Most businesses see seasonal surges in demand and need temporary or seasonal staff as extra support to meet demand. Many retailers need temp staff during the holiday sales season, travel industry businesses need additional support during peak travel times, and seasonal services like landscaping or construction also need expert staff for just part of the year. However, hiring seasonal and temporary staff can come with multiple regulatory and hiring challenges that bog down your business when you flexibility is most critical.
A Professional Employer Organization, or PEO, can help you recruit, hire, onboard, and manage temporary staff so you can focus on your core business and not worry about complications along the way.
In this post, we'll illustrate how PEOs can manage hiring and administrative processes, standardize hiring costs to preserve your cash flow, and let everyone get to work faster.
PEOs Handle HR to Let You Focus on Staff
Professional employer organizations are groups of experienced HR specialists who provide expertise, HR management services, and enterprise-level HR technologies to handle many of the processes of hiring and managing employees or contractors. In traditional office environments, employees would manage all of these processes alone, but that could overwhelm your permanent staff with extra to-dos and complications such as:
- Onboarding seasonal workers – and all necessary steps, such as drafting new hire paperwork, basic training, compliance with state and federal employee laws, and adding new personnel to all of your systems
- Payroll processing – by verifying time sheets and accurate payment amounts, properly distributing funds to the correct accounts on time, and handling any questions
These two types of tasks alone can take up a lot of time, especially if you or your team don't frequently handle large volumes of onboarding and payroll. However, PEOs specialize in building quick, reliable processes for these tasks. You can delegate the work so you can focus on job-specific training, your customers, and your core competencies, and you can also have the peace of mind of knowing industry experts are handling them.
Streamline Hiring and Training
But PEO services don't stop at administrative and compliance tasks. They can also streamline your training processes so you can take more off your busy to-do list. Your PEO can create training programs, ensure all new hires complete required modules or tasks, and prepare them for their first days on the job. That helps your permanent staff stay focused on their current projects and tasks rather than being overwhelmed by new training obligations. While some training specifics will need to be handled on the job or out in the field, prepping your new staff with efficiently delivered information will make them more confident and productive on day one.
Employers can also receive PEO assistance throughout the hiring process. Create job descriptions that comply with state mandates and target the candidates you're looking for. For example, your state may have strict requirements regarding posting the payment range, marking jobs as temporary or seasonal rather than permanent, and other compliance needs.PEOs have an in-depth knowledge of current and changing norms, so your job descriptions, hiring contracts, and paperwork all match what current regulations demand.
They provide access to powerful recruitment and hiring technologies that automate processes like application reviews, background checks, and interview stages. When you handle these processes internally, you face complications like delays, having to protect private information, and not accidentally violating a detail of fair employment laws that can trip up even the most seasoned office manager. You can quickly process candidates and have your new team of temporary workers with minimal delays or complications.
That benefits both seasonal and permanent staff. Seasonal staff can get to work faster without getting caught in an extended hiring process. Your permanent team can also focus on critical operations, customer service, and high-priority seasonal projects.
Stabilize the Costs of Hiring New Workers
Hiring new staff often causes a lot of financial complications. Salaries, benefits, administrative tasks, and other costs quickly add up, and it can make SMEs think twice about expanding their teams. But PEOs can offer you convenient and clear options like flat charges per employee. They make it easy to predict costs and budget for the expenses of new workers. Employers can protect their cash flow and know that they aren't overhiring beyond what their budget can handle.
Manage Your Seasonal and Temp Staff Requirements With Support From a PEO
Partnering with a PEO can strengthen your business, especially during peak seasons. You need support staff without taking away time from your tasks or your current staff's schedules, and PEOs can manage most of the processes for you. Get support managing the administrative functions of onboarding and payroll processing and streamline the hiring and training processes—all at a predictable cost. The result is faster hiring, quicker onboarding, and more productive staff.
