The number of organizations utilizing temporary staffing has increased in recent times. Certain myths regarding temporary staffing have been done away with and the negative connotations assigned to such employment have been dispelled.
People have started seeing the benefits of using temporary staffing solutions and now in almost every industry or sector, you can witness a steady rise in such employment.
Temporary staffing has become an integral part of certain business strategies. It allows employers to reduce their costs when it comes to hiring, training and additional benefits. They are important to the bottom line.
Now, managing such employees is a whole other ball game. There are times when the norms for managing them might be different than the ones used for your permanent staff. Let’s try and understand well how can a temporary staff be managed:
Clarity of roles and responsibilities
Your permanent staff members who have been there for a longer period can be entrusted with responsibilities and can work without guidance independently. Temporary team members, on the other hand, require a bit more help in this regard.
One of the best ways to help your temporary staff get up to speed is to ensure that they know their roles and responsibilities well. This definitely doesn’t mean providing just instructions. You have to make sure that the members understand the tasks, are aware of the hierarchy, who is the go-to person for help once the work is complete, know the specific timelines and all.
Don’t slack on training
Agreed that the temporary staff members often possess the same set of skills and experience as permanent staff, however, they may still need some training, a bit of hand-holding to get accustomed to your company’s work culture. They may be an experienced lot, but every company has a different way of operating.
So, don’t assume they know how every part of your company’s workflow operates from the beginning. Instead, take time to train them well and help them clarify doubts avoiding any drops in productivity.
Provide timely feedback
Providing timely and constructive feedback should be an essential part of your management strategy for all kinds of employees. Towards the beginning of the project or tasks, temporary staffing members are employed for, it is essential to provide them with adequate feedback as it sets the tone of their working pattern and the company’s goals are clearly defined.
When you give feedback to your permanent staff, it generally acts as a motivational tool. For temporary workers, it is an affirmation of a job being done well. Providing them with the right kind of feedback can help them so that they can be confident and motivated to do a good job from the start.
Encourage teamwork
Sometimes temporary workers may feel like a square peg in a round hole, meaning, it might be slightly difficult for them to adjust within the workplace. This is especially true when your permanent employees have a different rapport with each other as they have been in the company for a longer period.
A good way to break this barrier is to facilitate collaboration, teamwork, and even friendly competition between permanent staff and temporary members. You can talk about the company’s goal and vision and encourage them by pointing out that every single contribution matters, be it from a permanent one or temporary staff.
This may lead to your staff working alongside each other and the awkward and uncomfortable silences and scenarios will slowly reduce. You can even introduce competitive incentives like sales bonuses to be given to the permanent and temporary staff members for an increase in their performances.
Approachability
The most important thing to remember here is that when you are managing temporary staff, you have to be approachable and ready to answer all kinds of questions regarding the tasks assigned. You have to devote time to help your temporary members as you do for the permanent ones. Remember, they have been hired to help your company. Help them so that they can help your business grow.
Changes in the nature of the workforce in recent times have greatly contributed to the rise in temporary staffing solutions. The economic and demographic forces that have inspired growth in the temporary staffing industry as an alternative to recruiting permanent employees are not likely to change in the near future.
At AhaApps we have been working with the top clients for over a decade fulfilling their staffing needs. We evaluate our client’s budget, project requirements, timelines, working environment and then provide the required staffing solution, a candidate who has the appropriate skills, availability, and personality to meet the requirements.
Author’s bio:
Mohona is a Content Writer for the Marketing team in AhaApps since 2019. When she is not busy attending to her creative, technical side, she likes to binge on sitcoms on Netflix. She loves writing poems and reading short stories when she wants to break away from the humdrum of life.