Innovation – the trendiest word of 2021 – will make all the difference in the business race that is about to start. Hiring temp to perm could be a true game-changer for many businesses.
As we move from a period of pausing and waiting on to an exciting future of exploring new technologies and trying out different ways of working and managing, the way that hiring managers and HR personnel recruit, hire and balance staff levels has also changed. Medium and big size corporations are turning to recruitment agencies looking for their knowledge and expertise in the market to ensure their money is well invested in hiring only the best people for their business.
The current environment
According to the latest information available by the Office for National Statistics, the redundancy rate in the UK reached a record high of 14.2 per thousand in the three months to November 2020. As we are moving out of the health crisis, businesses are starting to recover. However, the environment is still unpredictable for many industries, to whom making permanent hires could still represent a financial risk. Businesses are using other alternatives: temporary staff are supporting heavily during peak periods and staff absences and the ‘temp to perm’ modality is enabling organisations to explore new avenues whilst minimizing the risk that they would have if hiring someone permanently.
What does temp to perm mean?
This is a shorter-term or slang for temporary to permanent. It refers to a job that starts on a temporary basis, and after evaluation, it could convert into a permanent position. Businesses hire this way when they have identified a need for an additional employee but are not yet ready to offer a permanent position. The organisation may be aware of a specific skill set needed to strengthen a team or to create a new department, it could also be simply needed due to a workload increase. Either way, there is an element of uncertainty and financial risk in the decision, therefore, the strategy is to evaluate the employee and/or the role itself before committing to offering a permanent role.
How does temp to perm work?
Most businesses hiring temp to perm do so via a recruitment agency. This is mainly because recruitment services have a much bigger and varied pool of candidates but also because it makes the process much smoother. Part of the service offered by recruiters is that they deal with the paperwork and identity checks involved with onboarding and offboarding temporary employees, as well as managing the payroll, saving businesses a lot of time.
Temporary workers have the same legal rights as permanent employees when it comes to benefits like holiday and sick pay and they also have the right to know about any available opportunities in the business. Depending on the project and the business needs, a temp role under this hiring style usually becomes permanent within three to six months. Once the temporary employee is offered a permanent position, the employer takes over the paperwork and payroll responsibilities.
Is hiring temp to perm a good idea?
You are probably now asking yourself whether this could be a good strategy for your business. It certainly has a lot of benefits for you and for the employee. The main benefit for both is the opportunity to get to know each other and have a feel of what would it be like if they worked together.
As previously mentioned, it gives the employer the ability to explore options before committing to a full-time employee. The employer can evaluate the employee’s style of working, the level of knowledge and skills and whether they fit in the team. Having new employees who bring different skills to the table, can also be an eye-opener to the organisation, who often discover the need for skill sets they weren’t aware they required.
For the employee, it is an opportunity to showcase their knowledge and abilities, to have a feel of the working culture and naturally, a possibility to get a permanent job. For this experiment to work well, it is important that temporary workers are treated equally. It enables them to have a good understanding of what’s like to be part of the team and help them make a good decision, should they be offered a permanent position.
Temp to perm disadvantages
The risk of having an employee on a temp to perm position is that temporary workers are under no obligation to either continue working as a temp or to accept the permanent role if offered. Therefore, this is not recommended for employers who already know that they need a permanent employee, as a temporary employee could simply leave should they receive an offer from another employer. You could be left to start the process of sourcing, recruiting, onboarding and training all over again.
Hiring trends in 2021
With discovery and innovation, new trends are influencing and shaping the way that businesses recruit and hire staff.
Virtual working
As businesses learn how to manage their teams remotely, remote working roles are on the increase. Virtual interviews have also proved to be very effective and are here to stay. As a result, both businesses and job seekers will need to continue to learn new online communication tools and learn to adapt working practices to remote working.
Demand for soft kills
According to Linkedin stats, at least two-thirds of jobs rely heavily on soft skills, with businesses onboarding candidates with desired soft skills over those with high-level qualifications. The top in-demand soft skills are creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability and emotional intelligence.
Specialised recruiting funnel
In industries with high demand for specialised skill sets, recruiters are becoming a technical funnel. Their expertise in the market and their technical knowledge is very valuable to find the right people for their clients. It is expected for recruiters to become more specialised, as the demand for recruitment services increases to support business needs.
Investing in upskilling
The current health crisis has given many businesses no other option than to make redundancies and merge job roles. This has highlighted the need for upskilling staff over recruiting additional personnel. In 2021, we can expect an increase in investment for staff’s training and development. Managers want to have much stronger teams but also to retain valuable employees. HR departments support it to maintain good employee retention levels.
What hiring option is best for my business?
We can help you evaluate your individual business needs to take that decision. Get in touch with our experienced recruitment team.