The past few decades have seen a revolution in how business is done globally. One aspect that has seen significant changes in employment recruitment. As enterprises face the truth that they must survive and thrive in a commercial environment that offers uncertainty at every point, they are looking to go for contract recruitment with the help of a contract agency– that is not always a matter of choice, and it is this aspect that is discussed here along with various tips that can help one use this new recruitment method to one’s benefit.
Contractual employment is one of two main categories of employment – the other being permanent employment. In contractual employment, only employees are hired temporarily. That is sometimes but always done to meet temporary workforce requirements. Contractual recruitment agencies can assist in this regard. The legal contract of employment for such employees stipulated a limitation as to the period for which employment is provided – from a few days to a few years, and after that either the employment ends and if the two parties can renegotiate the terms. The key characteristic here is that the employment will not go indefinitely till the time of the employee’s retirement.
Contractual employment is a great tool in the hands of management especially when the organization may be going through uncertain times and are not sure of their futures. Start-ups, for example, can find the use of this system of recruitment as it saves the enterprises from having to commit themselves to employees and helps them in the desirable flexibility. Since the contract workers get fewer benefits, it can keep human resource costs low and, in many cases, might even lead to better profits.
That said, all these benefits can only be availed if one chooses the recruitment agency carefully as there are several contract agencies in the world and the service they provide tend to vary a lot in terms of quality. Thus one chooses them only after careful consideration of various factors. Some helpful tips can prove handy in this regard. These tips are being discussed here in detail:
- Understanding the nature and limitations of contract recruitment
The first and one of the most valuable tips for choosing the perfect contract recruitment agency is having a thorough understanding of the nature of contract recruitment, and its nature. Contract recruitment can’t be applied to all cases and should be applied in combination with other forms of recruitment such as permanent employment and probationary employment for the maximum benefit.
- Taking a thorough survey of one’s needs.
Having a thorough understanding of the nature and limitations of contractual employment can help one when one next takes a survey of various places where one may use this form of employment to benefit the enterprise. It is best to take a notepad and note down all the various vacancies one intends to fill with contract recruitment and create a checklist of requirements for each such job. The survey will help one identify the characteristics one may be looking for in a contract agency.
- Prefer an agency that one has already worked for
As they say ‘A devil you known is better than…’ – thus it is always a smart strategy to take the contractual recruitment services of an agency one may already have taken services of previously and found it to one’s satisfaction. If a service has assisted one with finding probationary or permanent employees and also provide service with contractual employees, then that service already has one’s trust and should be preferred if their services were found satisfactory.
- Go for a contract recruitment service that provides other services as well.
As mentioned before, an enterprise needs to go for all forms of recruitment, and so it makes sense to go for an enterprise that can provide all the different kinds of employment options. Some such agencies may also double as Professional Employer Organisation (PEO) and thus can do much more than merely assist with recruitment.
- Experience
Another valuable tip is to look for a service that has some experience – preferably experience in the specific industry in which one may be looking for contractual employers. Thus one should go for an experienced enterprise.
- Financially sound
One should always go for a recruitment agency that is financially sound to ensure that there won’t be any problems with that score.
- Strong Reputation
A good brand value and recognition is a potent sign of trustability when it comes to recruitment agencies. One should always go for an agency with a strong reputation in the market as a strong reputation is not built overnight, and the enterprise must be doing something right to have that kind of reputation. Another reason it is important consideration is that it will mean that the agency can be trusted for providing quality workers.
- Experience
The contract recruitment agency should also have several years of experience in the specific industry – it is always better to opt for experienced agencies instead of relying on some amateur organization to fulfilling your requirements for the most precious resource.
- Expediency of service
One of the biggest reasons, as mentioned above, for going for contractual employment is to create desirable flexibility in the human resources of the enterprise. That can only be possible if the contracting recruitment agency one has selected can deliver the desired services and prospective recruits fast enough.
- Look for a firm with a strong online presence
A powerful website and an excellent website are not only indicators of a good contractual recruitment agency, they might also direct one to other indicators such as reviews, ratings, testimonies from customers; a list of industries they have experience in and customers they may have served.
- The financial considerations
The last but not the least important tip for going for a contracting recruitment agency relates to finances. Though there are some affordable agencies out there, their feasibility will depend on the needs of the enterprise and the financial condition of the enterprise.
The Bottom Line
One can quickly wrap up the above discussion by concluding that a contract recruitment agency can be easily found using the above tips.