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The cost of delay - Why unfilled roles quietly drain performance
- John Gorton
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read
In the events industry, timing is everything. We obsess over timelines, run sheets, milestones and deadlines, yet one of the most damaging delays in business often goes unmeasured and unnoticed: the delay in hiring.
At TES Recruitment, we see this pattern repeatedly. Unfilled or poorly defined roles don’t just slow delivery, they quietly drain business performance. Senior leaders step back into operational gaps, teams stretch beyond capacity, and client dissatisfaction begins to creep in long before it shows up in formal reporting.
“Over time, I’ve learned that hiring delays are rarely neutral. When they’re not strategic, they quietly become one of the most expensive decisions a business makes.” John Gorton, Founder
The Hidden Cost of Leaving Roles Unfilled
Many leaders underestimate the true cost of an unfilled role. On paper, it can look like a short-term saving. In reality, it creates a compounding drag on the business.
According to PwC Australia, workforce inefficiencies are a key contributor to declining productivity across Australian industries, particularly in project-based and professional services sectors. (Source: https://www.pwc.com.au)
In the events industry, the impact is amplified because delivery relies heavily on people, coordination and experience. When a role is left vacant or vaguely defined:
Work is redistributed unevenly
Decision-making slows
Errors increase
Delivery quality declines
The cost is rarely captured in a single line item, but it shows up everywhere else.
When Leaders Start Backfilling Roles
One of the earliest warning signs we see is senior leaders quietly stepping back into operational roles.
Initially, this feels practical. Leaders know the business, they can “just cover it for now”, and it keeps things moving. But over time, this becomes one of the most expensive behaviours in the organisation.
According to the Australian Institute of Management, leadership effectiveness declines significantly when senior leaders are pulled into day-to-day execution instead of strategic oversight.(Source: https://aim.com.au)
When leaders are backfilling:
Strategy stalls
Growth initiatives are delayed
Teams lose clarity and confidence
Leaders burn out faster
The opportunity cost of leadership distraction is enormous, and often invisible until momentum has already been lost.
Speak to one of our Advisors today about your hiring strategy
Burnout: The Silent Accelerator of Attrition
Another consequence of delayed hiring is burnout.
When roles remain unfilled, teams compensate. They take on extra responsibilities, work longer hours, and push through peak periods with fewer resources. For a short time, this can look like resilience. Over time, it becomes risk.
Safe Work Australia reports that work-related psychological injuries, including burnout and stress-related conditions, are increasing and represent some of the most costly claims for employers. (Source: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au)
In events businesses, burnout doesn’t just affect wellbeing, it affects:
Attention to detail
Client experience
Team morale
Staff retention
What often starts as a delayed hire ends in the loss of a high performer, compounding the original problem in the first place.
Client Dissatisfaction Creeps In Quietly
Client dissatisfaction rarely arrives loudly. It creeps in quietly through slower response times, Inconsistent communication, reduced flexibility and small delivery issues that add up.
In highly competitive sectors like events, reputation is everything.
When teams are stretched thin, even the most capable professionals struggle to maintain the standard clients expect. The damage often becomes visible only after contracts are lost or relationships are strained.
Why Hiring Delays Are Rarely Neutral
One of the biggest misconceptions we encounter is the belief that delaying a hire is a neutral decision.
It isn’t.
The problem is that many hiring delays are not intentional. They are driven by:
Unclear role definitions
Internal indecision
Overloaded leadership teams
Treating recruitment as an administrative task rather than a strategic one
This is where performance quietly erodes.
The Best-Performing Events Businesses Think Differently
At TES Recruitment, we work closely with high-performing events companies across Australia. One pattern is consistent: they treat recruitment as business critical.
For these organisations:
Hiring is aligned to business planning
Roles are clearly defined before they go to market
Decision-makers are engaged early
Recruitment timelines are prioritised, not deferred
This proactive approach accelerates the hiring process and ensures the right talent is in place quickly to drive the business forward.
At TES Recruitment, we spend significant time helping clients clarify:
What success looks like in the role
Where the role sits within the team
What skills are essential vs trainable
How the role supports business goals
Clarity upfront saves months, sometimes years, downstream.
Recruitment as a Strategic Lever, Not an Admin Function
One of the most important mindset shifts for 2026 is this: recruitment is not an administrative function. It is a strategic lever.
In this environment, organisations that move slowly lose talent, not because candidates aren’t available, but because they are already engaged elsewhere.
Treating recruitment as business critical means:
Making faster, more confident decisions
Engaging specialist recruiters early
Understanding market realities
Aligning stakeholders before roles are advertised
How TES Recruitment Helps Reduce the Cost of Delay
At TES Recruitment, we specialise in the events industry because we understand its unique pressures, timelines and talent requirements.
We help organisations:
Identify the true cost of unfilled roles
Clarify and define roles effectively
Engage the right talent quickly
Reduce leadership distraction
Protect team wellbeing and client outcomes
Our approach is consultative, not transactional. We work with leaders to understand the broader business context, not just fill a vacancy.
Unfilled roles don’t just slow delivery.They change behaviour, strain teams, and erode performance in ways that are hard to see, until it’s too late.
At TES Recruitment, we believe hiring delays should be strategic, never accidental.
References
PwC Australia – Workforce productivity and performancehttps://www.pwc.com.au
Australian Institute of Management – Leadership effectivenesshttps://aim.com.au
Safe Work Australia – Work-related stress and burnouthttps://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au
IBISWorld – Events industry insightshttps://www.ibisworld.com/au
Deloitte Australia – Talent and business performancehttps://www.deloitte.com/au
Australian Bureau of Statistics – Labour market datahttps://www.abs.gov.au
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