5 reasons why temps are great for your business
By: Dan, redwigwam
In a climate where it is not always viable to take people on for full-term contracts, temporary workers are a great way to gain the support you need in your office for a short period of time.
Below are some reasons how temporary staff can help your business and why it is worth the leap.
1. You can hire people in just for a project
Temporary staff can be great for working on a particular project. When I was younger, I was taken on as a temporary worker to assist on a vetting project. Over half the people working on the project in the end were temporary staff who were trained on the job: The company had been offered the project very quickly and did not originally know how big it was going to be. My contract got extended from 6 weeks to 6 months in the end. This worked out for me, as I had regularly work for that period and helped a company at a time when they needed it the most.
2. They can assist with tasks that individuals or a team are finding hard to tackle
We recently had a period at work, where we had several repetitive but important tasks and just not enough people or time to work on it. In the end, we had two temporary staff members in for just over a month who we trained on the job. They dealt mainly with the particular tasks that we needed covering but would dip in and out of other tasks as well. We couldn’t have done the work in the time period without them, so they were vital additions to our team: One of these staff members is now going to come back to work for us in the next month.
3. You can hire in temporary staff with a certain skillset
Ages ago I temped at a college that needed administrative support but from someone with design and video experience. I studied a bit of this at university and had worked on projects outside of work, so this and my administrative skills made me the perfect candidate. Originally they wanted me for 2 weeks, but I landed up helping out on all kinds of mini-projects over 3 months. Sometimes a new skill set may be needed within your team, but there’s no one with the experience or time to cover it. Getting in a skilled member of staff can let you see if this is a temporary measure to cover a project or if this is something that you will need covered full-time. Until you try someone out, you won’t know.
4. Bring new blood into the team dynamics
Due to my current team having certain busy periods each year, we seem to get in new faces about every six months. Most of these tend to be as temporary staff members, some who land up getting their contracts extended. The best thing about this is often a fresh face to the team, as well as a new perspective. I started in my current role as a temporary staff member and I remember how different my perspective was on tasks, to some of the longest standing team members. It is quite easy for a team that has been together for a long time to become stagnant and less enthusiastic about their work. One individual with fresh ideas can really help to change things up, and if you take on more than one person, even more so.
5. It allows you to try out new staff
One thing that no one knows before they start a job, is whether or not it is definitely the right company for them. It is fair enough to have interviews and meet people, but it is not the same as being in the office day in, day out. The great thing about hiring staff as temps is that both the employer and employee get to see if this particular arrangement works for them. Having temped at many companies over the years, you can quickly tell if you fit in or not. This isn’t just about your work; it’s about whether you gel with the company and your colleagues. In my current company, I felt at ease almost instantly, which is why I was happy to go full-time when I was offered a role.
I hope this has given you some positive reasons why temporary staff can be great for your business. I found temporary work to be a positive and great learning experience for myself, whilst helping various companies out with tasks and projects which needed assistance: Many of my short contracts were extended, and some of the companies that could, offered me jobs.
