Staffing requires a holistic view of both short- and long-term needs. In times of rapid change, cutting or expanding full-time staff without stepping back to consider the bigger picture can be a mistake. Effective personnel management involves making the best decisions to address the core business needs you have identified.

Consider filling positions for which you have identified a long-term need with additional full-time hires and augmenting core staff with temporary professionals for project roles or expertise you need only periodically. This blend will afford you the greatest flexibility, both currently and when conditions again begin to change.

Following are major advantages of this approach:

• Reduced costs – A blend of employee resources enables you to turn some of your fixed personnel costs into variable expenses by paying only for the talent you need, when it's truly needed.
• A competitive edge – Flexible control over personnel costs gives you an advantage against your competitors whose labor structure makes them more vulnerable to economic changes.
• Improved retention – A temporary/full-time mix reduces stress for core employees and protects their jobs by decreasing the likelihood of layoffs.
• More effective full-time staff – Using temporary workers to assist with day-to-day responsibilities allows core staff to pursue higher-priority initiatives.
• Access to specialized skills – If an initiative requires expertise unavailable in-house, you can find project professionals with this knowledge.
• Opportunity to evaluate potential hires – You can observe and evaluate project professionals firsthand to determine their potential fit with your organization.