Temporary-to-permanent job opportunities are popular with both employers and employees. In these arrangements, employees are initially hired as temporary workers. They can be converted to permanent workers later, if both parties are interested. If you’ve never used temp-to-perm hiring before, you may be wondering how it can solve your company’s staffing problems. Here are three ways that the opportunity to try before you hire benefits everyone.
1. Evaluate Cultural Fit
Every company has its own culture. For new employees to succeed in the company, they need to fit in with the existing culture. For example, if your workplace is team-oriented, employees who prefer to work alone may stand out. If your workplace is very rigid, employees who want flexibility may stand out, too.
It’s challenging to evaluate cultural fit during an interview. Employers may not be able to tell how well an employee will fit in after talking to them for an hour or two. Employees may not know much about a company’s culture until they actually start working. Overlooking cultural fit is one of the most common hiring mistakes. Temp-to-perm arrangements can help you avoid this mistake.
When you try before you hire, it’s easy for everyone to evaluate cultural fit. If the new employee isn’t a good fit, the employer can choose not to make them permanent. The employee may also choose to leave on their own and look for more suitable work.
2. Evaluate Ability to Do the Job
During interviews, some job candidates may exaggerate their skills to seem more qualified than they are. They may claim to have experience they don’t have. Once these candidates start work, you’ll quickly see that you made a hiring mistake.
If they were hired as permanent staff, you may feel like you’re stuck with them. After all, if you fire them, you’ll have to start the hiring process from the beginning. If they were hired as temp-to-perm, it’s easier to find a replacement. If you’re working with a staffing agency, you can get your new temp-to-perm worker right away.
This also has benefits for job seekers. Employers may forget to mention some job duties or required skills in their job descriptions. If this happens, new employees can feel like they’re stuck in a job that doesn’t suit them. Temp-to-perm employees can easily leave at the end of the contract if they don’t like the job, or if they don’t feel like they’re able to do well.
3. Fill Positions More Quickly
When you hire permanent workers, the hiring process can take a long time. You need to make sure to hire the perfect person for the role. This involves reading resumes and cover letters to find the best candidates. Then, the best candidates need to be called in for interviews. Conducting interviews is time-consuming, and afterwards, you need to call references. It’s no wonder that it can take weeks to fill open positions.
When you try before you hire with the help of a staffing agency, the hiring process is faster. Instead of spending hours conducting multiple rounds of interviews, you can find new workers right away. Temp-to-hire positions are like an extended job interview, so you can evaluate your workers’ performance on the job. If they perform well, you can hire them as permanent workers. If they don’t perform well, it’s easy to replace them and try again.
This has advantages for employees, too. When people are looking for work, they don’t want to spend weeks waiting for employers to make hiring decisions. They want to start work right away. Employees are also able to get a foot in the door. They get the opportunity to impress the employer and make a temp-to-hire job permanent.
