3 Things to Consider before Bringing a Temporary Employee on Full Time

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3_Things_to_Consider_before_Bringing_a_Temporary_Employee_on_Full_TimeHaving temporary workers on staff whenever you need them can be a great stress reliever—you can still get the additional work done when you need it and then you just send them back to the agency once the work is complete. Sometimes, though, you might consider bringing a temporary employee on staff for a permanent position. Before you do so, here are three things to consider.

1. Does your temporary employee want a full-time position?

People work for temporary staffing agencies for several reasons. They might enjoy the challenge of learning new skills and working for different companies. They might have family or personal responsibilities that make it difficult for them to work 40 hours a week. They might be trying to gain experience in a specific industry in the hopes of landing a permanent position. Or, they might simply like to freedom and flexibility of temp work.

If you’re considering hiring a temporary worker to come work for you on a permanent basis, you need to know where his head is at. You might think that any temp worker would jump at the chance of a permanent position, but this could be an incorrect assumption. Some temps aren’t interested in working a full-time position. Before you offer up a position to a temporary employee, have a talk with him first to see if he’s even interested.

2. Have you considered the costs?

Temps are used by thousands of companies—and there’s one clear reason why: it costs less. With a temporary employee, you don’t have to pay a salary, dish out commission or bonuses, give vacation or sick days, (temp workers are provided with 10 emergency days, and also accumulate vacation time just like other employees; although the client does not pay for it, it is still allowable time off) provide them with health and life insurance, or pay for additional training.

Hiring a new employee costs significantly more than just the starting salary and you need to consider all factors when you’re calculating the costs of bringing a temp on board for a permanent position. There are a lot of hidden costs to onboarding new employees, so calculate wisely before you make your decision.

3. Do you really need a new full-time employee?

Using temp workers is an excellent way to handle short-term staffing problems when your permanent employees are sick, are on vacation, or on leave, and during busy times. During these times, you might have found an awesome temporary employee that truly impressed you with his personality, skills, education, work ethic, or experience. You may be thinking of hiring him on permanently simply because you like him and think he can be an asset to your company. Or, you might just feel bad that he’s working temp jobs and want to do him a favour by hiring him to reward him for all the hard work he’s already done for your company.

However, before you jump the gun, you need to consider if you actually have enough extra work to warrant a full-time hire. It might not be fiscally responsible to hire someone new just because you like him. If you don’t actually have enough work for someone to do 40 hours a week, then you might not actually need a new permanent employee.

When you work with temporary workers, you get to see their skills in real time and you get to try before you buy, so to speak. However, if you’re considering hiring on a temp employee full time, you must consider if he even wants the position, if you can afford a new employee, and if you actually need an extra worker on board on a permanent basis.

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Lisa Hutchinson

I started with Liberty Staffing in 2004 as the Regional Business Manager of the London office. I have over 20 years of experience in the customer service and retail sectors, as well as leadership experience including Store Management, People Development and Recruiting. In 2016, our London location moved to a larger office in order to accommodate growth of our business, which included adding a Clerical Division.

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