UNITEMP Blog

Temporary employees can be a great asset to your organization.  They can help you meet critical deadlines, fill-in for unplanned absences and free your core staff to focus on their most important tasks.

But if your company uses large numbers of temporary employees, it’s easy for your direct staff to fall into an “Us vs. Them” mentality.  And while treating temporary workers as an entirely separate workforce may seem innocuous, the practice can have unintended consequences for your direct employees. 

For example, research from the University of Arizona has found that direct employees (particularly at lower levels) are less satisfied with co-workers and bosses when working with a higher proportion of temporary employees.  Why?  The responsibility of training and socializing temporary workers on company-specific processes is often assigned to direct employees.  As a result, having more temporaries can complicate full-time workers’ jobs.

Here are a few suggestions for improving the working relationship between temporary and direct employees to achieve even better staffing results:

• Make temporary employees feel welcome.  While temporaries are, in fact, a separate part of your workforce (and must be treated differently because of co-employment laws), you and your staff can still make them feel welcome in your organization.  By encouraging social interaction (e.g., formal or informal introductions) among all workers, you can foster social ties that are essential to a cohesive workforce.
• Educate your direct staff.  Take the time to clearly explain the role and value of temporary workers.  The better your direct employees understand the benefits temporary help provides, the more likely they’ll be to work productively with them.
• Take advantage of training.  If you use large numbers of temporaries, many staffing services will develop customized orientation and training programs for specific positions.  This shifts the time-consuming burden of getting new temporary employees up-to-speed off your direct employees’ shoulders.

Bottom line, there are a number of steps you can take keep relations between temporary and direct employees positive.  And the more positive their working relationship, the better your results will be.  Contact UNITEMP today to learn more about our smart staffing solutions for New Jersey employers.

If your business is like most, you’ve already tightened your belt, trimming your core staff and budgets, to weather the recession.  You’re running a ”lean and mean” organization - with just enough people to get the job done.

This is a great position to be in from an expense standpoint, but what are your plans when business picks back up?

Now is the perfect time to explore the business advantages of temporary on-demand personnel:

• Get the skills you need – only for as long as you need them. A staffing service can provide individuals to work part time, full-time or overtime, any shift you require.  You pay only for their productive work hours and never have to worry about layoffs or unemployment claims once their work is done.
• Quickly staff-up to handle business surges. When business picks up, it takes a significant amount of time to recruit, hire and train workers.  On-demand staffing allows quick access to the skilled temporary employees you need, so you can capitalize on upturns in business – before those opportunities pass you by.
• Make a staffing budget – and stick to it. On-demand temporary personnel provides the additional capacity you need to get work done, without additional personnel expenses (payroll processing, overtime, benefits, etc.).  You may even be able to beat your budget by ending assignments early, once the work is done.
• Take the pressure off your direct staff. Running “lean and mean” is great for controlling expenses, but it can take its toll on your direct employees.  As their stress increases, so do problems with quality, output, attendance and turnover.  Temporary personnel can alleviate the pressure.  They can help your staff avoid burnout, improve quality and productivity, all while keeping turnover to a minimum.

UNITEMP:  YOUR NEW JERSEY EMPLOYMENT AGENCY

Maximize the benefits of on-demand temporary personnel with UNITEMP.  Since 1969, we have helped New Jersey employers like you quickly access the finest administrative, technical and professional temporary and contract employees.