The job market underwent drastic changes in the past few years leading up to the pandemic, and the worldwide health crisis only further affected these workforce changes. With the emergence and now popularity of hybrid and remote work structures, flexible staffing models have developed as a way for organizations to save time and money. Within this resource, we will discuss the benefit of flexible staffing for organizations and businesses and go over how you can build an on-demand staffing strategy to propel your operations to succeed in the future of work.Â
What is Flexible Staffing?
First, let’s go over the flexible staffing meaning as a concept in current business operations. Flexible staffing describes the process of establishing temporary or shorter-term work positions to fill open positions within a business as needed. While most people are familiar with the practice of hiring permanent employees, flexible staffing is an alternative method to filling job vacancies with temporary workers. In addition, employers often utilize flexible staffing solutions in conjunction with permanent staff members, making it easy for them to ensure that all of their business needs are met by qualified workers.Â
Flexible staffing options have become a popular way for businesses to fill in their flexible staffing needs over the last few decades. However, the COVID-19 global pandemic created even more need for employers to gain support from workers. In response to the pandemic and this greater demand for workforce labor, workers began to reevaluate their work standards, causing many to leave their positions. The trend, commonly referred to as “The Great Resignation,” further contributed to employers’ need to access new staff members, causing them to become more lenient with their employment terms to make their roles more desirable to potential candidates.Â
As a result, providing workers with alternative options from permanent positions and fixed work structures enabled businesses to attract more staff members, leading to the further popularization of flexible staffing structures.Â
Why Are Businesses Switching to On-Demand Staffing?
Another reason that more businesses are switching to on-demand staffing as a flexible alternative to traditional hiring practices is to combat the main challenges of those traditional staffing models. For example, conventional staffing models can limit the interest of potential applicants by deterring workers who prefer more freedom and flexibility in their jobs. On-demand staffing resolves issues like this and provides more benefits to employees who aren’t tied down to a rigid, long-term role. Workers who fill flexible employment positions are freer to choose the short-term roles they wish to take and work around the schedules that they prefer. All of the benefits that flexible staffing offers to the employees, in turn, benefit the employing organization as well, as they lead to a more productive, agile workforce.Â
Benefits of a Flexible Staffing Strategy
While I have discussed the benefits of flexible staffing for employees, flexible staffing strategies can also be advantageous for employers and the business as a whole.
1. It’s Customizable
Flexible staffing strategies remove the rigid structure that exists with traditional staffing practices. A flexible staffing strategy makes adapting to changing needs of a workforce easier. It enables employers to be freer with their staffing and allows them to hire according to the requirements necessary for whatever business situation takes place. If a business requires a role for a short-term job, employers can easily generate a short-term position that will satisfy their staffing needs for the duration that the role is required. Flexibility in staffing practices is beneficial for businesses in that it allows them to have an easily-customizable workforce.Â
2. It Allows for Fast Access to Specialized Skills
Another advantage of flexible employment is that employers can hire staff members quickly, to access workers with the skills necessary faster than they would with traditional hiring. Since flexible hiring is less permanent than traditional, employers do not need to be as selective and can onboard for positions quicklier. Flexible hiring can also benefit employers as they can access specialized skills by maintaining direct contact with trained specialists. Organizations do not need to train in-house workers for short-term positions by hiring contingent staff. Instead, they can quickly onboard skilled professionals who can start working right away. For example, using a flexible staffing model to hire staff for events can enable employers to easily access specific types of entertainers and workers to work in short-term contingent positions for themed parties. This is just one of many instances where an organization can gain fast access to the specialized skills they require through flexible hiring.
So how would an employer find workers with the right skill sets for their business needs? Well, many organizations choose to implement their flexible work arrangements by using flexible staffing services that offer faster access to candidates and greater agility throughout the talent sourcing process. Hiring skilled staff members with on-demand staffing platforms like Adia is easy and straightforward to gain the specialized skills necessary for a role. Adia lets employers search through their roster of available, pre-vetted professionals to instantly access ones that are trained, qualified, and ready for the part. In addition, being able to constantly access staff through the Adia staffing platform reduces lead times, so organizations can quickly finish their jobs and meet their business demands.Â
3. It Reduces Business Costs
Flexible, on-demand staffing can also reduce business costs. Organizations that use solutions like Adia can bypass a lot of the overhead expenses involved in traditional permanent hiring practices. Between the cost of training new staff members in highly specialized positions, advertising employment openings, and then hiring full-time employees, businesses end up wasting a lot of money. However, flexible staffing strategies do not require employers to spend as much money on these actions, reducing their business costs.Â
How to Create an On-Demand Staffing Strategy
Now that you know a bit more about the various benefits of on-demand staffing structures, you’re probably curious about how organizations create effective on-demand staffing strategies. If so, read on, as this resource will cover some best practices for creating a successful hiring strategy.Â
1. Identify the Skill Gaps in Your Company
The first step to creating an on-demand staffing strategy is to identify the skill gaps within your organization. This is important as an effective flexible staffing model should enable your business to meet its talent and skill requirements.Â
To begin, consider the purpose that your business serves and the talents and skills that could elevate your business to operate in the next level. Failing to identify skill gaps in your organization can leave you uninformed about the flexible roles that will be beneficial to your operations.
