Every hiring manager and HR professional knows that when the summer months arrive, it is a high priority to arrange cover of key employees that take annual leave. However, you don’t have to drain company resources or slow down productivity by taking on the burden of hiring temporary staff.
Many temp agencies now offer specialised staffing solutions and there are several benefits to hiring temporary staff over the summer months.
Hiring an expert on a contractual basis
Due to changes in the world economy and the rise in the gig economy, there are scores of highlevel professionals who have chosen to work on a contract to contract basis. These types of individuals tend to be extremely focused and take great satisfaction in working on a particular issue or project during a designated timeframe. After meeting their goals at one organisation, they bring their expertise to the next company. Legal experts, accountants, interim CEO’s, postmerger integration leaders, and other resultsdriven professionals appear in the databases of agencies that specialise in making these kinds of highpowered matches between independent contractors and organisations.
Covering longer term temporary absences of permanent staff
Temporary employees are a wonderful resource when it comes to covering lengthy absences that your permanent staff may need to take from time to time. In fact, all parties involved benefit from this situation. Whether it is a matter of maternity or paternity leave, or whether your permanent staff member needs to take time off to recuperate from surgery, illness, or take a career break, there are motivated contingency workers available to fill virtually any position while your permanent employee takes the time he or she needs to come back fully charged.
Saving money by hiring independent contractors
Contracts with temporary agencies free the company from paying for benefits or other expenses to which a fulltime permanent employee may be entitled. Although the EU Directive on Temporary Agency Work requires that temporary employees receive the same pay as their permanent counterparts, when you contract an individual through an agency, in most cases you are only responsible for paying for the hours that the employee works, while providing that individual with the same onthejob treatment that your permanent employees receive.
Covering the holidays of management
Top temp agencies have access to lists of managers who work on contract in a variety of areas. From departmental managers that keep track of daily operations, to software project leaders, and key account managers, these agencies have pres-creened managerial capital standing by. As these individuals finish up a management project with one company, they prepare to make the transition to another organisation at a mutually agreeable time. The desired result is a seamless transition while your in-house management takes their annual leave.
Assess if a temporary employee is a candidate for a permanent role
Everyone knows that interview processes and assessment tools have their shortcomings. While you include these screening methods in your formal candidate selection process, the summer is an opportune time to assess whether a temporary employee who displays the skills and knowledge your company needs is a good fit for a permanent position that may arise in the future.
In short, summer does not have to be a time where you are burdened with training temporary staff or paying your in-house staff overtime wages to fill the gaps left by your valuable staff members that have taken annual leave. By identifying the level of expertise and knowledge that you require from a temporary employee during the summer months, you can effectively communicate that information to the appropriate staffing agencies. In turn, you are likely to find in your temporary employee an accurate match for the role you seek to fill, ensuring continued departmental and organisational productivity during the summer months.
If you found this article helpful and would like more information on temping work, please contact Concepta Cadogan on 01 6610 444 ccadogan@lincoln.ie.
