Planning for Growth — How Temp-to-Perm May be a Good Option

The decision to hire additional staff members is a delicate balance between meeting business needs and balancing the additional financial obligations that come with more employees. This is particularly true of businesses that are in high growth mode. The financial obligations can be even higher if an employee turns out not to be a good fit for the organization. Then, employers must start the hiring and training process over, with absolutely no return on their initial investment. For this reason, employers are often hesitant to expand their staff, which places an ever increasing workload on existing employees and themselves. However, solving this seemingly complex business problem can actually be accomplished quite easily using a temp-to-perm staffing model through a temporary staffing agency. This method virtually ensures that a business will eventually end up with a qualified employee without losing the initial time and financial investment caused by a potential bad hire. Here are some ways that businesses benefit from trying out employees before they commit to a long-term relationship.

Financial Flexibility

Expanding a business is an exciting time for company owners and leadership. And, while these individuals understand that a certain amount of investment is required for growth, the truth is that they would rather be putting that money back into product development. This is especially true in the early stages of growth when additional revenue may not yet have materialized. This is an ideal scenario to consider utilizing a temp-to-perm staffing model. This model allows companies to bring in much needed skill-sets faster without immediately taking on the extra overhead of burden costs, and increased WSIB risk associated with FTEs, while at the same time assuring the right “fit” before making a permanent hiring commitment.

Position Flexibility

One challenge that growing companies face is that they often don’t have a good grasp of exactly what positions they need or how many are required. For example, businesses that sell goods or services may need additional customer service reps or telephone support. However, they can’t anticipate how quickly a marketing campaign will pay off and how quickly the business will grow. Temp-to-perm positions are ideal because they allow employers to evaluate the actual needs of the business before hiring, instead of trying to predict them in advance. Once concrete data shows which positions to keep, temporary employees can transition to permanent staff. However, if it turns out that a certain product line or position isn’t needed after all, employers can simply not renew the contract of temp help and avoid having to lay off workers.

Flexible Employees

Businesses in growth mode often need employees who are self-starters and flexible enough to take on extra tasks outside of their defined job description. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to identify whether a candidate has this type of personality during candidate interviews. However, by utilizing a temp-to-perm hiring model, employers have a trial period in which to determine if an employee is someone who is willing to pitch in wherever needed. Temporary job services are also able to replace temporary employees quickly if one doesn’t seem to be a good fit. Therefore, a temp-to-perm arrangement doesn’t necessarily mean that an employer is only trying out one employee. They are able to try out employees until they find the right one for the job.

 

https://businessresources.peoples.com/SBR_template.cfm?DocNumber=PL05_0030.htm, http://www.nextsource.com/blog-view?id=49