Contract employees are often hired to help avoid overworking your permanent staff. As an employer, it’s great that you’re willing to hire contract help to pick up the extra workload and keep your organization running efficiently. As an employee, the thought of contract employees coming to work can be a bit threatening. This post is designed with tips for how to prep your staff for contract help.
The main reason employees are threatened when contract workers start on a job is because they may feel that their own positions are at risk. It’s important that, as an organization, you address these issues and let employees know that the contract workers are there to help.
Let employees know why the contract help is there in the first place. If you need to complete a project on deadline and don’t want to overwhelm your workers, let them know. When employees know that successful completion of projects benefit everyone, they are more likely to be on board with the extra hands.
Maybe the contract employees are there because they bring a specific skill set to the table. Let your employees know that their specific skill set is required and that you want your employees to learn from them. Stress the importance of learning from contract employees to your permanent staff.
Remind your employees that the contract help is there so they don’t have to work long hours. Contract employees provide great flexibility to your permanent staff. When you show an employee that company goals can be met without requiring employees to work overtime, they will understand and be grateful. You don’t want your permanent employees overwhelmed, and they don’t want that either.
Keep the lines of communication open. Your employees should be able to talk to you, and they should also be able to communicate with contract help. Make sure that everyone is on the same page from day one. Finding the right balance between contract help and permanent employees may be difficult, but we’re here to help. Contact our experienced recruiters today for more tips on prepping your staff.