View your company as a series of interlocking careers that develop and change over time. Focus on job contexts rather than on job descriptions. Knowing the strategic purpose a job serves in the corporate organization lets you adjust to changing customer needs and to turnover. Then interview for the long-term, and ask applicants to demonstrate valid career reasons for being in a specific job within your company. But before you ask, know where the division, department or team needs to be in that time.
Career planning takes the chaos out of fast-paced, urgent hires.
Before hiring a stopgap skilled specialist who has no apparent future within the organization, you can scout other sources for the skill. One way to prevent being left with personnel voids is to redesign performance reviews. After acknowledging accomplishments, weaknesses and improvement areas, assess employees' goals. Similarly, be careful before you counteroffer. Knee-jerk pay increases and perks to stave off defections are now standard in the business world.