It is a paradox the coexistence of a legal framework that restricts the use of temporary work and the growth that this activity has experienced in the last 25 years in Portugal.
Initially, temporary work was presented as a way of hiring for specific needs, namely exceptional increases in activity, punctual replacements, seasonal activities or projects of limited duration.
This reality has evolved and temporary work has become a fundamental management tool for companies to adapt their human structure to the life cycle of projects, i.e. it has allowed an increase in contractual flexibility and consequently a reduction in fixed costs.
After 25 years since its legislation, temporary work is increasingly sought after for specific and core functions of the user companies, allowing clients to focus on the core areas of their activity, on process transformation and innovation.
In this way, nowadays clients are looking for other benefits in the use of temporary work, such as a higher level of specialisation in the function, a qualified offer of candidates and a level of monitoring that allows the temporary worker to feel perfectly integrated in the organisation.
Facing this reality, temporary work companies have to adapt their organisation model in order to increase their degree of specialisation. In this way, flexible structures are required, with knowledge of the sectors and a high sense of customer and employee orientation.
For example, the Talenter™ is today structured by business unit, i.e. relatively homogeneous clusters of sectors of activity. It builds and develops its entire range of services according to this customer "profile".
In this case, specialisation is a consequence of positioning, which in turn has an organisational and cultural translation. In other words, the business units represent "micro" structures, with their own sub-brand and identity.
In a recent study, DBK identifies price as the main differentiating factor when choosing a particular temporary work company, but recognises that geographical proximity and the quality of recruitment and selection are very important when making a decision.
Therefore, it is fundamental to believe that specialisation and quality of service, or rather specialisation as a way of improving the level of service, will be the way to counter the current strategy of "dictatorship" of prices, which devalues a fundamental tool for the competitiveness of organisations.
Historically, after major crises like the one we are going through now, the way of doing things is reinvented, whether in management or in any other activity. If we consider that it is people who contribute most to the success or failure of organisations, we will probably see a reinvention in people management models!
Wellow™ to a brighter future!
By Cesar Santos | Founder & President Wellow™ Group
