Small businesses and startups should have strategies and organizational structures that are as flexible as their business. This is true about hiring employees as well. More and more companies are resorting to hiring part time workers in their workplaces because of the benefits that they bring. Most often, it’s the part time employees that fill in the needs of the business. Here are some reasons why you should hire part-timers for your small business.
1. Achieve Greater Flexibility
There are many benefits in hiring part timers, and one of them is flexibility. You should hire part timers for your small business because it’ll help you to achieve greater flexibility in your workplace. Being boxed into solely hiring full time workers will prove to be detrimental for your business. With part time workers, you can switch off and switch on different types of jobs/projects conveniently.
You’ll be able to put part-timers to different tasks and interchange tasks among them. You need not box in a particular job description for a part timer. The job and tasks of part time workers are very flexible. In addition to that, part time workers can be the ones to fill in the evening and weekend shifts in your office to get more things done.
2. Get Access to Specialized Skills and Expertise
Very often, people with specialized skills and expertise are hard to find. Instead of hiring one person that fits the bill, it’s worth considering hiring a few part-timers, each with a different set of skills. That’ll give you access to a bunch of skills without having to invest too much money in just one person.
Additionally, there will be times when some skills are out of the normal operations in the business. For instance, you may have a requirement for a graphic artist for just one project, and you know that you’ll not need the skill in the future. So, hiring a part time worker for that particular job, for a certain time, will be particularly useful for you. Moreover, there are several part time graphic design artists available because teenage side hustles usually involve these skills.
3. Achieve Your Growth Targets
When you start growing your business aggressively, you’ll need more people to keep up with the pace. By recruiting part time workers, you can fast-track growth while balancing your costs. Part time workers will be able to increase your output. They will also alleviate pressure from your full-time employees. Since both parties are performing at their maximum level, you’ll be able to achieve your targets at a faster rate, and at lesser cost.
4. Impress Clients and Customers
You will also be able to impress your customers and clients by hiring part timers because of their expertise. Part timers have different skill sets and clients will be impressed by the wide array of services that you’ll be able to offer.
Hiring part time workers will also make your business look bigger than it is because of the size of your workforce. When your clients visit your office, they’ll notice that you have many people under your employment and get very impressed. They’ll feel that you have a huge organisation. This will increase your reliability.
5. Support Existing Teams and Stretched Out Workers
Pressure and workload peaks at certain times in your small business. Any help or assistance that each team gets will increase focus within your workplace and enhance the quality of output. Whether it’s giving your IT infrastructure a makeover or starting a new project, you’ll need additional hands and brains to help you out.
This is where part time workers come in. If you need workers only for assistance, you should consider part time workers. They’ll be perfect for providing support to your teams and workers. By providing support and assistance, you’ll be able to take off some stress and increase the well-being of your employees as well. This will boost the morale of your workers and show them that you care. Therefore, hiring part-timers can improve employee satisfaction.
6. Raise Productivity Levels
Another reason why you should hire part time workers for your small business is to raise productivity levels. Since part time workers are only in your office for a limited time per day, they utilize the hours better to finish their tasks. By doing their best to finish their work, they optimize productivity levels. This approach and attitude keeps your company agile and helps it to grow faster.
As compared to full time workers, the part time workers put in more work for the same amount of time. This is why you should consider hiring part time workers for your office. They are usually more productive.
7. Increase Cost Effectivity
Increased cost effectiveness is one of the reasons why you should hire part time workers for your small business. Factoring in the specializations, expertise, and productivity of part time workers, you’ll be able to get a higher value for your money vis a vis the work done. This means that you’ll get better output and work done for a smaller price tag as compared to a full-time worker.
8. Fill In Seasonal Roles
There will be times in your company when the demand is higher, and you’ll need more workers to meet this demand. This is what you call seasonality. Seasonality of work requirements is, therefore, another reason to hire part time workers.
For instance, if you are in the retail business, your peak season is usually during Christmas when everyone is buying gifts. Because of this, you’ll want to have enough goods to sell to take advantage of the season and increase your sales. To do this, hire part time workers. They will prevent shortages of goods and ensure better inventory levels at lower costs. Thus, part time workers will help you achieve higher sales at optimal annual cost.
9. Boost Diversity and Adaptability
Diversity is always important at a workplace. Diversity brings different talents together and will bring out the best in your people. Hiring part time workers will bring a different mix to your office. Part time workers will have different skills and personalities that they’ll bring to your teams. In addition to that, they’ll only be there for a certain time and new people will be coming in again. Every time this happens, your team must be able to adapt to them. Therefore, part time workers increase diversity and adaptability of the workforce.
10. Cover Absences and Leaves
Your employees have a life outside of work. This causes them to take leaves. Workload fluctuations will occur due to such absences or sudden departures. Another reason why you should hire part time workers for your small business is to cover these periods of absences. Hiring a part time worker will be a very good solution when your full-time worker goes on leave. Hiring a part-timer is a better and more practical solution than hiring a new full-time worker.
For example, employees are entitled and have the right to take sabbaticals or maternity breaks during their stay in your company. Those breaks usually last more than a month. However, you don’t need to hire another full-time worker who will only add to your cost. Instead, you can hire a part time worker to fill in the absence of your current full-time employee.
11. Expanded Choices and Talent Pool
When you start considering part time workers, you’ll be able to expand your current talent pool. People that you would have otherwise overlooked will be part of your team. Retired people can be a viable choice as part time workers for your company.
Not everyone who is talented or skilled desires a full-time job. There are some people who have certifications or licenses but prefer to have part time jobs for their personal reasons. Many talented people prefer to work online. By opening your business to part time workers, you’ll be able to consider talented people who seek part time jobs.
In fact, you can even convince some of your workers to stay if you start offering part time options. For instance, if you have an employee who becomes a mom, she may start think about quitting her job to spend time with her child. If you offer a part time option, she may reconsider and keep working with you. Therefore, part time work can provide the necessary work-life balance to some employees.
12. Lessen Benefits and Overhead Costs
With full time employees, you usually need to provide benefits such as leaves, health insurance, and retirement plans. However, if you hire part time workers, it’s no longer required by law to provide these benefits to them. Even the payment of bonus salary becomes optional. So, in effect, you’ll save a lot of money by not having to provide these benefits to part time employees.
Conclusion
As evident from this article, hiring part-timers can bring in many advantages to small businesses. From flexibility to agility, part-timers will be able to bring in specialized skills while lowering your operating costs. Your business productivity will increase and employees may feel more satisfied. If you want to reap some of these benefits, then you should start hiring part time workers for your small business. Just head to your human resources department to start the process.
