Many companies invest in the long term and choose to only hire permanent employees. While there are many valid reasons for doing so, should temporary recruitment be completely ruled out?
The experts at Fed IT, a recruitment agency in Montreal, explain the advantages of hiring temporary staff.
What is a temporary employment contract?
A temporary employment contract is a contract that defines a set period of employment with a decisive end date. This fixed duration puts an end to the contract, unlike a permanent contract where the employee is hired for an indefinite amount of time.
A temporary contract is generally issued to fill an urgent need or to cover a high-demand season. This is why seasonal jobs often come up when we talk about temporary work.
Temporary contracts can benefit both employees and employers. Let's take a look at some of their advantages!
4 reasons to hire temporary staff
Temporary recruitment can be beneficial for many reasons. Not only is it often an ideal solution for many businesses, but many candidates are now opting for temporary contracts because of the many advantages that this can bring them.
What’s more, hiring temporary workers widens your pool of applicants, since you are no longer limited to candidates looking for long term commitment.
1. Provides businesses with urgent support
Firstly, hiring temporary workers can help an employer meet an urgent company need. If you are carrying out a business project and your current employers lack a certain skill that would be useful now but not necessary in the long term, temporarily recruiting a new employee would give your team some support and speed up the work process.
Your team would appreciate this and be able to work more efficiently. We recommend hiring someone as soon as possible if their expertise and skillset could help get an urgent task done and boost staff morale. Tired, unsatisfied employees will start to lack motivation and underperform.
2. Quick recruitment process
Hiring temporary employees is often a very quick recruitment process. Candidates applying for temporary work usually respond quickly and are available to work straight away. On the other hand, those looking for a permanent contract sometimes take longer to consider different posts and organize themselves.
If you contact a recruitment agency to help hire temporary workers, you don't have to worry about wasting time with interviews and paperwork. Hiring a temporary employee cuts the recruitment process in half and allows you to source help quickly.
3. Less risky for the employer
Name an employer that has never been apprehensive about hiring a new employee, fearing that they may not meet the company's expectations, or that the company's needs may change quickly. Bet you can’t!
This concern can be alleviated through temporary recruitment. Hiring temporary employees on a fixed term contract is much less risky for a company than hiring permanent staff. Temporary recruitment meets a specific need while limiting expenses.
Also, if your new employee doesn’t live up to your company’s expectations and lacks certain required skills that they lied about during their job interview, you can find comfort in the fact that they won’t be working with your company for long.
4. Possibility of permanent hire
Contrarily to the point above, if you realize that your temporary employee has become a real asset to your team, you can always take them on permanently following their temporary contract.
As an employer, you can use the temporary contract as a way to observe your new employee and verify their skills. Likewise, they can use this time to get to know your company and see if they would feel comfortable working with you in the future. It's a win-win situation!
Which industries benefit the most from temporary recruitment?
In the IT and computer science field, temporary recruitment can be particularly useful. App development companies, who must regularly meet tight deadlines, often require support to assist their team with certain projects. Data analyst positions are also often temporary contracts.
How to get the most out of temporary employees
Now that we have shown you the advantages of temporary recruitment, we’ll discuss how you can get the most out of them. If you don’t take your time to properly train and integrate temporary workers, hiring them could have a penalizing effect on your business.
Invest time in training temp staff
Sometimes, a temporary worker is recruited because they possess certain skills that your current team is lacking. They might also be hired because one of your current workers has taken temporary leave and your team could benefit from an extra set of hands.
We strongly advise you to take the time to train all new employees that join your team. That could involve preparing appropriate training documents before their arrival or assigning a member of your team to mentor them. Training is only a good thing for both temporary and permanent positions. Think of it as a necessary investment in the team's well-being. The goal is for your employees to be a help, not a burden. Ideally, the training should be effective but not overly time consuming!
Promote team building
Be careful with hiring lots of temporary staff on a regular basis as this can create rifts in your team. If your staff turnover is too high, your team will lack cohesiveness. That's why we recommend that you work on bringing your team together, so that bonds can be made between both old and new, permanent workers and temporary employees.
Here is a list of ideas to promote cohesiveness in the workplace:
- Introduce each new member of staff to everyone
- Organize regular team-building events and socials
- Assign each new hire to a mentor who has been in the company for a while
- Be an approachable boss so that your new employee quickly feels at ease
A friendly transition will ensure better productivity!
Understand the differences between temporary and permanent contracts
In terms of the legal documents, there are several differences between permanent and temporary contracts. If you decide to hire temporary workers through a recruitment agency, you won’t have to deal with all the paperwork. However, be aware that you cannot renew a temporary contract on an ongoing basis, as this could be perceived as a disguised permanent contract. Ask your recruitment agency for more information. They will be able to advise you further.
Recruit temporary employees with the help of Fed IT
If you own an IT company and wish to hire temporary staff in Quebec, Fed IT is the recruitment agency for you. As experienced IT recruiters, we work together with candidates and companies to place the best people in the best businesses.
Contact us today for more information! Let us take care of your next temporary recruitment process. We look forward to helping you!