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The new Option A

Are any of these challenges familiar?

You have completed a workforce study and the outcome determines that you need for example, 3.5 Project Managers.
One of your managers is going to be absent for an unknown period of time.
A significant project requires a part time interim manager while you find a permanent solution.
A key employee needs to respond to a tender but will leave a big hole in your BAU activities.
You have a really sensitive protracted project that is best performed by someone externally, but minimum term contracts make it unviable.

So when faced with these situations what do you do?

A) Lean on an already overstretched workforce and absorb it internally?

B) Hire temporary staff on FTC, usually a minimum term of 3 months?

C) Hire a full time employee on PAYE?

The scenarios above are where SILVERAGE can deliver a perfect short-term solution through its fully supported, flexible, pay-as-you-go service, with no upfront fees and no minimum term.

Option A) in these scenarios is the easy choice because it’s simple to implement, but is also usually combined with communications such as “we are looking at the longer term resource plan”; “we are getting more staff”; “there is budget next year”, etc. But do leaders really look at resource strategy in the short to immediate term or just react to incoming orders?

This approach increases the risk of staff burnout, but more importantly it can erode trust and confidence in the leadership team. SILVERAGE removes these risks by supplementing the existing staff in the most cost-effective way, by providing extra support where the organisation will only pay for professional services as and when they are truly needed.

Option B) is to hire in temporary staff on short term contracts. This eases the burden on existing staff, but from a business perspective it is riddled with risk, such as:

Loyalty – Contractors are generally looking for the next assignment. Repeat on-boarding due to churn removes continuity, adds significant cost and reduces productivity.
Task ownership – Contractors require very specific work instructions and constant support, but the responsibility remains with the line manager.
Line management – Performance management is hard to introduce.
Liability – What are the consequences of poor unfinished work?
Cost – Contractors tend to have a higher hourly rate than permanent staff leading to uncompetitive pricing.
Minimum Term - Generally a minimum contract term is 3 months or more. This can be inefficient and costly for the business, especially in scenarios where the contractor cannot be fully utilised for the whole contract term.

SILVERAGE does not require a minimum term contract because we take a different approach to problem solving, in that our agreement is outcome-driven and not time based. With our founders oversight programme the commitment is with us and not with the individual.

Option C) to hire a full-time employee is usually the last choice as this requires deeper, granular decision making, and resource planning. It undoubtedly requires a high level of confidence in the company outlook and carries the standard risks of any new hire.

Whilst the company embarks on the FTE recruitment process SILVERAGE can help with selection or fill in as a flexible interim.

However, there is now another choice. Before you hire, ask: can this be solved another way?

What if there was a commercially viable way to resolve all these scenarios whilst significantly reducing the risks? Well now there is:

"The new option A"

Designed to run alongside your traditional talent acquisition processes, the new option A is intended to enhance these current processes, not replace them. At SILVERAGE we want hiring managers to explore and consider this option first.

Why it works commercially

For example, let’s take a Full Time Employee (FTE) with a base salary of £52K per year. At face value this looks like the cost is £1K per week or £200 per day, but when you factor in all the other employment costs, such as Pension, NIC, Training, Benefits and other contributory costs, this daily cost is significantly higher.

"A good rule of thumb is to say, in reality, whatever you pay a person as a headline factor, it will cost you 1.5 to 1.75 times that amount to have that person in-situ". (Source: www.myHRtoolkit.com)

The table below illustrates the day rate relationship between base salary and the fully absorbed cost of an FTE. The calculation is based on the fact that the average FTE works around 225 days per year.

You can see from this example illustration that the true fully absorbed cost of an FTE is substantially higher than just base salary and can be almost double.

However even this is not the full story - what about their journey to full productivity, efficiency during peaks and troughs or even the cost of churn?

SILVERAGE significantly add value and reduce cost and risk, because you only pay for the services you require, for us to complete an agreed scope of work. SILVERAGE will continue to operate effectively throughout any change, with the flexibility to scale, up or down as needed, and deliver agreed outcomes through its Founders Oversight Programme. We maintain continuity which will bring you peace of mind knowing that they are always there, before, during and after any of our assignments.