Making the Case for Additional Staff

The annual recruitment cycle peaks in late fall as end-of-year financials and budgets are up for discussion. This also means that it's time for managers to make the case for new hires.

Texas - and Houston in particular - continues to be a hive of hiring activity, having created more jobs in the past year than most of the rest of the country combined. While the region’s economy has benefitted significantly from the booming oil & gas sector, other areas such as high tech, healthcare and manufacturing have also seen steady increases.

While there are strong indications that the local economy will continue this growth trend through the fourth quarter and into 2014, there are never any guarantees. Still, managers need to be prepared for future growth. Now is the time to evaluate needs for the coming year, including how many additional staff members will be required to accomplish goals.

Because of future uncertainties, many mid-sized and large companies find that adding skilled contractors in certain roles can help build staff to meet growing demand, while safeguarding against long-term liabilities should the economy slow down. Brookwoods Group anticipates that many of the area’s leading employers will rely even more heavily on skilled contractors for the foreseeable future.

Some of the advantages of hiring contractors include:

• The flexibility to fill key positions quickly with top talent that has the exact skillset necessary for the job
• The assurance that with a firm end date already in place, employers don't have to worry about the possibility of laying off a full-time corporate employee
• The ability to predetermine the specific length of time a contractor will be onsite
• The flexibility to extend the length of the contract or to convert the contractor to full-time employee status as needed
• No additional costs in terms of benefits, vacation times and retirement plans

Savvy managers understand that all contractors are not the same and know that in order to find the best talent, they need to work with specialized staffing firms that really understand the roles they need filled.  This can be particularly true for niche roles like marketing and communications.  That is why so many of the smartest companies have and continue to rely on firms that specialize in specific roles for their contract needs.

Successful staffing firms know that it's important to be able to offer a competitive benefits package to attract the very best candidates, because when contractors have similar benefits through the staffing firm, the contractor typically remains happy and stays in the assignment as long as they are needed.

Additionally, successful staffing firms maintain open dialog with hiring managers and HR staff to ensure that not only the contractors they provide can do the job, but that they fit perfectly with the chemistry of a company's team.

Contract gold

The vice president of marketing for an award-winning digital marketing company based in The Woodlands tends to hire contract resources to build his team. He said contract positions often serve as a trial run for both contractor and employer. Does this person fit the company culture? Does this person have a strong work ethic? Does this person have skills that will benefit our company? Is this person open to learning new skills?  These are all extremely important for creative roles.

He also said that when it comes to finding contractors, recruiting firms can be a time saver as they significantly narrow the playing field for the client and have the ability to identify passive candidates who may not even be looking for a new opportunity.

No need to delay

According to an August 2013 article in Forbes, most CEO's start looking for new staff only when they really need them. This is not a good strategy, and here's why:

• In a rush, companies often end up settling for whomever is available instead of someone that is the best fit for their need
• Or, managers and internal recruiters devote huge chunks of time over a very short period to the search, which can be overwhelming and put them behind in other areas.

Don't forget that it's currently a seller's market. Candidates are able to pick and choose who they want to work for, especially in the marketing and communication industry. In fact, 61 percent of respondents to the Houston Professional Employment Forecast said it's somewhat challenging to find skilled candidates for professional-level positions.

So, as your company plans its 2014 budget, it’s time for you to look ahead at your group’s needs for the coming year. If that includes increasing headcount, now is the time to make the case to hire. If your company decides that it does not want to hire more full-time employees immediately, consider requesting one or more contractors as an alternative.