Below is the third of a three-part installment of our 10 practical strategies for using staffing to reduce overhead, manage operating costs, and improve organizational performance.

7. Reduce the Risk of Hiring Mistakes

A bad hire can cost you between two and seven times the employee's annual salary. Staffing firms follow rigorous screening procedures for both temporary personnel and direct hires, which increases your chances of getting the right person. They will most often provide candidates who not only possess the skills and experience you require, but who also have the personality traits needed to thrive in your work environment. To further reduce your hiring risk, you can also take advantage of your partner's temp-to-hire services and direct placement guarantees.

8. Take Advantage of a Staffing Firm's HR Capabilities

If hiring duties are sidetracking your key employees, use your staffing partner to handle screening, testing,
interviewing, and reference checking. Their expertise can free your personnel to concentrate on critical activities, and can reduce your time to hire.

9. Cut Costs by Hiring

Capacity constraints are a significant source of cost. Constraints may affect the throughput of a plant or the
productivity of an executive. To eliminate the bottlenecks, consider adding temporary or full-time staff. Bringing in administrative support frees key personnel to focus on core job duties (not only do you get a more productive employee, but the administrative work gets done for significantly less cost). Add labor to relieve process constraints and improve productivity. Use technical and professional temps to keep projects on track. By adding the right people, work will get done more efficiently, with less administrative headache, and for less cost.

10. Avert Costs Associated with Burnout

Many companies may take the concept of "lean thinking" too far. They push direct staff to produce more with fewer resources. And as the stress increases, so do problems with quality, productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. Take the pressure off by using temporary employees. The additional personnel will help your staff avoid burnout, reduce the cost of defects, avoid productivity losses, and limit turnover expense.