Regardless of the season or reason for hiring temp workers, you won’t do your business any favours by underpaying temps. Underpaying is often viewed as a sign of devalued skills and experience. At the same time, you have to balance resource management with making sure all the workers you bring to your team feel valued.
There’s a healthy middle ground to be had, however, between offering your temp workers job satisfaction and having motivated temps without strictly monetary compensation. The key is to show that you value your temps’ work and to make them recognize that they are an important part of the team. Find below five significant strategies for boosting motivation that won’t break the bank.
1. Set Goals (Individually and as a Team)
This first strategy may not sound all that significant, but consider what setting goals does from the employee’s side of things. Having specific goals gives employees concrete milestones that they can achieve, and gives the opportunity to see how all that hard work pays off once the goals are achieved. Setting goals also drives up employee focus, as they have a clear set of tasks that need to be completed to reach those goals.
Motivation can be amplified when team goals are set as well, because it improves employees’ perception of how well they work in a group. Temp workers will also feel encouraged that they achieved goals in a new work environment. Don’t underestimate the S.M.A.R.T. principle!
2. Give Constructive Feedback
Often employers give feedback that, despite good intentions, fails to motivate employees. The reason for this demotivation is related to feedback that emphasizes the negative without taking time to focus on the positives of an employee’s performance. Being able to give your temps effective constructive feedback goes a long way to showing your specific appreciation of their talents.
There are a few general rules of constructive feedback: keep your tone positive, emphasize the employee’s strengths before criticizing their shortcomings, and give specific details of what they could improve. Though they hold temporary roles, temp employees are an important part of your organization’s progress, and they deserve constructive feedback as you would give to any permanent employee.
3. Sharing the Rationale of Assigned Tasks
When you give tasks to your temps or assign them to a specific project, explain your reasoning for doing so. This strategy seems like a small thing, but it works in tandem with setting goals.
When employees know the significance of the tasks they’ve been given and understand what the task entails, they’ll perform those tasks better. This strategy makes your effective feedback more impactful, too.
4. Hold Regular Informational Meetings
Some of your temps might be in a “try before you hire” situation, where you’re assessing how they could fit into your business. Holding regular informational meetings will give temps a better comprehension of your business’s operations—daily, weekly, or otherwise. Temps will also appreciate you including them in your meetings, as it makes expectations clear and makes them feel more integral to your staff.
5. Set Up a Stress-Free Zone
Your temps might work in a hectic office or a physically demanding industrial setting. Whatever the case may be, consider setting up a stress-free zone where they can take 10-15 minute breaks. Being able to take a breather will rejuvenate them and give them a chance to collect their thoughts before tackling another task.
Now that you know these five strategies to motivate your temps, don’t hesitate to seek out temporary workers to solve your evolving staffing issues!
