LIHU’E – The temporary-staffing function of Kokua Business Services has already lost some good workers to full-time positions offered by companies that called looking for temporary employees. The companies and temporary employees matched up so well that the companies offered
LIHU’E – The temporary-staffing function of Kokua Business Services has already lost some good workers to full-time positions offered by companies that called looking for temporary employees.
The companies and temporary employees matched up so well that the companies offered full-time work, and the temporary workers accepted.
That’s a pitfall of the business, but also a testament that Elizabeth Kua knows how to pick them.
As a result, though, Kokua Business Services is looking for a few more good men and women willing to work temporary jobs.
With a staff of around 10 temporary employees, Kua, owner of Kokua Business Services, is searching for a few more temporary employees with varied skills.
The most specialized request she has received has been for a paralegal secretary, which she was able to fill. She finds her temporary workers through newspaper ads, word of mouth, and by cultivating talent at Kaua’i Community College.
The only non-medical temporary staffing agency on the island, Kokua Business Services receives calls nearly daily from offices of attorneys, Realtors, management companies, and other organizations, mostly in small offices, looking for temporary help.
It could be to replace someone who has called in sick, a worker on maternity leave, vacation, or for a special project that needs extra hands to get done in a timely fashion, Kua explained.
Originally opened in the Lihu’e Plantation Building as Kokua Bookkeeping Services, the business expanded after Kua repeatedly heard her bookkeeping clients clamoring for temporary workers.
She formed a partnership with Grant Welch, owner of the Lihu’e Plantation Building, and Kokua Business Services was formed.
Kua, who holds an associate’s degree in accounting from KCC, still offers bookkeeping, payroll, accounting, QuickBooks consultation, and personal and business income tax form preparation.
But after hearing from her bookkeeping clients, and conducting a business survey regarding temporary employment needs, she and Welch found there was enough interest for a temporary-staffing business to be successful.
Many workers enjoy the flexibility of temporary employment, working the hours and days they want to, and not working when they don’t care to.
Employers use the opportunity to test out employees they may be interested in offering more permanent employment to, without immediately having to extend necessary benefits and other additional-cost-items to the workers, she continued.
Placing people in positions lasting from one day to several months at employers large and small, Kua has received positive feedback from the employers she has sent workers to.
She can even fill most last-minute requests, she said.
Kua, who has worked as an accountant and manager at H&R Block and as an accountant for other firms over the years, hasn’t had to send herself out on a temporary assignment yet.
She is busy enough with her other duties of running a business, which she does with assistance from Sharae Torres.
But if she had to, she would go to an employer to fill a need if she couldn’t find anyone else, she said.
Those interested in temporary positions should come in armed with a resume, because most employers want to look at that first. She also has a standard employment application form for prospective workers to fill out.
The office is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and the telephone, 632-0106, has an answering machine for after-hours messages.
