Clients often ask, “How will I know when the timing is right to bring in additional HR staffing support?
Our team at Resourceful HR places temporary HR staff in companies that need help for a variety of reasons. Maybe you need to cover an employee’s leave of absence, you need a highly-skilled HR employee to manage a complex task or your team is overwhelmed with the current workload. Temporary HR professionals can help put key programs and policies in place, increase productivity and can ultimately help your HR team improve the bottom line.
What are signs you could use HR staffing support?
Whether it’s a temporary need to cover an absence or to provide support in launching a new HR program, these are a few signs you need support:
- An HR employee is taking a leave of absence.
- You need extra project help to achieve your HR strategy before year end.
- The size of the organization is rapidly increasing, and with that so are your needs to source, recruit, and hire new employees.
- You need support to cover a specific HR competency while you look for a full-time employee to fill that need.
- Current business needs require HR expertise that you don’t have in-house but you don’t have the budget to hire someone for the long-term.
Once you realize you need temporary HR support, I have some suggestions to make the process as smooth as possible.
Start the search as soon as you know there might be a need. You don’t need every detail about what you need to start the “pre-search” process. When you start early it’s more likely you’ll find a good fit for your needs, rather than focusing on filling the gap as soon as possible. It’s a candidate’s market and good HR talent is snapped up quickly, so it helps to have time on your side.
If your needs are immediate, be flexible about your requirements. When time isn’t on your side and you needed HR support yesterday, you may need to be flexible about your requirements. Identify what the critical skills are and then recruit for someone who also brings passion, energy, and a desire to learn to the position. When in doubt, look for a generalist who will have a broad base of knowledge and can jump in to help fill a variety of HR needs.
Stay connected with a staffing consultant. If you’re looking for HR help, chances are you don’t have the time required to source, screen, and hire temporary help. That’s why I recommend establishing a connection with a recruiter or staffing firm that is connected within the HR community. Building a long-term relationship with a staffing expert is advantageous because they know your organization, have a sense of your culture, and are set up to quickly find talent to satisfy your needs. You’ll want to have a connection with a recruiter who understands HR—the terminology, body of knowledge HR includes, current compensation ranges, and the levels of expertise required for the specific roles you need to fill.
With a strategic approach and the right support, hiring temporary HR staff will provide you with the professional you need for the time required; and, you might just decide the temporary help you hired is too good to let go.