Nimble is the new normal. Just as manufacturers have re-engineered production lines to react instantly to consumer demand, more and more finance and accounting organizations are adopting a flexible workforce — a dynamic mix of full-time employees and temporary professionals — to best meet constantly fluctuating workloads.
When temporary professionals fit
Before adopting a flexible workforce strategy, finance and accounting organizations should do what they do best: run the numbers. But even without doing the math, it’s clear that maintaining peak-level staff during slow times is an expensive proposition.
And temporary professionals are not just for peak periods anymore. They fit in a variety of scenarios:
• Crunch times. With deadline-driven workloads and ever-changing tax and other reporting requirements, demand fluctuates constantly, sometimes with surprising speed. Temporary professionals can act as reinforcements for your core staff during these times.
• One-time projects. By relying on temporary professionals, you can quickly staff for special initiatives, especially those requiring currently unstaffed skills.
• Burnout reduction. You can protect the morale of full-time employees by providing temporary support during peak times.
• Urgent needs. The same goes for roles you can’t leave unfilled while searching for a full-time replacement.
• Planned absences. Temporary staff can quickly fill gaps due to maternity, paternity, medical or military leave.
Why working as a temporary employee can benefit finance professionals
There are many ways serving in a temporary or project role can be attractive, for example if:
• You are new to the field, or want to expand in a new direction. A temporary job offers you the chance to test the waters before diving in. Acquire new skills without the pressures that come with full-time employment.
• Your job search is taking longer than you expected. A stint as a temporary professional can provide needed cash between long-term employment and ensures that you avoid holes in your resume.
• A full-time gig doesn’t fit with your lifestyle. Maybe you need to juggle work and childcare. Maybe you want time between gigs to work on personal projects. Or maybe you like to work hard, save up, travel, and then begin the process again.
Joe Franco is the Las Vegas branch manager for Accoutemps, a division of Robert Half, which provides businesses with finance and accounting professionals on a temporary and temporary-to-hire basis.