How to Hire Reliable Temporary Staff

Today, more than ever, hiring temp staff is seen as an integral part of a successful workforce operation, but recruiting reliable temporary employees can be challenging. There may be concern about how well a temp worker will perform and whether they will take their job seriously. Fortunately, there are steps you can take as an employer to ensure you hire the best temp staff to support your business.

Here are our top tips on how to ensure a best fit temp worker for your business (and how to recruit them).

1. Understand the Qualities to Look for in Temp Staff

One of the top tips for hiring temp staff is to look for candidates who display dedication. Since a temp worker’s tenure is limited, it’s easy for them to feel less connected to the business, which can affect the quality of their work. The most reliable temp staff are those who are motivated and committed to their jobs, regardless of how long they will be at the organisation. These are the people you can count on to work hard, maintain Health & Safety practices and always show up to the site on time. It’s important you outline carefully not just the nature of work to be done or pay, but also what makes your company different like the cultural fit, the environment and the team they will work with. All of these things should align with what the temp is looking for to get someone committed to your assignment.

Some of the key ways to establish the dedication of a temp worker include asking about their motivation and reasons for taking on temp jobs, understanding what makes them tick and ensuring you are conducting thorough reference checks to find out how they have performed in the past.

2. Consider How to Conduct a Temp Interview and Assess CVs / Referrals Effectively

When you’re in the process of hiring temporary staff, the major ways to assess the reliability of a candidate are to look closely at their resume and ask the right questions during the interview (if you are interviewing), or ensure the right questions are asked by the agency if it is a direct referral.

Review the person’s work history and highlight the skills required for your assignment, and look for patterns in how long they stayed at jobs, extended gaps between work and frequent changes to different industries. These are potential red flags that may indicate the candidate is unreliable in relation to permanent work, but it’s important to keep in mind that the issues can be skewed by nature of temporary jobs. It’s a good idea to ask for further information where appropriate before drawing conclusions.

Similarly, the temp job interview is an opportunity to learn more about the candidate, so be sure to ask questions that will help you gauge their reliability. For example:

• What is the longest period you have worked for one employer?
• Would you ever consider accepting a permanent role at a company if offered one?
• How many days would you estimate you have called in sick over the past year?
• Has there ever been a time where you haven’t given the required notice when leaving a job?
• What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a temp?
• Describe a time where you have been late to a shift or missed a deadline. What happened and how did you handle it?
• Why are you interested in working at this workplace/assignment?

Pay attention to how the candidate responds to these questions– particularly the last one. If they are frequently absent, hop between jobs often or haven’t given adequate notice in the past, you may want to look elsewhere. Keep in mind that if you’re working with a temp agency, they will help with the screening, vetting, and interviewing processes and should only recommend high-quality candidates to ensure you’re able to hire temps that not only meet your requirements, but enhance your team.

3. Use a Reliable Temp Staffing Agency

As we mentioned above, utilising a reputable temp recruitment agency is hugely beneficial when hiring temporary staff. Not only do they manage the temp recruitment process for you and take all the time, risk and stress out of labour-hire, but they also have a database of skilled, proven and reliable temps that they work with on a regular basis, who are motivated for the work you are offering.

These temp recruiters tend to have extensive networks, deep market knowledge and understand the culture and requirements of your business. Because of this, they can ensure you have immediate access to the hardworking, reliable and skilled staff you need, exactly when you need them.

At OneStaff, we only work with the most reliable and experienced temp workers in the Construction, Industrial and Manufacturing sectors. Every candidate undertakes acomprehensive filtering and selection process – with all work records, qualifications,  past behaviour and relevant experience checked and matched for suitability. We also get to know our staff for personality and to understand their individual motivations for culture and team fit. 

We have developed an extensive Health & Safety awareness programme and work to a tertiary level of accreditation requirement or higher in WorkSafe management practices. In addition, we are proud to be StaffSure certified, providing assurance around our compliance, credibility, business integrity and commitment to the advancement of worker rights. This is an international accreditation through the RCSA (Recruitment Consulting and Services Association). This means you can be confident in securing the best temp staff on the market to meet the demands on your business. 

We have 16 branches spread across New Zealand with access to one of the biggest recruitment networks nationwide, so whether you are looking for casual workers, seasonal, short-term workers or people to cover the nightshift, we can help with all your temporary recruitment needs. Register your job vacancy here to get started.

For more information about how we can help you hire temps that will be reliable and cost-effective, contact us on 0800 178 233 or click here to send us a message.