Make long-term temporary workers part of the team - includes related article on how to keep temporary employees

HR Magazine, April, 1997 by Linda Stockman Vines

Using long-term temporary employees instead of full-time hires is a great way to boost the staff during busy times and downsize - without the pain - during lean times.

But that strategy isn't without challenges, including a lower level of commitment and loyalty. Temporary employees who walk off a job prematurely can take valuable project knowledge with them, demoralizing permanent employees and leaving the company in the lurch.

There are no guarantees, say temporary service firm managers, but human resource and line managers can help minimize the risks of such disruptions.

The key to keeping long-term temporary employees motivated and committed is tying the financial issues to the softer issues, says Marc Silbert, a spokesperson with Robert Half International, the parent company of Accountemps, a specialty staffing service headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif.

INTEGRATING THE WORKFORCE

Silbert says there are several simple steps employers can take to make long-term temporary employees feel a part of the team. These include giving them parking spaces, observing their birthdays, and including them in department lunches and celebrations. "Refilling a long-term assignment in the middle of the game is very difficult. It's easier to make it work the first time."

What employers must do, says Bob Nelson, a management consultant with Blanchard Training & Development Inc. in Escondido, Calif., and author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees (Workman Publishing) is give "connective glue" to a group of people who know that they are short-timers. "Make sure you're providing a connective element," he says. "Treat long-term temps like employees, even though you know they're not. Involve them in department meetings and make them feel that they're connected to more than just the job in front of them."

"Giving temporary employees some kind of orientation about the company so they know where they fit in, and not excluding them from ongoing company knowledge that may affect them" are important elements in keeping their morale high, agrees Bruce Steinberg, a spokesman with the National Association of Temporary and StafFing Services in Alexandria, Va.

At Blanchard Training &. Development, some long-term temporary employees have been working for months - even years - on desktop publishing projects. These employees report to a staff of project managers on a day-to-day basis.

Lisa Boyle, Blanchard's director of customized products, visits all temporary employees on their first day and then checks in with them every two weeks or so to "get a feel for what they want and to see if the job is what they thought it would be." She believes that this type of personal attention is motivating in itself.

Explaining her strategy with temporary employees, Boyle says, "If they have a little of my time, they'll know they're important to me. I want them to be happy if they're working with us. Sometimes I have the same people back again."

Though Boyle's work group does not invite temporary employees to department meetings, relevant project information is always shared with them. "We also let temps know about project schedules," she says. "We make them feel they can be on the team, and that they have license to show me that they can think and problem-solve."

Ruth, a temporary software developer in her seventh month on an assignment in San Diego, says that knowing what to expect from a job and a company is essential. "You like being kept in the know," she says, "but a lot of times, people tend not to communicate the politics of the company because you aren't officially part of it."

Ruth says her current assignment with a software company in San Diego was difficult at first because many of the long-term temporaries hired for the project left and were replaced. "It's hard if you don't have a team or if the team keeps changing," she says. "A big part of what motivates people is being part of a team and working well together. The team can consist of temps or regular employees."

A WORKING PARTNERSHIP

Nelson points out that getting it right the first time is harder than it looks. Temporary employees who expect to be with a company for only a couple of weeks or months really don't have any reason to consider the big picture. "If a temp has a bad day, or someone criticizes them, they're out of here. If you don't treat them right, they're out of here - and with them goes the knowledge of the project."

Most temporary staffing firms believe they need to work with their client companies to keep temporaries motivated and committed. Together, the two companies can define the job and agree on its beginning and end.

"If it's important to the client company to have the same people with a project through its completion, a discussion of incentives can be worked into the project contract," explains Steinberg. Some incentives used by employers include bonuses for employees who stay with a project through its completion, and hourly pay scales that increase according to project tenure.

Long-term temporary employees are also more likely to stick with a challenging assignment over a boring one, says Silbert. Not all assignments are exciting or challenging, he acknowledges, but many can be adjusted - or "stepped" - to be more so. "For example, if a project has a mundane starting point, but will get better, a temp who knows this will be more likely to stick it out." In many cases, he adds, "We can work with the client company to help them structure the assignment so that it gets more interesting along the way."