FINDING THE PART-TIME EDGE

FLEXIBILITY

“Entrepreneurs may feel stigmatized or diminished when financial issues keep them from adding full-time staff, but this blinds them to the advantages of permanent part-timers,” says Baba Prasad, president and CEO of Vivékin Group, a management consultancy in Durham, North Carolina, and author of Nimble: Make Yourself and Your Company Resilient in the Age of Constant Change. Parttimers help ensure “operational agility,” says Prasad, noting that in workplaces where some tasks are interchangeable, two parttimers—instead of one full-timer— can prevent workflow interruption through easy handoffs.

SPECIALIZATION

It’s often a challenge finding a full-timer with the diverse expertise that can make your business grow, so it’s worth considering hiring several part-timers, each with a highly defined skill set, such as B2B sales or social media savvy, says Prasad. It’s not uncommon for owners to water down their initial wish list and then settle for a full-timer with an incomplete mix of qualifications. In contrast, part-time workers— especially retirees—may have spent entire careers in the very specialized areas you need.

AUDITION

Eager part-timers who’ve proved themselves have saved you a job search. Jeff Rizzo, co-owner and co-founder of the consumerproduct review company RizKnows, based in Reno, Nevada, made his second hire a part-timer. When his budget allowed, he was able to offer that person a fulltime position. “It was a great trial period for both worker and employer,” he says. To date, three of seven on RizKnows’s staff have made that transition.