How to Onboard Temporary Workers

Imagine coming on to a new job and being expected to become a member of the team instantly and having a positive impact as soon as you start your work day.

That’s what it’s like for any temporary workers you bring on for assignments at your facility.

They’re more than likely nervous. They want to do a good job and make a good impression. They want to be of value to you.

So help them along by onboarding them properly. It’s a win-win for both of you.

Read below for some tips for onboarding temporary workers.

  • Provide them with an orientation. This needn’t be as long as for your regular employees, but orient temporary workers to your facility. Show them were the lunch room/break room is, where bathrooms are located, where safety equipment can be found. In fact, it’s an especially good idea to give distribution/warehouse workers a short safety orientation, as well.
  • Make sure their supervisors are ready for them. Don’t surprise your temporary associates’ supervisors with temporary workers at the last minute. Give them at least a day’s warning. Also, make sure the workers have all the tools they’ll need to do their jobs before they arrive. Let the employees who will be working with the temporary workers know they’re coming and introduce the temporary associates to everyone.
  • Good orientations – and employees ready to work – begin before they arrive. Make sure your staffing service has clear job descriptions as their recruiters fill the positions. Everyone will know what your expectations are and recruiters will be able to staff accordingly.
  • Check in with your temporary workers regularly. Make sure they know to whom they can go if they have questions, and encourage them to ask questions, no matter how silly they think them to be.
  • If the employees are working in a long-term or temp-to-hire assignment, don’t be shy about making sure the workers get the training necessary during their try-out period. If you would train a new employee within the first three months of coming on to your payroll, do the same for any temporary worker who will be working with you for a while. After all, long-term and temp-to-hire assignments often turn into companies hiring the workers on to the payroll, so invest in a potential new employee from the get-go.
  • If you’re strapped for time, ask your staffing service to onboard the employees for you. If you have a fairly sizable number of temporary workers arriving on any particular day, ask the staffing service to send a representative or two to your site to onboard the associates for you. (Many staffing services offer on-site services for times such as these.) You’ll have to train the staffing service’s representatives in how you want your temporary workers onboarded, but the time savings to your regular employees can be substantial.

Looking for an on-site relationship with one of the Inland Empire’s oldest and best home-grown staffing services? Then contact the recruiters at Arrow Staffing. We’ve been helping Riverside and San Bernardino county employers find great temporary associates for more than 40 years. If you are looking for temp agencies in Ontario CA, contact us today.

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