Every successful business needs to establish a talent-sourcing strategy. Most companies prefer the traditional recruitment process of hiring full-time employees to create a trained and stable workforce. However, there’s also the option to hire individuals who will work for your company on a contractual basis.
So which model should you go for? Full-time employees or contractual ones? It is not an easy decision as both permanent and temporary employees have pros and cons.
Hiring in the tech landscape has undergone a transformational shift since the pandemic. The digitalisation of workplaces has prompted businesses to transition to the cloud, leading to extensive hiring that’s created a shortage of qualified tech talent. It’s become challenging for companies to find and hire permanent employees who are the right fit for the organisation. The job market has become increasingly competitive, and qualified professionals have more options to choose from. However, the growing popularity of remote jobs and the gig economy has caused a surge in the number of quality freelancers and contractual workers, offering businesses alternate forms of hiring.
Permanent employees vs. temporary employees
Permanent and temporary employees offer radically different ways for a company to forge professional relationships and get their work done. Permanent employees are loyal to your company’s cause as they don’t work for other clients. They also make for a motivated and highly productive workforce as they undergo training and remain at your company for an extended period.
On the other hand, temporary or contract employees allow your company to be flexible in hiring as they can be recruited quickly without any protracted hiring process. Also, hiring a contractor can help you save a lot of money that otherwise would have been spent on providing allowances, insurance, and other benefits that a permanent employee enjoys.
However, while permanent and temporary employees offer undeniable advantages, they also come with certain disadvantages.
Disadvantages
Permanent Employees | Temporary Employees |
Additional costs: Maintaining a workforce of permanent employees can be expensive for your business. You’ll need to spend resources to provide them with benefits like allowances, performance bonuses, paid leaves, and health insurance. | Lack of commitment: Contractual workers aren’t a part of the company. They are not on the company payroll and might also have other obligations. So, while they might be excellent professionals, they may not be as committed to their job duties compared to permanent employees. |
Lack of flexibility: With permanent employees, your business loses flexibility while managing the workforce, as recruiting full-time employees is a long, multistep process. Also, a company needs to provide a grace period before laying off or firing them. | Lower engagement: Contractual employees don’t spend as much time at work and might even be working remotely, due to which you’ll have fewer opportunities to engage and coordinate with them. |
Training requirements: Permanent employees are a long-term investment and might require a lot of training regarding their daily processes to work at their full capacity. | Lack of stability: Temporary employees often work on a short-term basis and can quit working for you anytime without being obligated to serve a notice period. |
Potential for burnout: Permanent employees are expected to work a minimum number of hours weekly. The work hours, responsibilities, and work pressure may lead to burnout in the long run, affecting the employee’s productivity and efficiency. | Managerial stress: Hiring a contractor can add to a manager’s stress as they have to manage more employees. Also, the temporary nature of contractual work means that they might have to train new temporary employees regularly. |
Given this scenario, companies need to look for alternative solutions that can help avoid the negatives associated with permanent and temporary employees. One such solution is hiring employed consultants.
Employed consultants
Employed consultants (ECs) are highly trained professionals hired by a third-party company to work for your company on an interim or project basis. ECs thus help bridge the gap between permanent and temporary employees. The third party provides your company with a flexible and permanent well-trained workforce that can grow alongside your organisation. Employed consultants have the mindset of permanent workers and are incentivised by their company to provide your business with quality work.
The benefits of employed consultants
The use of employed consultants can be quite advantageous to a company. Here are some benefits.
- Employed consultants can reduce your business’ contractor churn rate as ECs think and function like permanent employees.
- ECs reduce the risk of making the wrong hire as the third-party company sometimes offers a try-before-you-buy policy.
- Employed consultants bring extensive experience to the table as well as well-rounded skillsets they have developed while working for various clients.
- The third-party provider invests in the training and development of ECs to provide you with a trained and updated workforce.
- Employed consultants can work effectively as a part of blended teams, including permanent employees, and contractors, to deliver high-quality work while meeting steep deadlines.
Why should you consider employed consultants?
Here are a few reasons employed consultants could be the right fit for your company.
- ECs can be very handy for your company to sidestep headcount restrictions or constraints regarding your permanent workforce.
- If your company is suffering a talent shortage crisis, employed consultants can swiftly step in and save the day for you.
- ECs can serve you well if you require well-screened and capable professionals but don’t have the time to manage recruitment.
- Hiring ECs can also help you adapt to the legislative changes of IR35 in the UK, as working with contractors isn’t beneficial for your company anymore.
In a competitive and rapidly changing job market, a creative hiring solution such as employed consultants can help you avoid the downsides of hiring either permanent or temporary employees. ECs can boost your workforce’s productivity by providing trained and motivated professionals who work with a permanent employee mindset.
If you’re looking for a creative talent sourcing strategy, Stack can help your company make the right decision on hiring, providing invaluable employees like data consultants, engineers, and analysts. Get in touch with us today.