When to Employ Temps: A Guide to Hiring Temporary Workers

So, Suzy who works for you is pregnant and taking her maternity leave. Now you have to find someone to fill her shoes for six weeks, but not replace her entirely.

What are you going to do? You’re not going to find a lot of interview applicants willing to work for only six weeks.

Not unless you employ temps. Temporary workers are the best bet in high-need and low-time situations. Learn more about the process below.

When Should You Hire Temps?

When you’re out of luck and over-worked, you may feel like there’s nowhere to turn. You don’t have the processing time or budget to put out an ad and interview people.

You need bodies on the floor, NOW! That’s where a temp agency comes in. Instead of you interviewing them, they send a temporary staffing organizer to interview you.

The professional will figure out exactly what your employment needs are and how they can help. Once they have the details, they’ll go back to their database.

They’ll search out people they’ve already pre-screened who are a good fit for your kind of work. Then they’ll make sure they get there on time and act as a mediator if there are any employment issues.

Some even manage individual employee payment – you pay the agency a lump sum and they dole it out.

It’s really the easiest way to fill someone’s shoes, fast.

What Are the Benefits?

First of all, you get the bodies you need to do the work that makes you money. That’s a big save since most interview processes take at least a week.

That’s a week you’d be paying another employee overtime or missing out on that production entirely.

You Might Find Your Next Employee

It’s not uncommon for a temp fill to turn into a full-time employee. If they do a great job and you love their work, then it’s possible to hire that person full time.

That is if they’re willing. You can work the details out with your temp service representative and as an added bonus – you got to skip the trying interview process altogether.

What Are the Cons?

Like anything, there are negatives to go along with the positives. Mostly, the negatives depend on your business.

If your company has very complex equipment or procedures, you will lose time training temp workers. If you can swing it, sometimes temp agencies will have someone already certified to do the work.

But they can’t serve everyone, and you will end up doing some training.

Starting to Employ Temps

The best way to employ temps is to try out a few staffing agencies. If you have a unique business need or high technical qualifications, ask if they can provide the temps you need first.

Then let them help you employ temps that will get your profit and your business back up to speed. The worst thing that could happen is you don’t like one and you ask for a replacement.

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