Sounding Board Archive Search

Return to Search Results

Temp-to-perm a solution for small business recruitment

By Anna Grimes

Do small businesses feel the labour crunch a lot worse when an employee walks?

"Absolutely, definitely, yes," says Andrew d’Eça, general manager of Vancouver-based Angus One Professional Recruitment. "The main reason is that small businesses already have a small number of employees. If they’re missing one or two people, that could be 20 to 30 per cent of their workforce. Compare that to a large company with hundreds of employees and it’s a very different story."

When an employee leaves or is let go, small businesses often don’t have the budgets to hire external contractors or outsource the added work to external firms, and much of the extra slack is taken up by the small business owner. Filling that void is of critical importance.

When faced with a vacancy, small businesses – like large companies – have two choices: they can either attempt to do their own recruitment or they can partner with a recruitment firm.

While small business owners often choose to do their own recruiting because they are daunted by the fees asked by some staffing agencies, d’Eça says that’s not always the best idea. It can ultimately end up costing the company not only more money, but valuable time as well…and with no guarantees the right person will be found.

Many recruiting companies have options designed specifically for small businesses. Angus One, for example, offers a ‘temp-to perm’ solution that lets employers ‘test drive’ potential employees before officially hiring them full time.

D’Eça explains: "The one-time fee for full recruiting services can be between 12 and 35 per cent. The temp-to-perm option is worked out on an hourly basis, with Angus One covering the employee’s salary as well as all the deductions."

After temping for 450 hours, the client can bring the candidate on-board full time and not have to pay placement fee. If the temporary employee is not a good fit for the company, Angus One can easily replace the candidate and give credit for the time already served.

"Because we are a small business ourselves and because we are B.C.-owned and operated, we strive to partner with and help other small businesses in B.C."

To reach out to its small business clients, Angus One holds an open house every week, alternating between Vancouver and surrounding communities like Surrey or Delta. "A lot of the people in these communities are great fits for small business because small businesses are typically located outside of the downtown core," d’Eça says.

"We’re all about finding people employment."

Yet, every dark cloud has a silver lining. When an employee leaves a small business, it’s an excellent time for the firm to really improve efficiencies and streamline operations, d’Eça says.

"Smaller companies can really look at turnover as an opportunity to check in with their systems, procedures and policies," he says. "Are they needed and are they operating correctly? If not, this is the time to adjust, and in some cases, you might find you don’t even need to fill the vacant position after all."

Copyright 1999-2009 The Vancouver Board of Trade. All Rights Reserved
Site Credits Privacy Policy