There are a number of times that your business can benefit greatly from using temporary workers. Temporary employment agencies can supply you with the workers you need to help with seasonal work or when you have a major project that needs attention right away. If you manage or own a small business, hiring workers this way to fill your short term needs can do a lot to help your bottom line.
- All around the United States, more and more companies are turning to temporary staffing companies to get them the workers they need. There are things that you can do to make the process go better and more smoothly.
- Look at what your needs are. If you know you are going to need extra workers for a short period of time, you are not going to want to hire permanent staff. The process of hiring long term workers is itself very long and tedious. It is also expensive. In the long run, and even the short run, hiring temporary workers to fill short term openings is good for your bottom line. You can know you are getting good quality people when you go with an employment agency to supply your short term workers.
- Make sure you get the right agency for your needs. If you know you are going to need to hire temporary workers every year, talking to temporary employment agencies and finding one that you can work with time and time again will help your experience. There are some things you can do to get the right company to staff your team:
- Talk to business owners and managers in your industry. You know people who have been in the same boat as you, ask them what they did to get temporary staff when they needed them. They may give you names to start your search.
- Look online. There are a lot of sources of information about temporary employment agencies that you can find online. Look at their reviews and testimonials. Follow through and check references they give you. You can even look at Facebook, Angie’s List and Yelp.
- Ask how they find their people and what their turnover rate it. Unhappy workers are not great at what they do. Ideally, you will find an agency who knows how to recruit good people and then treats them well.
- Ask about their experience in your industry. You need to work with temporary employment agencies that have a lot of experience working with professionals in your industry so that you can have the best experience. If you manage an accounting firm and need extra people during tax season, you need to know the people who are coming from the temp agency understand the rules around tax preparation, even if they are not going to be doing the preparations themselves.
- Treat the workers well. The first few days on any job can be challenging for both permanent and temporary staff members. It is important that you are welcoming to the temporary workers that you bring into you business. They should be treated like members of your team. Give them the same materials on your company policies and procedures that you give the people you hire on as permanent staff. These people may not be with you a long time but they are members of your team and should be treated as such.
- Make sure your record keeping is up to snuff. When you bring in temporary workers, you need to make sure all of your t’s are crossed and your i’s are dotted. You should have the paperwork from the staffing company along with the amount you will pay them. Keep their time sheets properly. There are some industries where you will need additional paperwork so make sure you have all of that. One industry that requires that is agriculture. If you have younger workers or people who are not American citizens, you will need more paperwork from them as well.
Working with temporary employment agencies can give your company the boost in workers that you need to get through your busy seasons (tax season, the holidays) and can do a lot to improve your bottom line.
