The business world is constantly changing and never a dull moment. Partly because of this, we see a growing demand for highly educated, flexible and experienced personnel. The Interim Professionals. They are self-employed people who have a lot of experience in their field and can be deployed for specific projects or temporary positions. And using such a professional offers many advantages over hiring a permanent employee, let me explain these to you.
1. Flexibility
Flexibility is one of the main reasons for companies to hire an interim professional. The company can very quickly make use of the services offered, agree in advance on a minimum period (often with possible extension), and thus has highly experienced cooperation in-house. Whether you need someone to temporarily keep the chair warm so you have time to find a suitable permanent employee, to fill a specialist knowledge need, or to implement a particular project, interim professionals offer a perfect solution when expertise, speed and flexibility are required.
2. Experience
Another reason for hiring an interim professional is the experience they bring. At Treasurer Search, we almost always propose an overqualified professional, because we expect the interim manager to get off to a flying start. Rather than having to learn and explain basic tasks first. By default, these professionals have a wealth of experience. Over the years, they have seen many different companies and working methods, and can therefore actively contribute to the challenges the company faces. And that with a fresh perspective and possible new innovative ideas.
3. Cost-saving
And as strange as it may sound with the instinctively high hourly rates, cost-saving is also an advantage in hiring an interim professional. Despite the fact that the hourly rate is often higher than that of a permanent employee, with the interim variant, you do not have to make any additional payments for e.g. pension, unemployment insurance, ZW, etc. Nor do they qualify for other, secondary benefits such as paid holidays, bonuses, 13th month, etc. And of course, you don’t have to sign long-term employment contracts, you hire them for the job and can leave it at that.
4. Handle peaks in workload
Furthermore, the professional is used to handle peaks in workload. This normally falls on the permanent staff who might get into trouble as a result, but with the interim variant, an increased workload on in-house staff can be avoided.
I increasingly see that the interim option is used to quickly fill a permanent problem and that the period is used as a kind of trial period to experience whether the professional would possibly fit in as a permanent employee. I would like to make the comment here that as an employer, one does need to pay attention. As I have written here before, we present interim professionals overqualified. As a temporary fill-in, that is fine. But if one would like to hire the interim for permanent, both should be very aware of what the future tasks will be and whether the new employee will not get bored.
Summary
In summary, hiring an interim professional provides a company with various advantages such as flexibility, a lot of experience and knowledge, quick filling in, cost savings and absorbing work pressure. However, finding the right interim professional who is also available immediately and for the requested period is no sinecure. For this, it is often wise to hire a specialised recruitment agency such as Treasurer Search as they understand the challenge the company is facing and have their own large network within the interim community. In addition, they are often aware of the availability of their professionals and can therefore quickly come up with a solution. So it is not surprising that more and more companies see the added value of hiring an interim professional.
Are you considering hiring an interim professional but not sure where to start? Contact me and I will be happy to help you!