You’ve hired on a number of temporary workers to supplement your staff during a busy time. Maybe you have many vacations to cover over the course of the summer, or perhaps business has just picked up and you need the extra help to keep up. Whatever the reason, you needed the help and you’ve found it with temporary workers.
Now that you’ve finished hiring and you’re done onboarding, you’re focused on ensuring your workers stay motivated and engaged for the duration of their employment with you. Whether it’s for a week or a year, you want your people to be motivated to do their very best every day. With these four methods, you can give your temporary employees a boost toward better engagement, motivation, and productivity.
1. Recognize Great Efforts
Have you said “thank you” to a temporary worker for a job well done lately? If not, you may want to think about how often you recognize employees’ efforts. Recognition is incredibly important to most employees. This is true for your temporary workers too.
People want to feel valued and important at work. When you recognize their efforts and contributions, workers will gain confidence and be more motivated to turn in better performance. They will feel like an important part of your team once you recognize and value them.
2. Offer Rewards
Recognition, of course, only goes so far. If all you ever do is say, “thanks” or “great work,” it may eventually wear a little thin with your workers. They may question if you truly value their work or if you’re just saying it.
You can assure them you do truly appreciate their efforts by offering rewards in addition to recognition. Maybe you can have your workers nominate each other for workplace awards when they do good work. You might offer something with cash value, such as movie tickets or a gift card. You may even opt to offer a small bonus or something similar.
You can also use this tactic to motivate teams. Perhaps the team with the best performance gets a pizza lunch or something similar. Remember, rewards don’t need to be expensive to be appreciated.
3. Give Feedback
Another way to keep temporary workers motivated without spending any additional money is to give them feedback. Many employers don’t offer their employees regular feedback. Even regular, full time employees may have a performance review just once or twice a year.
Workers usually want more feedback more frequently from their employers. This is especially true of younger workers who prefer on-the-go feedback to formal performance reviews. If someone is working on a project, give them feedback at the end of the day or once a week.
Keep in mind feedback isn’t always critical. Feedback can let the employee know what they’re doing right. It can also offer helpful tips on how to improve. Armed with this knowledge, the employee may feel better equipped to tackle even the toughest of tasks.
4. Provide Ongoing Learning Opportunities
One way to keep temporary or seasonal employees motivated is to keep them learning.
Many employers stop training after an employee completes their initial training and onboarding. Instead, think about continued learning. Your temporary workers should continue learning so they can hone their skills and become even more adept at their jobs during their time with you.
There are many other ways to motivate employees, including temporary workers. Try some of these tips and watch how productive and engaged your team becomes.
