Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
As companies begin to see a gradual increase in customer demand, reinforcing employee teams with interim professionals as needs dictate can be accomplished far more quickly and less expensively than hiring only full-time employees. By using a fluid mix of core staff and temporary professionals, your company can adjust nimbly to all types of economic cycles.
The first step in bringing more flexibility to your staffing strategy is to make a solid distinction between immediate and longer-term requirements-as well as those you are unsure about. For some positions, hiring full-time employees is the best solution. For others, there may be alternative approaches.
At the first sign of a need for additional staff, decide whether this situation will be ongoing, temporary or if you are uncertain. To help you, consider upcoming new projects and also how past trends in workload peaks and valleys might look now-and in the future. This will allow you to better determine the mix of full-time and temporary staff that will address all of your needs yet allow you staffing flexibility were these needs to change.
Next determine the skills and experience prospective candidates must have and how long you’ll you need the assistance. For example, if you’re looking to hire someone on a temporary basis to cover for an employee on disability leave, it’s important to have a specific time frame in mind so you can select a candidate who not only has the required skills but who also can commit for the duration of the assignment.
You can also engage interim employees as a first step toward making a full-time commitment. This approach allows you to evaluate an individual’s job performance first-hand. You can then transition the most promising candidate to full-time status. This arrangement is a good way to assess the employee’s fit with the specific position and the firm’s culture before extending a job offer.
A flexible staffing plan requires not only highly skilled interim employees but also a strong full-time team. In any economic cycle, don’t overlook opportunities to continue strengthening your core staff. There are many highly skilled, experienced professionals in the job market right now, and you may be able to hire talent you were unable to attract previously.
A staffing firm can also help you in recruiting full-time staff, often shaving weeks off your search for a top professional. Their staff can make sure you lose no time to reviewing stacks of resumes you’re likely to receive. They can also handle the details of reference checks and interviews. And remember, there are many excellent candidates still working who are not happy in their positions but are reluctant to search for a new job in this economy. Recruiters with the deepest networks can access this hidden job market of skilled individuals who are not actively looking for new employment.
A “staffing cushion” is essential if companies want to avoid repeating the mistakes that left so many businesses unprepared for the downturn. Designating a percentage of your workforce as contingent prepares your firm for whatever economic developments come next.
