Can a Temp Agency Help You Reduce Your Hiring Costs?

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The wrong hire can be a costly endeavor for your organization. Among both skilled hourly and professional employees, replacing a bad hire can cost a company as much as 75 – 125 percent of the terminated employee’s annual earnings. Additionally, poor hiring decisions can lead to higher turnover rates among remaining employees.

Some organizations are becoming more tactical in their hiring practices by relying on the services of staffing agencies to provide temporary workers to fill open positions for a 3 to 4-month timeframe. While the fees associated with utilizing temp employees may cost more upfront than hiring for a full-time role, organizations that take this approach believe that hiring risks hire are minimized because they can gauge a temp worker’s progress to determine if they could fill a full-time position.

If you believe that this method might be beneficial for your company’s overall hiring practices, here are a few things to keep in mind to ensure temporary employees are the right fit for an eventual full-time role.

Find the right staffing agency

One of the first steps in implementing a successful temp-to-perm hiring strategy is to find a staffing agency that understands your industry and your organization’s needs. You also should have a good understanding of the agency’s vetting process to ensure that its background check and screening methods are aligned with your company’s expectations. You want to avoid onboarding a great potential full-time candidate only to find out that they don’t pass an aspect of your organization’s vetting guidelines.

Set benchmarks

While onboarding a temporary staff member it’s important to track his/her progress and set targets that should be met each month. In the first month, you’ll develop a sense of a temporary worker’s characteristics and skill set. If there are a few areas where a temporary worker needs to improve, benchmarks provide the necessary guidelines. However, if a temporary worker isn’t meeting expectations, you can contact the staffing agency to find a replacement.

Openly communicate intentions

If a temporary worker is doing well in the role and you believe he or she is a strong candidate for a full-time position, you should communicate this at least a month before the temporary assignment ends so that he or she isn’t placed with another company. If a temporary worker is a good fit, this should be communicated to the staffing agency and it may be wise to include them in progress meetings so that they are aware of the potential of a full-time offer and can plan accordingly.

Hiring employees that can successfully fill a role and fit within an organization’s culture is always a challenge for any employer. However, finding the right staffing agency to help vet a qualified candidate and giving that candidate time to prove his or herself in a role can help an organization mitigate the financial risks involved in the hiring process.

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