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- Tessa Hudson
There will always be a time when a business needs to bring in a temporary member of staff. Tessa Hudson discusses how to make hiring a temp work for a business.
At some point, a business might require a little extra help. Whether it is simply some administration work to help tide the firm over during a busy period, or it is looking for an expert pair of hands to take over while a member of staff is away from work, employing a temporary member of staff can be the solution.
Using a temporary worker provides a business with more flexibility, as they act as a resource that the business can employ depending on fluctuations in demand. By hiring extra members of staff during peak times, businesses can operate both productively and efficiently, as they won’t have to spend money paying staff during the low periods when they aren’t required.
Of course, there will always be positive and negative aspects regarding hiring a temporary member of staff. Aside from providing more flexibility to a business, employing somebody on a temporary basis through an agency means that it is the agency’s responsibility to process the employee’s legal documentation, conduct background checks and sort out payment information such as national insurance contributions. While this makes it much simpler for businesses, it creates more work for recruitment agencies.
However, it is the job of the recruitment agency to ensure that these issues can be ironed out on the behalf of both businesses and employees. A good recruitment agency will only enlist the skills of the best workers, through interview processes and rigorous CV vetting, to ensure that they send high-quality candidates to fill temporary roles. After all, it is in the agency’s best interest to build a good relationship with both parties, as temporary roles need to be filled more frequently than permanent jobs, so it makes sense to keep the best candidates in a database.
So what can be done to ensure that it is a mutually beneficial deal for everyone?
Ensure they are a good fit
It is crucial that whichever candidate the agency puts forward for the job, however temporary it may be, they will be a good fit for the company as this will have multiple benefits for everyone concerned.
If the candidate feels comfortable in their surroundings they will be more likely to be productive and perform well in the role, which will encourage them and the business to work with the agency on any other temporary opportunities.
Create continuity wherever possible
One of the most common pitfalls of hiring a temp is the lack of continuity for the business. Each time a new person is hired, a member of staff will have to retrain them to get them up to scratch. This uses up valuable resources and can waste the time of other members of staff, who could be doing something else.
It is not always possible to keep a temp candidate on longer contracts, or to assign them the same role each time. However, it is possible to match the candidate to similar jobs so they already possess the relevant skills they learnt in the previous role. For example, if they used a specific computer program during their last job, the agency could ensure they are selected for another role that uses the same software, over a candidate that has no experience with it.
Businesses can also enlist candidates from specialist recruitment agencies that exclusively recruit for temporary staff in particular areas, such as the hospitality industry, to find the perfect temp.
Don’t let the good ones get away
Hiring a member of staff on a temporary basis also allows businesses to have an extended trial period for employees, as they gain first-hand experience of how an employee operates within that role.
While the business has no obligation to keep the employee after their contract has ended, hiring someone on a temp role can be an easy way to identify its next permanent hire.
Tessa Hudson is a brand development manager for Chefs Jobs UK
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