When a business is founded, there are plenty of things taken into account early on in the planning process. Which departments will be necessary, who will be the first team leads, and what your hiring policies will be like. Whether you pay your employees by the hour or through salaries, one thing almost no company foresees is the need for temporary placements. This is because short-term employees, commonly known as ‘temps’ are there to fill the gaps when your plans fall through or when the best plan you can make is one that remains flexible in the long-term.
Here are five common situations in the business world that are made much easier with the availability of skilled temporary placements rather than trying to tough-out being short-staffed on your own.
1) Your Busy Season
Not all businesses have a ‘busy season’ but if you do, there’s no mistaking the signs. Suddenly associates and technicians alike are swamped with demands and necessary tasks. Sometimes the busy season is a result of an uptick in customer traffic or sometimes it’s another issue that gets all hands on deck in the office like preparing for tax filing or getting all the paperwork in order before the end of the year. If there are a few weeks to months when your business is swamped, consider the value of having a few extra hands just during this time.
2) While Seeking Long-Term Employees
Finding the perfect long-term employee to fill an open position can take months of careful seeking, screening, and then even training after you’ve made a hiring decision. However, in many cases, you can’t just take this time at leisure while leaving your teams woefully short-staffed. A temporary placement can get a professional worker in the chair and to contribute to the team while you search for the ideal long-term replacement.
3) During Scheduled Employee Vacations
Employees are allowed to take vacations. They are even allowed to take vacations if they are a vital member of the team and projects will slow down drastically without them. While many professionals are willing to negotiate a schedule so that their vacation time doesn’t too badly inconvenience the company, if there’s no helping it you might be able to smooth over the time when your best team members are on their well-earned R&R. A temporary placement can fill in during this time with zero surprises or acrimony when it’s time to step down as the original employee returns from their trip.
4) Employee Maternity Leave
Another form of ‘vacation’ that is absolutely necessary is the time when a mother (or father) bonds with their new-born baby. Between physical recover, caring for the infant, and adjusting to life as a parent, your employee would be exhausted and distracted even if they did come into work. But that doesn’t mean you can go without them during the months it takes to rejoin the workforce after the miracle of life. Maternity leave temporary placements are especially easy to plan because babies tend to come on schedule and you know the interval you’ll need to cover while your new parent employee is out.
5) One-Time or Annual Projects
Finally, sometimes your team will face a demand that is simply too big for your normal amount of manpower. Whether it’s an enormous analysis project, a reorganization, a digital file transfer, or simply getting the taxes in order at the end of the fiscal year, temporary placements can jump in where your team simply can’t keep up. In fact, in some cases, you may even be able to assign the temporary placements to the additional tasks while your team stays on their usual duties.
For more information about how temporary placements can benefit your business exactly when you need them most, contact us today!
