One of the biggest decisions an employer has to make when it comes to recruitment is whether to go for direct hire or contract to hire. The next question they may ask themselves is: which is better, a direct hire or from an agency? There isn’t an easy answer to any of these. So much depends on the type of job on offer, the salary the company is able to offer, how the company is performing etc, etc. Here are just a few of the benefits a company can enjoy with a contract to hire.
Cost-Effective
Recruitment is a costly business. If you then discover you have hired the wrong person for the job you have to go through the whole process again a lot quicker than your accountants would have liked you to. Do this several times and small companies can really feel the pinch financially. By hiring somebody on a contract to hire you have that person at your disposal for a set length of time, during which you can try them out in several roles. If you know you will have job vacancies arising in the future it gives you the chance to see where they will perform best and often eliminate recruitment costs by offering them a permanent contract as soon as the role is available.
Risk Avoidance
You are convinced your dream candidate just left the interview room. They are smart, polite, gave all the right answers and have both experience and the qualifications you are looking for. Fast forward a couple of months and this perfect person is annoying all their colleagues, proving themselves to be anything but a team player and is a square block trying to fit into a round hole as far as your company culture is concerned. The wrong person was hired; period. Contract to hire eliminates all of the above. By employing them for 6 months you get to see how they get along with their colleagues, whether they go the extra mile and if they embrace the company culture. If they don’t, well, you’ve got several months work out of them at a lower salary so it’s not all bad.
Trial and Error
The flexibility of contract to hire for both employer and employee is undeniable. The employer benefits from being able to try that person in a variety of roles to see where their real talents lie. The employee gets the opportunity to try their hand in roles they may never have considered before and find that they are really good at it.
Dismissal Without Penalty
So many lawsuits are thrown at companies these days, making many too scared to fire their staff. With a contract to hire you have a set length of time, usually between 3 -12 months, but this at the discretion of the employer. If at the end of their contract they haven’t proved themselves to be what your company is looking for you can bid them farewell without fear of repercussion.
