Temporary Workers

If your business’s staffing needs are seasonal–for example, youneed extra workers during the holidays or during busy productionperiods–then temporary employees could provide the flexibility youneed to grow. Temporary employees, as the name indicates, are hiredonly for limited periods of time. So they are only there when youneed them for specific growth spurts.

Temps also have other advantages. Because most temporary helpcompanies screen–and often train–their employees, BIZ Experiencesswho choose this option stand a better chance of obtaining thequality employees they need.

In addition to offering pre-screened, pre-trained individuals,temporary can help contain your overhead and save time and money onrecruiting efforts. The cost of health or unemployment benefits,workers’ compensation insurance, profit-sharing, vacation time andother benefits doesn’t come out of your budget, since manytemporary help companies provide these resources to theiremployees.

A growing number of BIZ Experiencess use temporary workers parttime at first to get a feel for whether they should hire them fulltime. As a result, many temporary help companies have begunoffering an option, temporary-to-full-time programs, which allowthe prospective employer and employee to evaluate each other.Temporary-to-full-time programs match a temporary worker who hasexpressed an interest in full-time work with an employer that haslike interests. The client is encouraged to make a job offer to theemployee within a predetermined time period if the match seems likea good one.

How do you make the most of your temporary workers once they’vecome on board? For one, “don’t treat them any differently from yourother employees,” the American Staffing Association (ASA) advises.”Introduce them to your full-time workers as people who are thereto help you complete a project, to relieve some overtime stress orto bring in some skills you might not have in house.”

And don’t expect temporary workers to be so well trained thatthey know how to do all the little (but important) things, such asoperating the copier or answering the phone. “Spend some timegiving them a brief overview of these things, just as you would anynew employee,” advises the ASA.

Another strategy for building a better relationship with yourtemporary workers is to plan ahead as much as possible so you canuse the same temporary employees for an extended period oftime-say, six months. Or try to get the same temporary employeesback when you need help again. This way, they’ll be moreproductive, and you won’t have to spend time retraining them.