A high-performing workforce is one of the essentials for a company’s success. An organization can be characterized by its organizational strategy and HR (human resource) and staffing strategy. The mentioned strategies unite in staffing policies and programs, which are supposed to plan labor demand and analyze diverse groups of employees. Those groups can be represented by a company’s core and flexible workforce. Flexible and core workforce have distinct differences and present specific business advantages and disadvantages.
An organization’s regular employees comprise its core workforce and can be divided into full-time and part-time workers. The core workforce is associated with several benefits, such as stability and commitment. Employers can trust and depend on regular employees because they all share one mission and strive to accomplish the same goals and objectives. The core workforce is mutually profitable, as the organization can control and expect certain results, while the workers have legal protections on the job’s outcomes, like wages. The main weakness of the core workforce is a lack of adaptability since it can be difficult to increase or decrease the number of employees if the business needs to change to meet market demands. While the core workforce is stable, it can prevent a company from evolving.
The flexible workforce consists of temporary employees who differ from core workers. The primary advantage of the flexible workforce is versatility, meaning that it can help respond to market changes by altering groups of employees. Temporary employees can also substitute the core workforce if someone is absent due to illness or emergency to avoid distracting regular employees from their duties. However, the benefits of the flexible workforce reflect the disadvantage of hiring temporary employees. While flexible workers can complete tasks, they are less likely to commit to employers, help coworkers, or present creative ideas. Conflicts between the flexible and core workforce may arise due to the former showing little interest in the company’s goals or not being a part of the team. Following that, temporary workers can have difficulties adapting to the organization’s workflow as they are typically unfamiliar with procedures, policies, and equipment. Although the flexible workforce offers some opportunities, temporary employees can finish tasks but may not help the business grow.
Regardless of the type of workforce chosen by an organization, it can face obstacles that would require employers to outsource some functions to an external company. The external source is supposed to deliver a complete product with no control from the hiring organization. Outsourcing strategies can be less expensive in achieving results, especially if solutions require specific expertise. For example, an organization can outsource processes like manufacturing to a company in another country with lower wages. However, outsourcing strategies should not involve the transfer of functions such as strategy development. Although outsourcing can simplify certain operations and replace a costly workforce, businesses need to consider its long-term effects.
To summarize, an organization can choose the core workforce for a stable workflow or a flexible workforce for immediate changes. Since regular and temporary employees can have positive and negative characteristics, it may be more beneficial for employers to consider hiring both types. However, a company should also develop outsourcing strategies to facilitate procedures and concentrate on more important processes. An organization needs to maintain an adaptable workforce to be compatible and help the business succeed.