The contingent workforce, which makes up what is commonly known as the “gig economy”, has given organizations a vast number of benefits, including access to specialized talent, a larger labor pool, increased workforce agility and a more cost-efficient way to hire staff.

There’s one huge advantage of this workforce, however, that many companies are still missing, and that’s hiring temporary workers with an eye to future employment. 

Through the outsourcing of a vendor-neutral MSP, businesses can create a successful strategy that sources temporary workers who could provide long-lasting benefits for the company.

Initially hiring workers on a temporary basis allows an organization to test out the fit of a contractor with a view of ultimately making them an employee some six months or a year down the road.

Here are some of the most significant benefits for companies - when it comes to temporary-to-permanent hiring:

1 - Determining a candidate’s suitability

Hiring is full of risks, especially when you are hiring someone on a permanent basis. Résumés and interviews never tell the complete story, and there’s no way to know how a new employee will perform in their role. They could find themselves in too deep, unable to perform the role they claimed they could and leave the organization (or worse, get fired) in a matter of months.

Candidates that look great on paper can end up being a poor fit for the role in the real world. Companies that make the most of temp-to-perm hiring can prevent bad hires by putting temporary workers to test in the real world. If they are meeting the requirements of the role and getting the job done, great - the organization can now offer them a permanent role.

2 - Reduce costs

Hiring can be an expensive process if it is done wrong, and even more so when full-time employees don’t work out. Money has to be spent on advertising, recruiting and hiring, and let’s not even mention the possibility of an employee making claims of wrongful termination or filing unemployment claims against an employer.

Costs of turnover can really hurt your bottom line, but by ensuring you’re employing the right person the first time around you can significantly cut these costs down.

3 - Employees get the chance to evaluate their fit

It’s difficult for a potential employee to judge whether they would be a good fit for a company or not from a tour of the office and an interview or two, but cultural fit is essential for success at a company. If an employee doesn’t fit with an organization’s company culture, not only will their work and attitude be affected, but so will their personal lives.

Hiring workers on a temporary basis will give them the opportunity to see if the company is a good fit for their personal and professional development. Until someone has worked with a company for a certain period of time, done the job and learned the way the company and their peers work, there’s no way that they can tell if the partnership will be a good fit for both parties.

4 - Build a blended workforce

As the contingent workforce continues to grow, companies must ensure they make the most of the entire labor pool if they want access to the top talent within their industry. The blended workforce is a fairly new term in the corporate world, but simply put it refers to the direct hire of personnel and contingent workers to meet the strategic needs of an organization.

The hiring of temporary workers can become an important percentage of your workforce, and offer you access to an agile talent pool filled with specialized skills and work experiences. This could be near impossible to hire straight away on a permanent basis.

Having a staffing strategy in place to hire these temporary workers on a permanent basis will give an organization the opportunity to retain top talent, rather than seeing them simply walk off to a competitor.

Want to learn more about how HCMWorks can help manage your talent acquisition and workforce management strategy? Contact us today.