5SepHow to Handle The Peaks and Troughs of your Business
Posted on 5/09/2017 by Nine2Three
Many times we meet with the HR Manager or Directors of organisations who talk to us about the peaks and troughs of their workflows. For some, the work is seasonal and starts to dry up in winter or in certain months of the year. For others it can be unexpected. Clients take on staff, just to find that there is a drop off in work and suddenly they do not need the staff.
Reductions in funding can be a similar situation for Not-For-Profits, and many question how best to address this staffing difficulty.
Staffing flexibility and the ability to ramp up production in order to be agile and responsive in times of reduced work are ongoing issues for many businesses .
Actually, Non Standard Employment is an emerging labour trend that integrates into this issue, while organisations are searching for fiscal, numerical & functional flexibility.
Fiscal flexibility refers to the ability to manage an organisation’s bottom line in a malleable manner. Many larger organisations run cost cutting exercises including freezes on headcount, freezes on permanent staffing and project freezing in order to manage fiscal responsibilities.
Numerical flexibility is altering the number of employees – increasing or decreasing in line with changes in demand – for example how retail stores around Christmas time – cover peak times then, bring labour costs down after the Christmas period.
Functional flexibility is being able to move your people across different departments and areas – moving them around as you need utilising your internal training and work force planning to facilitate this successfully.
All of these scenarios can be completed with Non Standard Employment. Many organisations will have a strong cohort of standard workers then a buffer of peripheral staff around that expands and collapses as needed. The core of standard workers might be quite small.
So what is Non Standard Employment?
Well put simply it is everything that is the antithesis of Standard employment. Standard employment is the traditional model of employment – that is - ongoing and permanent roles.
Therefore non standard employment includes temporary staff and independent contractors. Within any organisation you may see all these types of employment; these days it is a very differentiated labour market.
Having this wide array of different types of workers can create issues and employers must be very careful about legally utilising each type of worker correctly. For instance, a contractor who is not a true independent contractor may argue that they should have been an employee (even if the idea for their contracting came from them) and you may be hit with ongoing employment liabilities that you did not factor in. In many cases you can be more open to risk using an individual as a contractor than if you just employed them.
An easy answer to your ability to utilise a flexible workforce is through 923|Temps. We have a huge database of available workers and are a true independent contractor to your business. Many organisations use this form of flexible worker with us and enjoy the benefits of:
No minimum hours – can increase hours, decrease hours or walk away at a moments notice
Choice of candidate – your choice!
Pay only for hours worked – no other up front recruitment costs
Quick and easy – Say no more!
Flexibility to client – you drive the length of the project – stop it at any time
Skills Testing and Reference Checking – candidate comes fully vetted
All payroll responsibility is ours – you know your hourly rate up front and simply pay a fortnightly invoice based on hours worked
Covered for Workers Compensation; Public liability; Professional Indemnity; superannuation and PAYG – we look after all of that!
Australia has always had quite high levels of Casual Employment. This could be because of our tough unfair dismissal laws or perhaps the 25% loading that casual employment attracts in Australia. Either way it continues as a viable employment option for business.
Important Note: These articles have been prepared for general circulation and are circulated for general informational purposes only; these articles should not be regarded as business or investment advice. The articles represent the views of the writers and are subject to change without notice. Additionally, while every care has been taken in the preparation of the articles no representation or warranty as to accuracy or completeness of any statement is given. An individual or organisation should, before any business or investment decision is made, consider the appropriateness of the information in this document, and seek professional advice, having regard to objectives, situation and needs. This document is solely for the use of the party to whom it is provided.
Posted in Building Business | I Need Staff
Comments
There are no comments for this article. Be the first to comment by completing the form below.
