Benefits of Temps in your Office

Official US Government statistics indicate that around 2.5% of the today’s workforce is made up of people who are in temporary jobs. Just 10 years ago, that figure was close to 1%.

But not only have the numbers of temp workers jumped during the last ten years, today it is a completely different type of labour force. Highly educated professionals are now available as temps, either independently or through agencies.

Almost any position can now be filled on an interim basis—from ditch digger to CEO. Today, even scientists work on a temporary basis, and that new availability is a tremendous boon for companies that need to be flexible during product development or swings in the marketplace.  And the reason for hiring temporary workers has changed over time, from short-term cover to an integral part of the workforce.

When a permanent appointment does not work out, there are usually wasted recruiting dollars, along with impaired productivity and performance from the employee, and perhaps lowered morale for a whole department. Because of these possible effects, some companies like to "try out" workers before they make an offer for permanent employment. In this sort of situation, temporary assignments provide the perfect solution.

For countless organisations, there are many benefits to using temporary staffing.  The most obvious is that you can reduce overall payroll expenses by adding staff only when needed. Companies such as hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues are obvious examples, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Today there are temps in accounting, HR, marketing, logistics, administration and the list goes on – companies in almost every sector can use temps to their advantage.

Of course, to make optimal use of the contingent workers, it is necessary to plan. A decision maker at a relatively senior level needs to forecast when the extra help will be needed, how many people will be needed and what level of worker is needed.

Part of this equation involves deciding how much of the extra work, regular staff can absorb and how much work a temp can handle.

There is also the issue of training. In the ideal situation, it is good to be able to identify clerical or routine tasks that temps can do with little training.

Although there are so many more temps in companies today, some HR specialists suggest that many managers do not use this versatile workforce as effectively as they could. Some important tips for getting value from using temporary staff in your business include:

1. Get maximum productivity from your current staff:  Free-up your experienced staff by using temps for time-consuming jobs. Don't slow the productivity of your top-performing staff with tasks that could be dealt with by an additional temporary staff member, particularly if your staff are not experienced at the task. Example: an experienced data entry clerk can complete the job in half the time, allowing your staff to do what is profitable for your business.
2. Too often the temp is only seen as a "dog's body", taking care of less important jobs. In fact, temps can be utilised for specialist skills on short-term projects, even managing project teams. Often these people can bring skills that are lacking in your current team. They can be used for a fixed period, and then let go at the end of the project.
3. Temps can be the ideal answer for administrative and technical assistance. Numerous temps can provide cost-effective assistance with technical procedures and systems implementation, setting up a database, designing administrative procedures or with project planning.