There are Four Types of Employees and You Need All of Them

When launching a company, it might be an intimidating and overwhelming step to recruit more workers. Whether it’s finding a partner to share the workload or hiring managers to oversee specific projects, there comes a moment in every company’s existence when one or two individuals simply can’t keep things running smoothly.

If you believe it’s time to take the plunge and start recruiting, here are some factors to consider before doing so.

In this article, you will discover the various kinds of employees and what each of these types can contribute to your company. Each of them is an asset that will benefit your company, but each of them brings something different to the table, and it’s up to you to decide whom you want to rely on.

Employees shape your workplace. They represent your work ethics to the public, and their rapport with each other and with the company can make a significant difference in the productivity and quality of your business. It’s not only important to choose which positions you want to fill first, but also to determine what kind of environment you want to create.

Before recruiting anyone to work for your company, you need to ensure that you’re qualified to do so by securing the following:

• The employee needs to receive a fixed salary. for the record, you need to have the budget to ensure this amount, and you need to involve your accountant and your lawyer.
• They have to be eligible for perks and/or benefits provided by your company.
• This individual needs to be protected by law in terms of their wages and rights.
• You need to provide an Employment Agreement outlining in detail their job description, compensation, and other specifics.

If you believe you are prepared to take on these responsibilities and can legally offer these aforementioned components, you are ready to start hiring.

Full-Time Workers

Full-time employees are the most common workers in any company and they typically make up the majority of the firm’s employees. Recruiting them is legally the most hassle-free because after signing the contract, both parties are secured in a “monotonous” relationship where not much will change in the agreed-upon timeframe.

Full-time employees usually work 40 hours a week and are eligible for benefits (such as health, dental, vacation days, and paid time off). Due to the fixed working hours guaranteed by the contract, these employees are much more dependable than any others. Also, because of the range of benefits offered by you, they will likely be more appreciative, motivated, and conscientious about the quality of their job. However, these employees are usually assigned to one project, so they’re less flexible. They won’t be able to shift from project to project, and frankly, that wouldn’t be a smart move anyway. So hiring a more expensive, less flexible, fixed workforce is a difficult decision, but if you choose wisely, it will be a great investment.

Full-time employees shape your company profile, as these will be the people sitting in your office on a daily basis, and communicating with clients or building new contacts. Furthermore, they’re more costly than any other type of employee. Considering all this, you need to think twice about whom to hire. And aside from the first few months known as the “trial period”, terminating their contract is much more complicated than that of a part-time employee.

Most people initiate the hiring process by fulfilling the most crucial roles and moving forward from there. The eight most crucial roles to fill are:

Product Coordinator

The product coordinator will be your go-to person when it comes to anything related to the company’s products. From the product strategy to the vision and development, this individual will be responsible for them all. This is the most difficult hire because the founder is most likely in love with the product they’re selling, so choose wisely. This person will be more of a partner than an employee. They also usually work closely with engineering and marketing to keep up with everything related to the product’s development and even launching to the public.

Chief Technical Officer (CTO)

Although you can always hire freelance front-end and back-end engineers, in the long run, it’s better to have a full-time reliable employee on the task, especially if your company deals with technology on a daily basis. They typically work closely with marketing, as they’re the individuals handling your online presence and any online product you may have from e-commerce websites to apps.

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Marketing is possibly the most important part of your company, as all profit depends on your public profile and marketing campaigns. Therefore, hiring a CMO is the best investment for startups. Hiring a marketing specialist is like holding Jack of all trades in your hands. They work closely with almost all other “officers” in the company, and more importantly, they put together your marketing strategy and handle all campaigns, taking a huge load off your shoulders.

Sales Manager

Startups that master sales before anything else last longer and turn a profit faster. A sales manager focuses on generating new leads and bringing in more money for the company. The smartest strategy is spending a significant portion of your budget on hiring the best sales rep or manager money can buy. This individual will bring in more money, faster, with which you can hire more people. This is the most difficult position to hire for, but it’s the best investment on your part.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Startups either hire more people for financial and accounting roles, but experts say that if you have the capability to hire a CFO, it can be extremely helpful for the company. It is crucial to have at least one team member who has in-depth knowledge of and is responsible for every financial happening behind the company.

