Hiring: Full-time, Part-time, or Contract-to-Hire

More control over the work
You decide how employees are trained, when they should work, what tools and processes they should use, and what they should prioritize. You can supervise closely or check in regularly on the status of their work.

Better relationship building
Full-timers can develop meaningful bonds with other employees as well as clients. This is especially useful when they have unique insights into a particular market or clientele.

Employee retention and loyalty
Full-time employees gain a sense of job security and community, encouraging them to invite more potential followers, customers, or candidates. Full-time compensation and benefits can greatly reduce your turnover costs.

Payroll and benefits management
Employers must pay out regularly and manage benefits (including paid time off) for full-time employees using some type of payroll solution. They must also navigate a multitude of tax requirements.

Cost of development and reimbursement
To keep your workforce skilled and relevant, invest in your full-timers by paying for their training, mentorship, equipment, and travel.

Less flexibility for the employee
Full-timers often exchange work flexibility for job security. Keep employees engaged and enthusiastic by maintaining a positive company culture.

Adaptable labor costs
Hiring part-time employees can provide a cost-effective way to align team size with your business needs.

Flexible scheduling
Part-timers are ideal for covering peak hours, weekends, or seasonal demand.

Access to specialized skills
If your business requires specialized skills like bookkeeping or social media management, but not full time, part-timers are a great option for filling these roles.

Easier to adjust staffing levels
Scale up or down to meet short-term goals such as hiring more help during tax season, the holidays, or a product launch.

Scheduling trade-offs
Part-time employees often balance multiple commitments, so that coordinating availability can sometimes be a challenge.

Limited engagement
Because part-time employees spend fewer hours on the job, they may feel less connected to your business.

Turnover risk
Part-timers typically stay in roles for shorter periods of time, which can lead to challenges in maintaining consistency across roles, increased operational costs and loss of institutional knowledge.

Training overhead adds up 
While part-time employees can be a cost-effective staffing solution, onboarding and training still require the same time and effort as full-time roles.

Seasoned expertise for a flat rate
You can negotiate up front for top-tier services on projects that are smaller, more time-bound or discrete, or require a specialized touch.

Minimum setup required
Contractors usually have their own equipment, network connections, or team. The right contractor can help you hit the ground running on projects with quick turnaround. 

Diverse backgrounds and experiences
Contractors are exposed to a wide variety of clientele, best practices, and learnings across their industries. You can tap contractors for knowledge about trends or new approaches.

Divided attention
Contractors may work hours that don’t align with yours, and may be juggling multiple projects.

Less control over the work
Because contractors use their own tools and teammates, some of their processes might interfere with yours. It’s important to agree beforehand on a project’s “how” and “when” in addition to its “what.”

Not a permanent solution
Hiring seasonality, economic trends, or competitors might make your best contractors suddenly unavailable. A good solution is the contract-to-hire employee.

Try before you buy
On contract, you can sample the employee’s quality of work while simultaneously giving the employee a taste of your company. If it’s not a match, no one is under pressure to renew the contract.

A hiring advantage over your competitors
If you already know a contractor is qualified, you don’t need to waste time interviewing candidates — and you can keep talent away from the competition.

Lower overhead costs
Contractors often provide their own work equipment, which lets you reserve budget for full-timers and critical objectives. Offer the best contractors more work to keep them engaged until a full-time position opens.

Unaligned hiring expectations
Be upfront with contractors about what type of contract or consulting jobs you’re offering and whether a full-time slot will open. There's a subtle but important difference between a contract with the intention to hire and a contract with the possibility to hire.

Not a full-time match
Some contractors simply want to maintain their own hours, projects, studios, or brands, which might conflict with tying themselves exclusively to your company culture or mission.

Endless auditioning
Don’t slip into the cycle of repeatedly hiring and onboarding contractors just to let them go. Clearly define what the current role requires and how you expect it to evolve.