Many companies, especially small businesses, occasionally need a little extra help. Sometimes the answer is keeping your staff as is and using overtime incentives to elicit extra production. Sometimes you are better off adding extra staff on a part-time or full-time basis. Often, hiring temporary workers is the best solution.
Seasonal Industry
Many businesses are seasonal by their very nature. Most small farms need seasonal help at harvest time. Their first step should be to contact a specialist in the h2a guest worker program to avoid getting mired down in complex legal and logistical issues. Even year-round industries often benefit from seasonal help, such as hiring extra drivers around holiday gift-giving season or temporary accounting services at year’s end or tax time.
Large Orders
It is every small proprietor’s dream—a large order from a new client that may begin a lucrative new relationship. It is imperative the order be filled correctly, with the highest quality products, within budget and on time. Overworking your current employees can compromise quality and eventually lead to burnout so you want to bring in help. However, since there are no guarantees of future orders, permanently expanding the production crew is premature. Temporary workers fill this niche perfectly. An added benefit is that the temporary work can act as an audition: if the large orders keep coming, you can expand your staff by keeping the best of the temporary employees as permanent staff members.
Blocks of Time Off
Employees and employers benefit from workers taking paid time off, but when too many people are out simultaneously, a company will not function right. Maternity leave and vacations are usually planned well ahead of time, but when emergencies, disasters or family crises arise they can throw a wrench into the best-laid plans. Rather than ask employees to rearrange their vacations or cut short their family leave, fill the holes with temporary workers. This will ensure work gets done and morale stays high.