Filling Critical Roles in Business with Contingent Staffing

With the dynamic global business scenario in mind, it can be mentioned that employers often struggle to find top-notch talents when it comes to filling critical business roles. The urgency to fill important positions may arise due to a combination of factors, including elevated business needs, seasonal peaks, sudden vacancies resulting from employee turnovers, etc. During all such circumstances, finding fixed and full-time candidates may appear to be time-consuming, uneconomical, and risky for employers, especially if the hired candidates cannot meet the business expectations. This is where contingent staffing comes into force.In this article, we will explore the key reasons why contingent staffing proves to be the best way to fill critical business roles.

Why should you consider contingent staffing when filling critical business roles?

When it comes to improving business performance, there are certain roles that play the most crucial part. For instance, in engineering organizations, critical business roles may include project managers and engineering experts, while in banks and financial institutions, critical roles may encompass financial risk managers, financial analysts, and customer service officers. Critical roles may also arise when businesses take up new and innovative projects, leading to the need for specialized positions. All such positions need to be filled quickly and efficiently to ensure that the business goals and objectives of an organization remain intact.Here are some of the major reasons why you need to consider contingent staffing while filling critical business roles:

1. Swifter hiring process

Distant from the conventional process of hiring full-time employees, contingent staffing is faster and more time-efficient, particularly if you engage staffing firms for the process. Reputable staffing agencies with specialization in various industries hold a large-scale pool of contingent talents who are ready to take up critical business positions. In addition to providing instant access to proficient contingent job seekers, staffing agencies help employers cut back on the overall hiring time by taking charge of all the tasks and responsibilities associated with the process.

For instance, you are running a software development project, and your lead software engineer suddenly leaves when the project is at its final stage. Considering the crucial nature of the job role, you cannot bear delays in the project, right? If you begin the process of finding a proficient lead software engineer through traditional or direct hiring methods, it may take a lot of time and effort. Moreover, you won’t be sure that the hired professional can meet your project requirements. Such situations can be best dealt with when you engage a staffing agency to get your job done. From their pre-screened pool of engineering talents, they can connect you with the desired professional in no time.

Related read: Utilizing the Benefits of Contingent Staffing to Maximize Business Potential

2. Budget-friendly talent acquisition

Another core reason behind choosing contingent workers to fill crucial positions is that they help employers in adhering to their set budget. Yes, that’s right! Contrary to their full-time counterparts, contingent workers are usually barred from long-term financial commitments such as fixed salaries and other employee benefits and perks. They only get paid based on the tasks they perform or the hours they invest in work. 

For instance, if you witness an increase in administrative tasks and responsibilities due to some temporary project or business need, then you can hire contingent workers to fulfill those tasks and responsibilities on a temporary or contractual basis instead of engaging full-time workers. This will help you stick to your project budget and, at the same time, save you from long-term financial commitments.

3. Access to niche expertise for on-demand critical roles

As discussed above, the demand for specialized roles may surface when an organization takes up new projects or encounters increasing demands. In-house, full-time teams may lack the niche skills and competencies required to drive the project or the business need. For such temporary situations, it is best to go for contingent workers with niche expertise instead of investing time and effort in upskilling existing workers. With a wide range of pre-screened candidates, expert staffing agencies can always help employers by connecting them to niche expertise. 

For instance, your banking and finance business is undergoing digital transformation, and your current team of full-time employees lacks the niche skills and competencies to support and foster the transition. This situation calls for contingent workers with niche expertise. 

4. Unmatched flexibility and scalability in business operations

With contingent staffing, employers can develop a flexible workforce solution and deal with the ever-changing and unpredictable business environment in a seamless manner. Businesses face the need to remain agile and scalable not only during an internal change or innovation but also to cope with external market conditions. You never know when the business market will be hit by an economic downturn, making it necessary to scale down your operations.

Let’s consider the phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. This unprecedented global health crisis brought a major economic downturn for almost every industry, leading employers to follow mass layoffs. Such unforeseen crises can be best handled when you switch to contingent staffing. You do not owe long-term commitments to contingent workers, and based on contractual terms and conditions, you can release them to fit into the external market environment. Likewise, when your business needs increase or project requirements surface, you can re-hire and engage them in desired roles.

5. Least possible risk of mis-hires 

Finding talented professionals who can perfectly fit into your business role and requirements is a challenging task. Even though you have an experienced team of in-house staffing professionals, you cannot afford the risk of mis-hiring when your staffing requirement is critical and urgent. Isn’t it?

Let’s take the case of the lead software engineer abandoning your software development project in the final stage, as discussed in the first point. Your in-house staffing team may be efficient in bringing you a talented engineering professional to fulfill the needs of the project. However, within some days, you realize that the hired professional lacks the desired skills and competencies to drive the project forward. Whether you attempt to train the hired professional or consider hiring some other professional, both cases will cost you time and money. You can curtain this risk of mis-hiring by means of contingent staffing through a staffing agency. As stated before, experienced staffing firms already have an extensive contingent talent base and thus, they can help you get hold of the right talent within a short span of time, in case your hired professional fails to meet the project needs.

Conclusion

No matter the industry or the project, the need to fill critical business roles can surface anytime. To ensure that you fill up such positions in a cost-efficient and time-efficient manner, you must consider developing a flexible workforce solution by means of contingent staffing. With contingent staffing, you will not only get access to niche talents for on-demand roles but also curtail the risk of mis-hires and get unmatched flexibility and scalability in your business operations.

Does your business have critical positions to fill? Then, waste no time and partner with Denken Solutions today. From engineering and IT staffing to administrative, banking, and financial workforce solutions, Denken Solutions has got it all!