“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
The saying’s been around for ages, but it’s still just as relevant as ever – especially when it comes to managing temporary employees.
Throughout Middle Tennessee, employers (like you) trust temporary staffing agencies (like Wood Personnel) to deliver flexible access to talented people who can fill gaps, assist with special projects, handle sudden surges in business, or take over repetitive or non-core activities.
Obviously, temporary employees can be a great resource for your company. To ensure you’re getting the most from your investment – and head-off potential problems – use these practical tips to make managing contingent staff simpler and more effective:
- Be ready for them – before they start. Your temporary employees will arrive ready to work. Make sure you have assembled all of the necessary paperwork and orientation materials, and that their work areas are stocked and ready-to-go. When you take care of these details ahead of time, your temporaries can get down to work more quickly.
- Provide essential information up front. Carefully review temporaries’ job responsibilities, as well as your expectations, at the outset of assignments. Provide clear instructions for what temporary employees should do if they encounter a problem, need a question answered, or finish their work early. When temporaries have essential information at their fingertips, they spend more time on productive work – and less time seeking assistance.
- Make them feel welcomed. Though a temporary employee may only be with you for a short time, make him feel like a part of the team. Introduce him to co-workers and supervisors. Be sure he knows where to park, eat lunch and get a glass of water. Explain how his work fits into your company’s “big picture.” When a temporary employee feels valued and welcomed, he will be motivated to work harder – and perform better – for you.
- Allow the staffing service to conduct training. If your temporary employee requires training, ask your staffing partner to handle it for you. Provide all feedback to the staffing firm’s service coordinator and request that they, in turn, coach the employee. You want the employer of record to be responsible for training and coaching its own employees.
- Never tolerate poor performance. Temporary employees are there to enhance your company’s performance – not undermine it. Carefully monitor each temporary employee’s productivity, accuracy and attitude. If an individual fails to live up to your expectations, ask the staffing firm to replace him immediately.
Simple, proactive steps like these can help you get better results from your temporary staff – every time. And whenever you need highly skilled temporaries for your Middle Tennessee business, give Wood Personnel a call.
