Attracting Short-Term Employees by Prioritizing Safety, Guidance, and Effective Training

Hiring a few short-term workers to cover sickness, seasonal demand, or expansion can be a great way to boost your productivity without taking on long-term fixed costs. Folks who come in on temporary contracts are usually highly motivated and tend to add to your company culture during their contract.

However, if you want to make the most of short-term employees, you’ll need to ensure they are well-trained and understand their role. Proper training is essential when working in industries like construction, where employees may be exposed to serious risks and hazards.

As an employer, you can help folks make the most of their time at your firm by prioritizing safety, providing expert guidance, and conducting comprehensive training. This approach can bring more talented employees to your firm, too, as word is sure to spread that you’re a people-first employer with great perks.

Effective Onboarding

An effective onboarding program is the backbone of your recruitment and talent acquisition efforts. You can’t expect to land talented employees if rumors spread that your onboarding is ineffective and your ability to support short-term hires is limited.

Rather than throwing short-term employees in at the deep end, focus on creating an effective kickoff meeting with your new hires. The material should cover key points like:

Deliverables: Why did you hire short-term employees? What goals would you like them to work towards?
Background Information: What industry-specific information would be helpful for short-term hires? Is there anything they need to know about the context of your business operations?
Communication Channels: When folks have a question, who will they ask? Similarly, how can they share progress updates when working remotely or in the office?
Introductions: Go beyond the norm when introducing short-term hires, and ensure that new hires know who, exactly, they are working with.
Inspire: You (hopefully!) believe in your business — share that passion with your short-term hires and let them know they are part of your company culture.

A robust, holistic approach to onboarding is key if you want to help folks feel safe, supported, and capable in their new role. Spending a week working on onboarding will pay dividends in the future and is sure to prevent accidents and human errors at work.

Short-Term Employee Safety

Safety should be a top priority when working with short-term hires. Many temporary staff are not aware of industry-specific safety protocols, and some may have followed different guidelines and policies when working for other firms. As an employer, it’s your job to maintain safety standards and keep new hires safe when working for your business. You can address common safety challenges for short-term employees workers by:

Addressing safety concerns head-on by leveraging an electronic hiring process that ensures you know whether or not folks have been properly trained to complete tasks like operating heavy machinery or handling hazardous items.
Using OSHA-compliant tools to mitigate the risk of human error and ensure that folks have to follow safety protocols when at work.
Providing plenty of hands-on guidance and taking the time to debrief on a daily basis
Offering adequate PPE and ensuring that folks are always wearing the correct attire for their role

Following these steps minimizes the risk of an accident at work and ensures that your workplace remains OSHA-compliant. Taking a proactive approach to short-term worker safety will improve your communication channels and ensure that your safety protocols evolve in line with guidance.

Investing in Training

Working with an effective recruiting firm will ensure that you have access to a deep pool of highly qualified, effective candidates. You can feel certain that you’ve hired the right person when working with recruiters who care and will be able to create a culture of growth by hiring people who align with your vision.

However, if you want to continue to attract short-term hires — or re-hire the same talented staff during future peak seasons — then you’ll need to invest in training. Investing in short-term employees may seem like a waste of resources at first, but folks are sure to spread the word that you are a people-first employer if you offer further training to seasonal staff. This can deepen your future applicant pools and lead to long-term gains that improve your business’s productivity during busy seasons.

You can create a culture of growth by using training today by offering a blend of training approaches. In general, employees favor training that offers:

10% formal training;
20% coaching;
70% hands-on experience.

When you do offer further training, focus on short modules that are fun and keep engagement high. Doing so will boost buy-in amongst your seasonal staff and aid your efforts to create a company culture that champions safety, growth, and productivity.

Conclusion

Attracting talented short-term employees is a sure sign that you’ve built a people-first, productive workplace. You can bolster your talent acquisition efforts today by offering further training to those who sign short-term contracts and creating an effective onboarding program that helps folks better understand their role. You should also take steps to protect short-term hires by instilling robust, OSHA-compliant safety measures that keep your entire team safe.