Management Differences Between Temporary and Permanent Employees

Temporary employees are a boon for many businesses, but when it comes to management you might run into some challenges. Managing temporary employees requires a different approach than managing your permanent staff. Here are a few tips and guidelines to help you succeed with your temporary hires.

Jobs and Tasks Need to be Clear

With permanent staff who have been part of your business for a long time, you can often trust them to handle tasks themselves and to work without guidance. Temporary employees, on the other hand, need much more help in this regard.

One of the best ways to help your temp employees get up to speed is to make sure their work is clearly explained. This doesn’t just mean giving instructions, either. You’ll need to ensure the workers know who to report to or ask for help, and what they should do once their work is done.

Don’t Assume They Know Everything

Even though temporary employees often have the same skills and experience as permanent staff, they may still need some training to get acclimated to your workplace and culture. Don’t assume they know how every part of your workflow operates from the start. Instead, take time to get them up to speed and answer their questions so you can avoid drops in productivity.

Give Lots of Feedback

Especially in the beginning, it’s important to give feedback and constructive criticism for temporary employees. Of course this should be part of your management strategy for permanent staff as well, but with temps it has a different effect.

For permanent staff, feedback and praise are motivational tools. On the other hand, with temporary staff feedback serves as a simple affirmation that work is done correctly. When your temps are just starting, they may hesitate when it comes to work they’re not sure about. Provide feedback and help often so they can be confident they’re doing a good job from the start.

Encourage Collaboration

In many workplaces, temporary employees can have a hard time fitting in with the permanent staff. This is especially true when your permanent employees are close or when you only have a few of them.

One way to break down this barrier is to encourage collaboration, teamwork, and even friendly competition between permanent staff and temps. By encouraging all of your staff to work alongside each other, you will help avoid awkwardness and obstacles. You can even get more performance out of your permanent staff by providing competitive incentives (such as sales bonuses) to both temporary and permanent workers.

Be Available

Finally, it’s important that you, as a manager, are available to answer questions and provide help to your temporary staff. You should be just as willing to take time and give help to temporary employees as you are to your permanent staff members. Don’t neglect your temporary hires just because they won’t be there forever. Help them succeed, and they’ll help your business do the same.

At Neese Personnel, we work with the top employers in Oklahoma City to fill their temporary staffing needs, and we’re ready to help you as well. Call 405-942-8551 today to find out what kind of staffing solutions we can offer your business, or visit us on Facebook or LinkedIn to connect with us and learn more.