Can Temps Drive Profits?


Can Temps Drive Profits?



As a business manager, you are ultimately responsible for your organization's financial resources, physical resources and human resources. By deploying the right staffing strategy you can greatly enhance your ability to control costs, improve productivity, and manage risk. Need proof? If so, read on to discover three businesses that discovered the profitable benefits of strategic temporary staffing:

Case Study #1 - Enacting New Plans

The Challenge

A public transportation department decided to expand their service offerings by building a new trade and transit center. As a result of this expansion, the department needed to hire ten additional employees, ranging from bus operators, to service reps, to a project manager. To make the task even more difficult, the department had to find these new employees without the aid of a human resources department. And they were under tight budget constraints.

The Solution

The transportation department turned to a staffing service for help. Immediately, the service began sourcing candidates, using a combination of classified ads and database searches. To fill the positions quickly--without sacrificing quality--they used several service options, including temporary hires, temp-to-direct options, and direct placement.

In addition, the staffing firm developed specialized application forms to gather critical records such as residency confirmations, drug screen consent forms, background check releases, and driver's license clearances.

The Results

Thanks to this staffing service's recruiting capabilities, the transportation department reviewed at least three qualified candidates for each position. And using their hiring system, all of the positions were filled on time and within budget.

By outsourcing the recruiting process and using temporary and temp-to-hire services, the department shifted and reduced overhead expenses. And in doing so, they enjoyed significant cost savings.

Productivity also improved. Because staffing specialists focused on hiring, the department's employees could concentrate on core job concerns.

Finally, the transportation department minimized their exposure to hiring risks. By allowing the staffing service to define hiring specifications, interview, test, and reference check, the department reduced their chances of making bad hiring decisions. Legal exposure was also reduced because the service followed non-discriminatory hiring practices for direct hires and assumed all tax and reporting requirements for temporary employees.

Case Study #2 - Exploiting Seasonal Turnover

The Challenge

A landscaping company was gearing up for its annual busy season--April through September. Hiring and retaining direct employees to perform landscaping tasks had always been a challenge. The work is physically demanding. The schedule is irregular. Turnover had always been high, and at the end of the season the extra workers had to be laid off.

The Solution

The landscaping company contacted a staffing service for help. The staffing service immediately recommended using temporary workers in place of direct hires for seasonal help. They then assumed the task of developing a pool of qualified temporary workers--some of whom would be used for the whole season and others who could fill in as work volumes required. Through a combination of targeted classified advertising, on-campus recruiting and their in-house candidate database, they were able to hire enough workers for the season, plus a reserve for peak work weeks and attrition replacements.

The Results

This strategic staffing solution afforded the landscaping company several important benefits:
  • It eliminated the negative effects--and costs--associated with the past turnover problems. By keeping a pool of available landscapers on hand, the workforce gaps and absenteeism levels dropped. The recruiting techniques used produced several experienced landscaping and maintenance workers, along with students seeking the desirable schedule that summer employment offers.
  • It helped improve service by providing sufficient labor for peak workloads. The company focused on providing consistent and premium landscaping services and spent less time handling staffing.
  • Customer satisfaction and retention improved. Because of the higher level of service, repeat business soared.

Case Study #3 - An Economical Swap

The Challenge

A private medical practice employed five permanent clerical employees--a receptionist, a file clerk, a medical biller, a transcriptionist and an office manager. The transcriptionist went on a sudden eight-week medical leave. The practice was now faced with quickly finding a skilled interim medical transcriptionist.

The Solution

The office manager turned to their staffing firm with the intention of placing an urgent order for a medical transcriptionist. To her delight, the staffing firm made a different suggestion. Because qualified transcriptionists are more difficult to find, they suggested temporarily moving the medical biller into the transcriptionist's position since she was just as familiar with the medical terminology, office procedures and patients. The staffing firm could quickly find an experienced medical biller instead.

The Results

The office manager agreed to the arrangement. The staffing firm promptly found several skilled medical billers through its database. Within three days the perfect candidate was placed. The office suffered minimal consequence as a result of the temporary transition. The staffing firm's advice contributed to a noteworthy savings in time and money--it was more cost-effective and less time-intensive to place a medical biller rather than a medical transcriptionist.