2. Examine Your Current Filled Positions
Consider the roles that exist within your workforce now. What roles need more support? What roles don’t exist that could be beneficial to your business’s operations? Examining the positions that your company currently has filled will provide you with a better idea of the ones that your company still lacks.Â
Be sure not to overlook this step, or else you may make poor decisions when onboarding contingent staff and end up with a workforce that is unbalanced when it comes to talent distribution. Whereas by examining the talent that currently exists within your workforce, you can gain a realistic idea of your organization’s flexible talent needs.
3. Consider the Source of the Contingent Staff
To access high-quality contingent staff members, you should acquire them from a trustworthy source. There are several ways you can source these professionals, but not all of them will provide your business with the reliable staff members that it requires. Fortunately, some sources of on-demand staff are designed to meet the needs of employers, including on-demand hiring platforms like Adia.Â
The Adia on-demand staffing solution enables employers to connect with workers that are pre-vetted by the system so that they can hire safely and confidently. Users can choose suitable contingent workers from a list of qualified professionals that possess the talents, skills, and experience that they desire. Adia’s intuitive and flexible staffing solution also takes care of many aspects of the onboarding process, so users can quickly get hired and get to work!
4. Establish a Timeframe
If you have completed the previous steps, you can now work on establishing a timeframe for your flexible staffing model. The best way to choose an appropriate time frame is to consider the purpose for which you are hiring this contingent worker. If you want a worker to provide a skill set that will enable your business to complete a specific assignment or job, consider how long this would take to complete.Â
This is a crucial step to follow while establishing your flexible staffing model, as you will want to hire your worker for a predetermined time period that will give them enough time to fill their purpose. Failure to establish a reasonable timeline for your flexible staffing could cause you to misjudge the length of time necessary to employ the worker.Â
Skipping this step could also cause your organization to budget incorrectly for your worker. Therefore, your organization may need to spend more than budgeted on a contingent employee if you misjudge the amount of time that the worker will need to remain under your employment to complete their work objectives.
5. Assess Your Short-Term and Long-Term Goals for Flexible Staff
If you haven’t gathered this yet, planning ahead is necessary for designing an effective, flexible staffing strategy. Planning ahead should be done every step of the way in order to gain the best possible results from your on-demand staffing experience. This includes assessing both short-term and long-term goals for your contingent staff.Â
By assessing your short-term and long-term goals for flexible staff members, it will be easier for you to determine which skilled professionals are necessary and when. It will also help you gain a better idea of your organization’s needs and projected time periods. However, be realistic in assessing your goals for your contingent staff, as improper planning may leave you unsatisfied with your flexible staff experience – at no fault to the employee!Â
Setting attainable short-term and long-term goals will also make it easier to communicate the expectations of the position to potential candidates. By appropriately conveying the details of the role to your contingent position candidates, you will be more likely to hire an informed and confident worker who is prepared to take on the work required of them.
Flexible Staffing Made Easy With Adia – Try It Today!
Organizing a flexible staffing strategy may seem like a difficult task. However, by following the steps outlined in this resource, employers can cover each process necessary to ensure a smooth process for their flexible staffing efforts. Planning ahead regarding the needs and timeframes is crucial to onboarding workers that will fill the roles you need. Furthermore, an employee is only helpful to an organization if they are qualified and hard-working. Therefore, hiring flexible on-demand staff members from trustworthy sources will leave your organization more likely to succeed.Â
One reliable source for high-quality flexible staffing is Adia. The Adia on-demand can help employers implement a successful flexible staffing strategy in their company by granting them access to a wide array of qualified workers looking for open positions. Visit the Adia website online at https://adia.works/ to learn more about how the Adia staffing platform can help you gain the right contingent staff members to set your organization up for success. Find a flex staffing temp agency in Phoenix, NYC staffing agencies, or fill staff for events.
