We have a long-term client who wasn’t crazy about using temporary staffing agencies before he met us. I remember the first time I was sitting face-to-face with Dave. Based on his previous experiences, he had many objections to using temp workers to staff his safety needs.
- “They don’t follow our procedures for taking time off.”
- “They don’t fill out the time sheets properly.”
- “They always get lost and then show-up late.”
- “They aren’t pro-active like our employees. They wait to be told what to do.”
Many of the objections seemed like they would occur for current employees, too. I asked Dave why it was different. He said that it wasn’t and that was his point.
This was a challenge for me because I had not had similar complaints from our customers.
Digging a little deeper, we figured out the problem. When I asked what they did to onboard temp workers, he looked confused.
“I am hiring temp workers so I don’t have to onboard them.”
I get that. I do. And we specialize in providing trained staff.
However, they are trained in safety. There are many things that the temporary workers will not know about your specific company or facility.
I explained to Dave that our workers know confined space procedures or are qualified safety techs with all of the appropriate certifications, but they may not know the client’s specific internal procedures.
However, I did offer a quick solution.
We, ResponsAble, have a standard orientation program with all of our employees to ensure that they know our processes and general information about the job.
I explained that we can also review Dave’s onboarding information during this orientation, as we do regularly for many other customers. We typically meet with clients and gather information about the employees’ responsibilities and the company’s internal protocols.
“Really? The other staffing agencies have never done this.”
Proper Onboarding of Temp Workers Improves Performance
Fortunately, it is part of our hiring process.
We want to please the customer, but we also have a responsibility to our employees. They don’t like being confused or uninformed either. And believe me, many of them are frustrated when they are not given proper instruction.
After our meeting and through a couple of specific job opportunities, Dave came back and said that proper onboarding of temps greatly improved the performance and experience.
Tips for Preparing an Onboarding Plan for Temporary Workers
If you are hiring temp workers for a safety job, or a laborer, here are several items you may need to review with them:
- Upcoming work schedule for the next week and how/where future schedules will be communicated to them.
- Proper procedure on the job for calling in sick, communicating if late, etc.
- What documentation or written excuse is required to come back from a sick day.
- Where they should report to for each shift.
- Who their direct supervisor is on the shifts.
- What to do if they complete what they are working on (i.e. clean work area, let supervisor know, etc).
- Dress code.
- Vacation and holiday protocol and pay, if applicable.
- Who to speak with if they are having any difficulty or have questions.
- What time keeping device or form to fill out.
- Who approves their time sheets.
- When and where do time sheets need to be turned in.
- Any other facility-specific rules or protocols.
This is just a beginning list.
However if you are the manager in charge of temporary workers, developing a standard checklist and reviewing with new employees’ “Day One” will enhance their performance and your experience with temp workers.
It’s a win-win and you are able to gain all of the other advantages of using a safety staffing company:
- Get safety trained staff.
- Avoid time-consuming administrative and payroll setup for short-term needs.
- Eliminate workman’s comp insurance and other requirements for full-time employees.
- Send one check to pay the temp agency rather than several, weekly payroll checks.
- Replace true poor performance immediately without all of the HR red tape.
If you’re in need of safety techs, confined space attendants, or laborers, call us for an estimate and a review of the personnel we have available in our extensive database. And, if you want to focus on your upcoming job, give us the details and we will onboard our team for you.