How to Make the Most of Temp Workers—And Get Them to Stay

Temporary staffing normally ends when the contract reaches a certain period or when workers complete the assigned projects. If you want to keep them, you can either extend their contract or hire them directly into your organization. However, most temporary workers don’t experience the same things as permanent employees. Some even opt to end their contracts early to find other opportunities.

In this article, we’ll talk about how employers can elevate the working experience of temp workers to increase satisfaction and retention—and possibly make top workers stay.

Why Do You Need Temporary Staffing?

Temporary staff do more than just provide you with an accessible pool of talented individuals. Temporary staffing is a strategic approach that allows businesses to grow and manage their organization more efficiently.

1. Ability to scale workforce with ease.

Having access to temporary staff allows businesses to quickly fill open roles during peak seasons or when specialized skills are needed. At the same time, this flexibility enables businesses to adjust their workforce as necessary.

2. Access to specialized skills.

Instead of training and increasing the workload of your employees to accomplish one-time projects, you may consider working with staffing agencies to hire specialized talent temporarily. This is a faster and more cost-effective approach.

3. More time to perform core responsibilities.

Instead of focusing on menial tasks, you open temporary work opportunities to allow your existing workforce to handle more complex tasks. This increases productivity and allows you to focus on growth and expansion, ultimately increasing your revenue, market reach, and competitiveness.

4. Reduced employee burnout.

Many employees would be eager to accept more tasks, especially during busy seasons. However, this will only increase their workload and possibly cause burnout in your organization. Hiring temporary staff will enable you to distribute work and reduce stress.

5. Time and cost efficiency.

Hiring temps is relatively quicker than hiring directly. Most temporary staff are ready to start immediately while only requiring minimal onboarding time. This allows you to fill open positions faster while maintaining productivity.

4 Ways to Elevate Temporary Employee Experience: Improving Retention and Conversion

Of course, your temporary staff won’t be staying in your company indefinitely. There’s a limit to their work and an end to your needs. Once the contract expires, they can find another job, or you can sign another contract with them.

However, temporary staff live in a different bubble than permanent workers. They’re often isolated from their work, which can decrease engagement. As a result, you risk losing top workers who could eventually become part of your organization.

It’s not unusual to discover hidden gems in a temporary workforce. In fact, 66 percent find permanent employment through staffing firms, according to the American Staffing Association.¹ Ensure you provide temporary workers with what they need. This approach not only creates pathways to permanent positions for temporary staff but also expands your pool of talented workers.

1. Treat your temporary staff the same way as permanent employees.

There’s already a stigma in temp roles, making temp staff feel like they don’t belong to the company. However, their performance is required and expected to match that of permanent workers. So, why shouldn’t they be treated the same way?

When temporary employees aren’t invited to gatherings, conversations, or activities, they become less involved with the company. This will eventually become ingrained in your culture and potentially create a division between your teams, affecting collaboration and teamwork. Additionally, temporary staff may share negative experiences about this exclusion with their professional networks, damaging your employer brand.

Regardless of one’s employment arrangement, make sure to provide a welcoming environment and include every employee in every company activity. Provide the same level of recognition, rewards, and care. When workers feel like their company cares about them, they become more productive, committed, and involved with their teams. In addition to better performance, it also provides opportunities for possible long-term employment.

2. Approach your temp staff strategically.

On one hand, temp workers must feel the same as permanent employees. On the other, you should also establish concrete engagement strategies to help temporary workers integrate with the organization. Although you’re providing equal engagement, temp employees will always have differences from their regular counterparts.

For example, temp staff usually don’t receive the same benefits as full-time employees. They also perform their responsibilities individually or are tasked to finish certain special projects that don’t necessarily involve your regular staff. These are natural but unavoidable barriers due to the nature of their work.

To make sure they remain engaged, you need to establish a clear system on how to manage, onboard, communicate, and collaborate with temps. This includes:

Fast-track onboarding processes that help workers understand business processes, culture, and practices easily.
Provide milestones to keep them engaged and on track with their responsibilities.
Offer perks, benefits, or bonuses to motivate them to contribute more.
Hold regular check-ins and one-on-one meetings to address concerns, misunderstandings, and work challenges.
Assign a mentor, buddy, or point person to guide your temp staff throughout their day-to-day operations.

With a comprehensive guide for temporary staff, your managers, supervisors, HR teams, and regular employees can easily guide temps and interact with them, making them feel valued, appreciated, and recognized.

3. Consider their input and feedback.

Ask about their experiences, challenges, and suggestions. Are there any processes they wish to improve? Are there practices that don’t go well with them? Do they need additional resources to accomplish their tasks?

These questions will give you insights into how to provide a better employee experience. Your temp staff may be less vocal with their opinions and observations simply because of their short time with you. However, they’ve already worked for various employers and different work environments. So, make the most of their experience by incorporating their insights into your approach.

Provide safe and anonymous feedback channels to encourage them to share.
Foster a culture of continuous learning that extends throughout the organization.
Act on their feedback whenever possible.
Allow temps to organize or lead certain initiatives to increase their involvement.

4. Offer training and development opportunities.

Like any other individual, temporary employees also value growth and development. Creating opportunities for them and providing them with substantial training can improve their careers. On the other hand, it also contributes to your brand recognition.

Moreover, it shows that you’re committed and value their growth. This not only improves performance and productivity but can also increase loyalty, which will help encourage them to apply for more permanent roles in the future.

Make temporary staff permanent with Horizon America.

The best strategy for keeping talented temporary staff is to offer them permanent roles. This is where a staffing agency, like Horizon America, can help. While some workers opt for temporary arrangements, many still consider permanent jobs.

As a staffing partner, we can help you with all kinds of employment. Whether you need permanent, temporary, temp-to-perm, full-time, or part-time employment, our tailored solutions can help support your employee management strategies.

The key to attracting temporary staff is to provide support, equal opportunities, and continuous engagement. With these strategies, you’ll surely make the most of your temp workers and get them to stay.

Reference

“Staffing Industry Statistics.” American Staffing Association, 2023, https://americanstaffing.net/research/fact-sheets-analysis-staffing-industry-trends/staffing-industry-statistics/