Tips on Managing Your Temporary Employees

During the holiday season, you may find yourself short-term boss for a team of temporary employees. If you’re new to this type of management situation, you might not know how to approach it. However, certain mistakes can lead to a less-than-productive outcome. To help you avoid this, here are a few tips from Murray Resources – one of Houston’s top temporary staffing agencies – so, you make the most of this opportunity:

Give your employees a heads-up.

Your core employees should be aware you’re bringing in temporary workers. They should know when workers are starting, what they’re doing, why you need them and be encouraged to welcome and support them. If they’re blindsided by temporary employees, they might feel threatened or their job security is in jeopardy, which can lead to a toxic environment.

Avoid the term “temps.”

Don’t refer to your temporary workers as “temps.” They’ll feel devalued and unappreciated. Instead, call them by their first names, just as you would with any of your full-time employees. This will help them feel like part of the team faster, so they can get acclimated and get to work.

Have a plan for getting them up to speed.

Don’t wing it when it comes to onboarding temporary employees. Have a plan in place for welcoming, onboarding and training them. While it might not be as in-depth as your training program for full-time employees, they should still be given an overview of the company, a tour, introduced around, and trained on the specific tasks they’ll be performing.

Set them up with a buddy.

This should be a seasoned staff member whom they can shadow and who can oversee work quality. This will ensure that any questions get answered immediately and you’ll have someone who can report back to you about each worker’s performance.

Check in with them regularly.

Make sure to check in with temporary employees to answer any additional questions they might have, as well as ensure expectations are clear and to offer your feedback. This little bit of time and effort on your part will help to keep them on track and deal with any problems before they escalate.

Bringing temporary employees on board is a great way to get the extra help you need without any regular overhead or full-time commitment. If you’d like to take advantage of it, but don’t have the time or manpower to find the right workers, turn to the team who does: Murray Resources, one of Houston’s top temporary staffing agencies.