The Ripple Effect
Vacancies, especially excessive vacancies, can send a message to your customers and suppliers that your organization is weak. This creates a period of confusion. Suppliers and customers simply don't know who to contact - and the stability of the relationship can turn questionable. Even worse the potential of errors, resulting from vacancies, might lead to lower sales volume, loss of customers and loss of market share.

Plus, here's something else to consider. Coverage of vacancy by another salesperson, service representative or account manager gives customers an excuse to look for other suppliers. Or, shop your company's overall offering. This puts you at risk for losing valuable market share. Below are some vulnerable areas - when your company is facing vacancies.

Impact on your Team...
Vacancies don't just affect your bottom line. Staff is affected, too. Teams can experience disruption; resulting from loss of productivity, loss of experience, loss of leadership and even loss of skill from the employee who left. Plus, vacancies might negatively effect the generation of new ideas. Co-workers feel frustrated and overworked, increasing errors and decreasing work quality.

Even worse, managers become rather reluctant to terminate poor performing employees. So, vacancies coupled with poor performance are a recipe that can cripple your team!

Competitive Advantage, Culture and Value Impact
As business picks up, vacancies can cause panic and encourage the "quick" hiring of poor performers. Once a team is saddled with a large number of poor performers, they lose the ability to attract new top performers, or "Difference Makers." That's why you need hiring options to create a long-term recruiting brand.

Plus, consider this. Vacancies might send a message to your competitors that your organization is vulnerable. This can lead to increased pressure from your competition.

Recruiting and your Image...
A large number of vacancies send the wrong message to future recruits. They think your organization isn't retaining their top-talent. As a result, your company's ability to engage and attract the best talent is negatively affected.

This also sends a message to existing employees. They think your organization is headed downhill. So, now your employees (even the best performers) have a reason to passively seek new employment opportunities. Making matters worse, once competitors and recruiters think your organization is weak…they might become bolder about approaching your employees about jobs.

Increased Management Time and Effort
Teams with vacancies become a drain on your management team. They require more maintenance and attention. As a result, management isn't able to spend time on strategic management issues…like positioning the department for a market shift or developing other teams. Your organization faces lost opportunity costs. These are things managers could have accomplished…if they weren't carrying the load of the vacancy.

Plus, if a vacancy is created by top management decisions, like hiring or budget freezes, managers might lose hope. Morale is negatively affected – and you're at risk for higher management turnover rate. Management vacancies create an entirely new set of problems; resulting in a multiplier effect on productivity and proactive recruitment for top-talent.

Avoid the Pitfalls...
At CERS, we understand the challenges companies face in today's fast changing business economy. We partner with your company to optimize how you retain and hire top talent across all departments. Our solutions and consulting services are designed to provide an immediate return on investment – in either productivity or profitability…and often both.