The Benefits of Project Based Recruitment in the GCC

The Benefits of Project Based Recruitment in the GCC

With seemingly unbound growth across the GCC, workforce demands are growing too - as we are seeing especially in KSA. Alongside the progression of the Saudi Vision 2030 and Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, regionally, companies are increasingly turning to project based recruitment to find the skilled professionals required to drive their business growth and timelines.

Project based recruiting is a valuable tool for GCC companies as it allows for time efficient agility, is cost effective and offers risk reduction also. For a strong and dynamic workforce, the benefits are clear.

Speed

With a contract hire, you have the opportunity to focus on specific skill sets or experience. This negates any training requirements and allows hires to hit the ground running. Lengthy on-boarding processes can be eliminated also, with the employee able to start immediately and jump right into the business, exactly where it is needed.

Experience.

Most seasoned contractors bring with them the benefit of working on project based roles as a focus. They have a greater understanding of expectations and timeframes against results and workload. The results-orientated focus is vital for agility and getting a specific set of deliverables done. Permanent employees are usually working on a ‘bigger picture’ career path, which is great, but with project-based recruitment, we can source the right person for the right job, at the exact time the business needs it, and to get on with it immediately.

Cost reduction.

Everyone has a bottom line to watch and permanent employment can be costly for a business. Salary, visa’s and associated, mandatory benefits for an employee soon stack up. Hiring project-based workers, you are paying for the specific skills and experience required? - resources can be allocated more effectively and your workforce can be sized up or down more effectively without the added costs associated with full time hires.

Efficiency and risk reduction.

Moving people around internally is time consuming and often requires training and further management. Bringing in specific expertise temporarily to work on specific deliverables means that company processes and resources are not tied up in managing moves , creating new roles or re-skilling current staff. Headcount approval would usually be easier to gain, due to recruitment costs being tied into a project budget also. There is no denying that sometimes things simply don’t work out with professional project-based hires, but due to their very nature, the ‘off boarding’ process is made easier for companies also. Having somebody as part of a project team means that you have effectively trialled them as a good performance and culture fit for the business - if a full time role becomes available, or is necessary for project continuation, you have your first choice on board already.

Fresh perspective.

GCC companies look for loyalty and can be fiercely guarded. Bringing in professional project workers can feel off putting if specialists have worked across companies or businesses perceived as competitive or in the same industry. The flip side of this is that they also bring in a well rounded perspective and a fresh set of eyes alongside their experience, and this is only a positive thing. You get best market practice and new thinking from an outside, yet industry aware professional. Contracts should, of course cover any confidentiality issues.