Squeeze play: accordion management could be music to your company's ears

Entrepreneur, August, 1997 by Mark Henricks

Another risk, albeit unlikely, is the possibility of running afoul of tax and labor laws when using large numbers of long-term temps. "You can't treat contingent workers like regular employees," says Axel. "You might find yourself in the eyes of the law as having regular workers and be hit after the fact for regular employment taxes."

ACCORDION TECHNIQUES

Many of accordion management's side effects can be controlled with the proper techniques. For instance, you may be able to avoid legal problems by simply making sure you don't have temporary workers doing the same work as permanent employees for many months or years at a time.

Loyalty issues can be defused by letting temps know they're in line for permanent jobs if they perform well, says Bleecker. "We've actually [adopted] a policy of bringing on all new people as temps first," he says.

Check references carefully before hiring temps in key positions. "Interview and reference-check even though it's a short-term position," urges Prusak.

Most important, don't hire temps without planning. Contingent workers can be brought in on short notice, but you should decide well in advance how they will be used. And check your local labor market for adequate numbers of appropriate contingent workers before making temps part of your plans, stresses Bingham.

"With the accordion style, you really have to plan what you're going to do with these people, what impact they're going to have on the quality of the products or services, and how they relate to [permanent] employees," says Bingham. "If you buy into the concept and don't buy into the planning, [there's] a good chance of having a disaster."

For Jeff Bleecker, accordion management probably saved him from disaster by giving him the flexibility to take on the deal of a lifetime. "It was a substantial load off of our backs," he says of the flexible work force he hired through Olsten. "For a small company like ours, engaging in this relationship with Reebok was challenging enough. To add to that would have made it very difficult."

Mark Henricks is an Austin, Texas, writer specializing in business topics.