or your boss dodges the question to the point that you think this is just adding more work to your plate with no additional benefit to you or your career, you can say no. Or find another job. It’s blunt, but don’t let the company take advantage of your loyalty and hard work. 

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Upskill yourself

This could also be a good opportunity to ask your employer to cover the cost of a training, a conference or a certification that you’ve been eyeing that could help you do these new additional tasks.

If you’re being asked to help write external content for the firm, ask for the firm to pay for a writing course for you.

If you’re doing a lot of manual data entry, can you take training on automation or learn how to use Alteryx?

Or maybe you can get certified in Lean Six Sigma principles to make the company processes more efficient, saving everyone time and money? 

If you’re taking on a role managing someone, can you take an online leadership course?

The key here is to think of something that benefits you and your career - something that will get you to where you’re going. And then connect that to the company’s goals. Be able to make a business case on how this upskilling will benefit your employer: will it save them money? Time? Generate additional revenue? 

You have more leverage than you may think, so use that to your advantage if you find yourself being quietly hired by your employer in 2023. 

Until next time,

YPS

P.S. How women can better excel in the corporate world is a passion of mine. I’m currently working on an online course on this topic, so if any of this resonated with you, come join the wait list to be the first to hear when the course is ready!