Assess Permanent Staff Needs

• Never use adjustment techniques without a plan. Start by assessing permanent staff needs, especially the level to which staff can drop without causing disruption to your business. Determine when you need to increase staffing and when your core staff is adequate to maintain business processes. Then look at different staff-level adjustment techniques you can use to increase quality staff levels according to your needs, whether they are seasonal, cyclical or unpredictable.
  
  

Use In-House Staffing

• The simplest technique is to use in-house staffing adjustments with current staff. Overtime is the first option: simply asking staff to work longer-than-normal hours for additional pay. For a larger company, the common nursing staff technique of using "floaters" -- employees who move from one area to another to fill changing department needs -- can be effective as well. For situations when you might need additional staff but are not certain, you can use an on-call system, paying selected staff a bonus for agreeing to be available if called. You can also use flexible scheduling and job sharing, with the understanding that staff members who work less than a certain number of hours per week should expect heavier schedules during peak times. These are all techniques to be experimented with, but they carry the risk of decreasing your core staff morale if applied without staff input. They also might not be adequate for meeting your needs at peak times.
  
  

Use Temporary Agencies

• Temporary agencies are often the first step for companies needing a staff-level adjustment. You are provided with a prescreened employee but are shielded from permanent staff obligations by the agency. This works fine in the short term and with sudden emergencies. However, employee quality through temporary agencies is not necessarily the best; you could find a gem, but you are just as likely to find someone who is little more than a warm body filling a seat and collecting a paycheck. Maximize your chances of getting a good temporary employee by finding an agency you like and sticking with it, even if you have to wait a day or two to get that extra person.
  
  

Develop Seasonal Staff

• Especially in areas where your need for seasonal staff coincides with seasonal job seekers, developing your own seasonal labor force provides you with experienced staff members when you need them most. For example, a retailer or online distributor can recruit and train college students with an eye to employing them on weekends and during holiday breaks. With a well-developed reserve labor force, you save time and money lost in training, and because your needs coincide with their needs, you increase employee loyalty and satisfaction within that trained and experienced reserve.
  
  

Develop In-House Temporary Services

• For large companies, an in-house temporary service staff gives the best overall return on investment. A prescreened staff familiar with custom software and company needs is ideal for placement where needed. As a bonus, you can use this staff pool for permanent hiring needs. This helps filter out employees who are not suited for your company, providing a sort of try-before-you-buy system. When implemented properly, you can staff your company with a flexible force to optimal levels and maintain a prescreened, tested pool of workers for permanent placement.