Customer Service Representative

Being responsible for customer service is a very critical task. Every business should prioritize mastering customer service, as it’s the gateway to a bigger audience, to returning clients and customers, and therefore to more profit. It doesn’t matter how great the product is if your business isn’t communicating constantly and effectively with all customers and clients.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Chief Operations Officer (COO)

These are two of the most essential players in your business. The CEO is the big-picture person controlling the company’s direction, vision, and culture. The COO is focused on the day-to-day operations and keeps the business running. The reason this is at the bottom of the list is that usually, the founder fills the position of CEO, and sometimes even the COO. But a lot of firms transfer these tasks to external individuals along the way. Most businessmen recommend that you always start as the CEO of your business before passing on the torch, but most people see this task through until their retirement.

Part-Time Workers

Part-time employees are much more flexible than full-time employees. That may be a setback for you, but considering that their salary is less, and their job description can be a little more flexible, this might be a smarter decision for a startup. Anyone working less than 40 hours per week is considered to be a part-time employee, and their pay is by the hour rather than salaried. While they’re legitimate employees of a company, they may not be eligible for some/any benefits.

Part-time employees can be the best choice if you can’t seem to find or afford someone who has a specific set of expertise for a full-time position. Furthermore, if you already have a few full-time employees, it’s a common realization that while more work needs to be done, hiring more full-time employees is overkill and a waste of money. This is when you can hire a few part-time employees to help where needed while costing significantly less for the companies. Assistants, receptionists, office managers, project managers, etc. are often part-time positions. They oversee important tasks taking a huge load off your shoulder, but they’re not required to stay in the office for 40 hours a week. These are the people managing larger projects, delegating tasks to full-time employees, keeping up with inventory, and so on. The smartest thing you can do is to not limit a part-time employee to just one project, task, or area. These people are free to move around, so feel free to use them where they’re needed. Most part-time employees are students and people with not a lot of experience, and they look for various projects they can write into their CV later, so don’t be shy to give as many responsibilities to them as you want. Of course, you should always consider their profile and time, keeping a balance between making the most out of their talents and overloading them.

There are two types of part-time employees. The first is the people who oversee smaller yet important things like receptionists, people in charge of data entry, assistants, administrators, etc. These people don’t need to have high qualifications. They are usually students, interns, and people with not a lot of experience. The second type is the expert. Someone who is a huge asset for you, but you either don’t have the budget to hire them, or they don’t have the capacity to work full-time. These are consultants, people in charge of the hiring procedure, HR specialists, and so on. These people are hired to oversee the biggest projects that maybe no one in your company has the experience for yet.

Seasonal Workers

Under the umbrella of part-time employees are the seasonal workers. This is another part-time position, but these employees work for a limited amount of time. Generally, they help with increased workloads or seasonal tasks at specific times of the year. For example, a lot of restaurants hire students in the summer, because students have the summers off, and restaurants need extra people when opening their terraces for the summer. It’s a win-win for everyone. 

Hiring seasonal workers saves you time and money, as they help with the extra workload, and you only need to pay them a part-time salary for a short amount of time. Just as with part-time employees, you can hire students and interns to take care of small tasks, or you can hire experts to help with the process of a larger process.

For example, if you have seasonal promotions, you can hire seasonal employees to help with the packaging, posting, or communicating. But you can also hire a marketing specialist to take your marketing campaign to the next level. This is something even they can look forward to every year, just as the summer restaurant crisis mentioned above. An important part of hiring seasonal employees that a lot of people overlook is starting recruitment early enough for people to contact you. If you are hiring for specific projects, you should also have time set aside for training them before their tasks start.

Temporary Workers

Temporary employees are hired for a set period of time on a temporary basis, such as six months. They’re often hired to work on specific projects, and their employment is terminated once the project is complete. The difference between a temporary and a seasonal employee is that the seasonal position is a recurring task that repeats itself yearly or quarterly, while a temporary employee doesn’t always work on a seasonal basis. The bottom line is, seasonal employees are always temporary employees, but it doesn’t go the other way around.

Most experts say that the sooner you start hiring, the better. You’ll have more time and energy on your hands, you’ll have specialists and partners by your side, and you’ll have enough manpower to make the business “run itself” in no time. Some positions are critical to fill, while others are more of a luxury for the company. Deciding which position is more important to you is up to you to decide, and depends on the industry you’re running your business in. But at the end of the day, hiring anyone is an investment, and you should be careful to invest wisely especially in the first few years of running your company.