The (Not So) Hidden ROI From IT Staff Investments

Onboarding Temporary Employees Is Painless and Cost-Effective

Temporary hires are usually thought of as a short-term solution to staffing issues, and they can be just that. After all, these contract-based employees are useful in plugging holes while a job is unfilled or can be brought in for a single project, with their employment ending as soon as that project is finished.

That said, most of these types of contracts, including the ones we arrange through CDW, include an option for universities to turn these temporary employees into full-time hires, if that’s something the school and the individual both want. It’s a flexibility that universities don’t have with full-time hires, and one that gives institutions a trial period before deciding if an employee fits the team or not.

We see temporary staff most often brought in to complete major projects, specifically ones that are likely to require special knowledge. For example, when a project involves a critical piece of university software, it’s essential to have someone in place who speaks that software’s language fluently. With staff sizes shrinking across higher ed, it’s less and less likely that teams will have an expert in, say, ServiceNow, Salesforce or Workday already on the team. Instead, CDW can offer a certified, trained expert on one or more key tools to ensure a complex, interconnected project can be completed smoothly.

RELATED: Here’s how a higher ed IT succession plan can keep employees from leaving.

Temporary staffing also saves money, even if what the contract workers are paid seems otherwise. The hidden costs of the hiring process, onboarding full-time staff, going through an orientation process, conducting training and more all eat up work hours for new staff. New full-time hires also often receive some type of benefit package, and they may not be as well-vetted as experienced temporary employees, who have been rigorously screened and who universities will be able to approve before they’re brought on board.

Modest Investments Go a Long Way in Workforce Development

In my experience, most universities’ strategic plans include some kind of language about training their employees. Higher education institutions are created to educate, after all, and a good university doesn’t stop with their students. But if that doesn’t motivate your CFO, there are also real financial and operational reasons to commit to training your staff.

The obvious reason is that longer-tenured employees just know more about the place where they work. They were here when cabling was run through that one building 20 years ago, and they know why this switch is set up this way, and 1,000 other little things that aren’t part of the orientation process.

Keeping those employees happy can be tough to do in higher education, especially with two appealing carrots — more money and less work — off the table. Instead, training these employees on new tools and new techniques makes the IT department more efficient and can make employees feel appreciated in a way that few other things can.

UP NEXT: Check out how workforce development strategies can accelerate AI adoption.

CDW has the benefit of deep relationships with both universities and IT vendors, which allows us to conduct customized training to achieve whatever institutions are trying to do. It could be tool-specific training on, say, Cisco or Palo Alto Networks gear, or it could be a broader skills assessment that helps IT departments discover where their employees could use a refresher.

No matter how universities decide to do it, investing in employees is almost always a smart choice and can preserve some peace in increasingly chaotic times.