In the course of running your business, you're apt to encounter scenarios where you need more hands on deck. Maybe your customer base has suddenly increased. Maybe demand for your product has taken off after a successful marketing campaign. Either way, you have the option to add permanent workers to your team, or bring temporary ones in as needed. And while there are risks involved with the latter, here are four good reasons to go that route.
1. More flexibility
As a small business owner with limited resources, the last thing you want to do is lock yourself into too many long-term fixed costs. But when you hire permanent employees as opposed to temps, you take on that risk, because it's much harder to let a permanent worker go from a legal perspective, and when you do, you need to worry about things like severance. Temp workers, on the other hand, give you the flexibility to staff on an as-needed basis and let employees go once they're no longer needed.
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Along these lines, if you hire a temporary employee who happens to work out splendidly, there's always the option to extend a permanent offer after already having verified that person's expertise. At the same time, you don't have to take on the risk of hiring someone permanently, having that person not work out, and then dealing with the legal and financial consequences of letting him or her go.
2. Cost savings
Hiring permanent employees often means having to pay for things like health insurance, vacation time, and sick days. With temp workers, you don't have to worry about providing benefits, which could translate into major savings even on a short-term basis.
3. Specialized experience
Some workers bring truly unique skills to the table. If you have a very specific business need you're looking to address, you may find that you have better luck bringing in a temp and paying for that skill only when you need it.
Say you're rolling out a new user interface and need an expert web developer to facilitate that overhaul. Rather than worry about finding someone who will fit in well at your company, you can bring someone in who can get that particular project done, even if that person is lacking in other skills you'd demand from a permanent worker.
4. Verified expertise
Whenever you bring someone new on board, there's always the risk that that person isn't as qualified as he or she claims to be. But if you go through a temp agency to fill your staffing needs, chances are, that agency will have already vetted the candidates who come to your door, thereby increasing your likelihood of finding the right folks for the job. And that right there could save you time, money, and loads of aggravation.
Of course, hiring temp workers has its drawbacks, too. For one thing, you may come to find that some temp workers are more expensive on an hourly basis than your regular staff, especially if you're forced to pay a premium to go through an agency. Furthermore, because the work is transient in nature, your temps may not put forth the same effort as folks who are signing on as permanent employees.
On the other hand, hiring temps gives you a chance to get the manpower and skills you need without having to make a commitment, and without having to bear the cost of paying for employee benefits. And that's reason enough to consider it.
