The adjunct professor plays a critical role at many universities. Business professionals with a variety of expertise are brought in to teach subjects that require subject matter expertise or to fill roles that cannot be filled by existing faculty.
Many businesses would do well to consider the “adjunct” role for management or key leadership or training roles in their organization.
While most companies may provide incentive for their existing workforce by providing short-term opportunities to advance in critical roles such as on a training team or for holiday management roles, having seasoned professionals that companies can turn to on a less than regular schedule can be extremely beneficial.
Without the need for paying benefits or the need for retraining, companies who lose valuable full-time staff members to new positions can have a trusted resource to turn to during staffing downturns or business upturns.
The next time you have an employee who leaves, give some consideration to keeping them on as an “adjunct”.
When I was in college, I worked as an “adjunct” at a couple hotels and a gas station on weekends. Although I wasn’t a regular member of the payroll, I’d call up a couple days before the schedule would be posted to see if they had any needs for the week, and depending on the weekend, I’d work either at a hotel or the gas station. It gave the businesses some needed bench strength and it gave me the flexibility to concentrate on my studies.
Now that I am full-time in my business, it would be a delight to return from time to time to some of my former places of work as an adjunct.
Wouldn’t you like that opportunity as well?
