The ongoing talent shortages that create resourcing issues for almost every organisation in Australia are unquestionably significant. The impact can be seen broadly, often resulting in lower profits, sales declining, staff turnover, burnout rates increasing, safety metrics falling, culture surveys showing a shift and many other business drivers being affected. Organisations now have no alternative than to think more creatively and flexibly regarding their resourcing solutions, placing an even greater emphasis on opening up talent pathways for their business.
Strategic workforce plans will define, amongst many other things, an optimal resourcing mix that includes both fixed (permanent) and flexible employee cohorts. Today, more so than ever, companies must think about their talent and have broader boundaries around what talent they build, what they borrow, what they buy and how to create bridges and upskill their internal talent.
Leveraging a Specialised HR Contractor
HR Contractors or interim Human Resources professionals provide an effective means for organisations to bring in the key skills they need and have been a great source of talent over the last few decades. A company may hire a contractor for a variety of reasons, such as to complete a specific project or task that is outside of the company’s regular operations. Recently we have seen our HR Recruitment practice support organisations with particularly specialised projects including employee value proposition, psychosocial health and safety, OVA (occupational violence and aggression), diversity & inclusion, talent acquisition, organisational design and restructures, and HR policies development projects, to name a few. Additionally, backfill requirements for BAU roles to cover periods of absence due to resignation, leave, secondments etc continue to draw in HR Managers, HR Business Partners & HR Advisors, Talent Acquisition, Organisational Development and even CPOs.
Define the Scope & Focus
Our clients who sought our HR Recruitment practice’s support to recruit specialised project resources carved out a defined scope and by bringing in a specialist they leveraged their deep expertise to ensure project delivery and the best outcomes, whilst often in the shortest timeframes and in an economical way. These specialists were given clear project briefs and by focusing their time and effort the project outcomes were reached without distraction. Additionally, this is often one of the key reasons HR contractors like contracting – they have a clear goal, they can focus, and they can deliver an outcome!
If your organisation’s priorities shift so that the project is no longer required, a flexible HR Contractor can finish (in line with contract terms) quickly or can be redirected if their skills align to other priorities.
Project focused HR contractors also may not need to participate as actively in culture and team based activities. As such, the need for these contractors to be physically present in the office diminishes, which in turn opens these opportunities to remote or regional talent. Additionally, with desk cost moving toward $50,000 per annum in the Melbourne CBD, a candidate who needs only limited access to a hot desk is a far lower cost resource.
When discussing the benefits of HR Contractors with a high-profile CPO recently, she appreciated that the contractors she uses do not get involved in any office politics, which invariably exists in most organisations. They focus without distraction, whereas internal project resources can get caught up working through the politic, rather than delivering outcomes. Further, their focus in turn softens the overall political environment and can assist in pulling others out of the politic.
As you can see, there are many significant benefits to hiring an HR contractor and a great one will also collaborate where possible and provide knowledge transfer to enable the ongoing management of the outcomes as the project moves to BAU. This sees the organisation’s capabilities increase and talent develop, positively increasing engagement.
Contact deliberatepractice on 1300 deliberate (1300 335 423) to discuss how our HR Recruitment and HR Contracting services can assist you to achieve your HR priorities and address your resourcing requirements.