Nov 12, 2024 – 8 min read
In today’s business landscape, the demand for temporary employees is rising. Fluctuations in workload, seasonal peaks, and short-term projects often require companies to hire temporary workers to ensure operational efficiency and meet business goals.
Yet hiring temporary employees requires a different approach than permanent hires, and it’s important to have an alternative system in place to successfully attract, select, and manage temporary workers. Creating an appropriate workflow minimizes onboarding challenges, allowing businesses to hire temp workers seamlessly and efficiently.
While it’s clear that temp work brings advantages for a business, challenges may still arise when hiring short-term employees. Following our best practices and embracing the efficient recruitment strategies below will mitigate these teething problems, allowing your business to flourish in its relationship with seasonal staff.
Before hiring temporary employees, businesses need to define the scope of work. Assessing workload, defining required skills, and estimating accurate project timelines will help hiring managers determine the number of temporary workers needed.
Below are some best practices for businesses to manage temporary staffing, allocate resources wisely, and ensure projects are completed on time.
Now that you know what you need for your temporary assignments, it is time to develop a recruiting strategy.
Hiring temporary staff members requires a different recruitment strategy than hiring permanent staff members. It’s critical that businesses factor in this difference to reach and attract the right candidates for temporary positions. When creating a recruiting strategy, it is important to:
By creating a thorough recruiting strategy, businesses can save time and money when searching for temporary employees.
Once a business has a healthy pool of applicants, the next step is to screen and interview them, evaluating candidates’ suitability for temporary positions and company culture. While temporary hires go through a similar process as regular employees, it’s important when interviewing temporary employees to look for qualifications unique to short-term employment.
Typically, temporary hires need to hit the ground running. So, it’s important for them to quickly adapt to new environments, tasks, and team dynamics. Openness to adjusting their schedules or roles as needed to help meet project deadlines is also a vital skill, as temporary work is ever changing.
Finding temporary staff that thrive in short-term project-based environments with strong problem-solving skills will help keep short-term projects on track as goals and timelines can vary. You can identify this skill in an interview by asking questions about previous experience, or examples that the potential employee can provide where they adapted rapidly to a change and provided good outcomes.
Temporary hires must integrate seamlessly into existing teams to keep operations running smoothly and projects on track. Not only are strong communication and collaboration key, but it’s important to make sure temp employees align with the company culture and the team dynamic they will be working with.
By focusing on these specific traits and skills, interviewers can identify candidates who will make meaningful contributions during their temporary employment. Businesses may ask candidates in their interview to describe a project that required quickly adapting to a new environment or how the candidate would proceed when faced with an unhappy client.
Now that a company has its temporary employees, it’s time to integrate them into the company in a way that sparks a constructive and creative workflow. Some best practices to follow are to:
When temporary workers feel supported and welcomed into the team, they are empowered to put their best foot forward.
It’s important to know the ROI of any business initiative, and temporary hiring projects are no exception. Understanding how short-term workers impact the company can help businesses make informed decisions for future staffing needs.
When creating temporary employees, develop key performance indicators (KPIs) related to their positions. Monitor and measure their performance against these KPIs to track progress and find room for growth. Regular performance evaluations of temporary hires helps businesses to maximize the value of the hire’s contributions during their time with the company.
Some KPIs to consider are:
If a company has more than one temporary assignment, they must always find ways to improve their temporary work processes and be mindful of their reputation among temporary employees. The offboarding process is an opportunity to conduct exit interviews and nurture relationships.
Exit interviews provide a safe space for temporary employees to share their experiences. This feedback offers valuable insights for fine-tuning recruitment strategies, bettering onboarding procedures, and creating a more positive experience for future temporary hires. Ultimately, building connections and fostering relationships can benefit both employees and employers alike in the long run.
Some genuine ways to develop post-project relationships is to recommend or establish connections for temp employees. Things such as networking, connecting them with contacts, or providing referrals to other companies or departments are fantastic ways to build and maintain positive relationships.
Businesses can also build good reputations by helping short-term employees with their professional goals. Suppose people feel valued and grow at a company. In that case, rehiring the same workers or receiving strong talent recommendations is much easier.
An effective talent hiring and management strategy for temporary employees allows businesses to make the most of temporary workers and short-term projects. While the recruitment process can be long and arduous, being cognizant of best practices can result in better business outcomes.
Collaborating with a recruiting agency can streamline the hiring process, ensure access to a wider talent pool, and increase the likelihood of finding the right temporary employees for specific business needs. Recruiting agencies have large networks, expertise in candidate sourcing, and streamlined processes that can save businesses time and effort. The right agency can help identify and attract qualified temporary candidates, conduct initial screening and interviews, and provide valuable insights into market trends and candidate availability.
The Hiring Advisors assist businesses with their temporary and long-term recruiting needs. Contact us here to make an appointment. You can also email us at info@thehiringadvisors.com or speak to one of our recruiters at (310) 504-3049.
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