We know that as a business owner it can be difficult to ask for help. It may feel like you’re admitting defeat or that you’re not cut out to be an entrepreneur. The truth, however, is quite the opposite. Effective entrepreneurs know when to ask for help, even if it means hiring someone temporarily to help them out. Hiring another pair of hands to help you carry some of the load is not only good for your workload, but also for your company. Trying to do everything yourself can mean spreading yourself too thin and making mistakes that could cost you your business. It can also impact your work-life balance, a key factor in being a successful entrepreneur. Learning how to hire people temporarily to help you tackle things you don’t have time for (or where you need a little more expertise than you have) is a proactive and sensible way to get more people on board without having to go through the long process of hiring a full-time employee.

Five reasons to hire temporary staff

Sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. If you know how to hire people temporarily, you’re unlocking a whole new resource.

It’s less time consuming

Hiring a new full-time employee can take several months of placing job adverts, sifting through applications, conducting interviews, and onboarding new team members. Hiring temporary staff is a faster process and you can have someone working for you within a few days of connecting with the right outsourcing company.

It’s affordable

Hiring staff on a permanent or contract basis generally means you will have to pay them a larger salary. Working with a virtual assistant (CTA LINK: https://outsourcery.uk/virtual-assistants/) for example, means you pay a lower, fixed rate per month.

It gives you a fresh perspective

There’s nothing like a fresh set of eyes to find new solutions or systems to solve a problem you’ve been trying to deal with for a long time.

Reduced expenses

The costs involved in projects that overrun, timelines that aren’t being met and overworked teams can be completely avoided if you hire someone temporary to help out. Especially if you hire a virtual employee (CTA LINK: https://remoteemployees.online/) whose overheads won’t be your responsibility.

Improved morale

You might find that hiring extra help temporarily can boost team morale as there is an emotional impact to reducing someone’s workload.

How to request more staff

If you are not the decision-maker in this scenario and getting temporary help would mean getting input or permission from your leader, here is some advice for requesting more staff:

• Keep your request short and sweet.
• Ensure your request brings business reasons and justifications to light.
• Offer clear solutions.
• Try not to bring emotion into it.
• Make what you are asking for as clear as possible by stating how many people you need to bring on board, what skills they need to have, and how the organisation would benefit from hiring temporary staff.

Alternatives to using temp agencies

If you’ve decided it’s time to ask for help and you’re going to hire someone temporarily to handle tasks that you don’t have time for, using a temp agency may seem like the natural course of action.

However, there are a couple of issues involved in using a temp agency:

• Temp agencies charge you a markup above the rate the worker is being paid. This can be anything from 25% to 100%.
• You need a quick solution. Temp agencies can still take weeks to find the right candidate for you.
• With a temp agency, you are giving control to the representative you’re working with. They source candidates, review CVs, and conduct screenings. You’ll have to hope they know what your business requires.

It’s quite possible that a temp agency is still the best route for you to take. However, we’d like to suggest a couple of other avenues for you to explore when it comes to hiring people the smart way.

Hire a virtual assistant or employee

Hiring a virtual assistant or remote employee on a temporary basis puts you in complete control of who you’re employing. Usually, your specific business requirements will be matched up with a top candidate who has both the hard and soft skills to fit into your organisation seamlessly. The employee will already have been vetted and you’ll have someone ready to tackle any task you need help with, in just a few days after signing up.

Reach out to your network

Another option is to speak to those within your own professional network. People who work in similar businesses or industries as you may have connections that you can leverage to source talent. You may even get a few recommendations on people who are available for temporary positions.

Use social media

Your company can publish posts to your social media profiles, like LinkedIn, to advertise you are looking for temporary staff. You can list the particulars of who you’re looking for and what the duration of their time with your company would be.

Making hiring temporarily a success

When it comes to how to hire people temporarily, these steps may help make your life a bit easier:

• Have a clear role description or list of tasks that you expect your temporary hire to complete.
• Make sure you’ve nailed down the exact amount of time you’ll need this temporary employee so that you are setting expectations from the start.
• Speak to your employees and find out if there are any tasks that they need additional assistance with that could be designated to your new temporary employee.
• Do allow your temporary employee some time to learn the ropes and get on board with your company culture.
• Ensure that you communicate with your temporary employee regularly, particularly if they are a remote employee or a virtual assistant.

As a business owner, one of the best things you can do for yourself, your team, and your organisation is to ask for help when you need it. A great resource to tap into when you do need help is outsourcing to a temporary employee. Virtual assistants, for example, can carry out just about any task from admin and customer service to marketing and bookkeeping. Delegating the tasks you simply don’t have time or capacity for is a smart move that could save you from missing deadlines, having projects overrun, and making mistakes that could cost your business in the long run.