A flexible staffing strategy helped many managers turn on a dime when it came to staff management during the pandemic. Post-pandemic, many companies continue to benefit from using this approach as they navigate economic and staffing challenges. Recent Robert Half Canada research found even though companies will continue to hire, 92% of managers continue to face challenges finding and attracting skilled candidates. Because of this — along with retention concerns — they are keeping a close watch on trends in salaries, benefits and perks, as well as employees’ preference for flexible work arrangements. In a recent Robert Half survey of 1,132 professionals in Canada, 36 per cent of respondents reported being more burned out now than a year ago. Workers said the top factor contributing to burnout today was heavy workloads (54 per cent)."Burnout is a serious issue that needs to be combatted with ongoing efforts", said David King, Senior Managing Director, Robert Half, Canada and South America. "Though many companies have made strides in supporting employee well-being, it's clear that there is work to be done, and many teams are still stretched thin. This pressure may be exacerbated right now as some businesses are hesitant to bring on new staff, while maintaining their project load."
In short, your business brings in contract talent for as long as needed to alleviate staffing and skills gaps and keep high-priority projects on track. This strategy helps to ease the burden on your core team. And, if your requirements or challenges are ongoing, you can consider engaging contract professionals for full-time roles.Here’s a closer look at five top advantages of bringing in highly skilled contract talent to work alongside your existing team:1. Your business can save moneyWorking with contract professionals allows you flexibility to turn some of your fixed costs into variable expenses by paying only for the talent you need when your business truly needs it. You can also reduce the high costs associated with hiring and training new staff while reining in overtime expenses.Interested in a customized staffing strategy for your team? We can help with that.2. You can improve your competitive positionA flexible staffing strategy gives you more control over personnel. That translates to an advantage over competitors adhering to a rigid labour structure that makes them more vulnerable to economic highs and lows — and less agile to respond quickly to change or disruption. Contract work is a viable route for many professionals and why it would make sense for some companies, with 31 per cent of workers saying they are interested in contract roles in the future.3. You can increase the retention of top talentWhen employees see that you’re providing them relief, it helps boost retention. A flexible staffing strategy will help to prevent your team members from burning out. Your employees can avoid getting overloaded by those heavy workloads, and with the breathing room they have the ability to take time off and recharge.Tapping the talents of contract professionals to assist with day-to-day team responsibilities also allows your core staff to pursue high-priority challenges so that they can stay engaged, motivated and develop skills for their career.4. You can avoid costly bad hiresWhen hiring for your organization, it’s important to get things right. Bad hires can be costly from a financial standpoint — but they can also bruise your team’s morale.Supplementing your staff with contract talent helps your business maintain productivity while you search for permanent hires. You might even find that the contract professionals you’ve engaged are strong candidates for the full-time roles you’re trying to staff. It could be an opportunity for the business to test out what skills they want and need for the future of the team without having to commit budget. 5. You can access specialized skills quicklyThere’s a broad spectrum of skills and experience to choose from when you are hiring contract talent. If a new initiative requires specialized knowledge that you don’t currently have in-house, you can find project or contract professionals with extensive skills in these areas.You may even have the option to bring in the same contract professional on a recurring basis, such as for cyclical projects, while other initiatives could benefit from a team of professionals tackling a mission-critical initiative. Regardless the situation, the beauty of working with contract professionals remains: it offers business the flexibility in their staffing strategy.
A specialized talent solutions firm such as Robert Half Canada can help you look at all your hiring needs from a bigger-picture perspective. We can advise you on what mix of workers your business needs, including contract talent and permanent staff. After assessing your situation, we can then zero in on the most promising candidates and help cut your hiring time from weeks to days — or, in some cases, hours.Robert Half also gives you the gift of time as you continue to navigate today’s business environment. Our recruiting professionals handle all the details of the hiring process, including interviews, technical skills evaluations and soft skills reviews. They can also help determine if a candidate is likely to thrive in your unique organizational culture. We can help you implement a flexible staffing strategy, whether your industry is technology, legal, financial, administrative or creative. We allow you to cost-effectively scale your workforce up or down — and back up or down again — to meet the challenges of today’s rapidly changing business landscape.Learn more about Robert Half’s flexible staffing solutions today.
