For business owners/managers in the skilled trades field, the challenge of finding the right people for the right jobs at the right time is nothing short of daunting. It can be difficult to meet current demand or expand your company because you simply do not have employees to fill critical roles. How do you overcome this obstacle? One powerful solution is to use a skilled trades staffing partner.
Using a skilled staffing agency empowers your business to:
1. Keep Costs In Line
Maintaining a permanent staff of employees involves costs that go beyond wages. You also need to factor in taxes, 401k and other retirement plans, vacation, healthcare, and other expenses. Overtime pay is another significant cost that companies face, particularly in the skilled trades industry. With temporary skilled trades staffing solutions, you do not have to shoulder the burden of employee overhead, and you can avoid costly overtime pay. The latter also has the added benefit of reducing burnout among your full-time team.
2. Flex to Meet Business Needs
Any number of factors can leave you short-handed - and you cannot afford to delay projects or turn down work. The temporary staff allows you to fill critical gaps if a permanent employee is sick for an extended period, takes parental leave, has a family or medical emergency, or is otherwise unable to work. You can simply take on a temporary skilled professional to meet business needs.
This also applies if, for example, you have a big project on deck. Your permanent team may not be able to handle all of the work involved. You can easily add people according to your needs. When demand levels out or slows, you simply adjust staffing. This enables you to move with a great deal of flexibility and agility - keys in your line of work.
3. Training:
Finding and training the right people for the job is a huge investment for companies. There is also the risk that, after you have spent untold time and money for recruitment and onboarding, the new hire will not work out or will leave after a few weeks or months. You may also be left with unemployment insurance costs and the hassle of finding a replacement.
Skilled trades staffing solutions help you avoid this problem: they reach into their talent pool, find and vet qualified candidates, and complete requisite training. The temporary hires are ready to hit the ground running - and you’ve saved thousands of dollars, countless hours, and not a few headaches!
4. Have an Outside HR Function
Human Resources handles the challenging, and crucial, the responsibility of maintaining a pipeline of talent, recruitment, interviewing, vetting candidates, coordinating training, handling payroll… These are busy folks!
If your business is not large enough to support its own HR function, you may be struggling to stay afloat when it comes to hiring - and there are t’s that may not be crossed or i’s dotted when it comes to the myriad legal and financial requirements associated with taking on employees.
Outsourcing to a skilled staffing agency is a smart move. They. Do. Everything. From sourcing qualified candidates to ensuring they are properly trained, you will have skilled tradespeople who are ready to get to work and at a significantly lower cost to you.
5. Leverage the Reach of Your Skilled Trades Staffing Partner
Putting a job on a community bulletin board or throwing up a Facebook post isn’t going to cut it when it comes to finding employees to help you meet customer demand and grow your business.
An experienced skilled trades staffing agency will have an extensive network of talent that they build through referrals, recommendations, recruitment, and being in the community constantly. They continually expand the depth and breadth of the talent within their network, allowing them to draw from a large pool when it comes to meeting your needs.
6. Hire Right - and Hire Fast
We have discussed the role of an outside skilled staffing agency in terms of finding, hiring, and onboarding the right people for your business. They allow you to hire effectively - and quickly. In as little as 24-48 hours, you can fill those gaps that are keeping you from being your competitive best.
7. “Try” An Employee
If a temporary employee looks promising - and then proves themselves on the job - there is no reason you cannot extend an offer to join the company permanently. You can, if you like, view these situations as “trial periods.” If someone is a great fit, they may be interested in making the relationship long-term. This gives you the opportunity to see how they perform and how they fit in with the rest of your team.
Ready to set your company up for success? Working with a skilled staffing agency allows you to remain flexible and agile enough to overcome the challenges you have faced when it comes to talent. Contact Labor for Hire to see how we can help you meet your business-building goals.