3 Tips for Onboarding Temporary Workers

A welcoming first day is essential for new hires. They should be oriented to their new position and familiarized with company culture. The more time you invest in the beginning, the faster you’ll have a trained worker. How do you make sure your temps get off to a good start?

Here are three tips for what you should do.

1. Provide an Onboarding Packet

You’ve hired the people, and now you need to make sure they get off to a productive start. Do that by providing them a physical welcome packet, filled with content that will help them get acclimated. The packet can include company history, core values and what an employee should expect the first day, week and month. You’ll also want to include a staff directory, including key contacts, a map of the building or campus, press clippings and any relevant company policies.

2. Shadow an Employee

When new employees join a team, they are going to be unsure of their tasks and have a lot of questions. Assigning them a seasoned employee to shadow will make them feel more comfortable and get them trained more quickly. As part of job shadowing, new hires should get a tour of the facilities, including mailroom, security office, restrooms and cafeteria. Introduce them to their co-workers. And since starting any new job involves a steep learning curve, make sure the employee they are shadowing will be available after the training process is over since onboarding doesn’t stop after the first day.

3. Include New Temps in Team-Building Events

Human resources professionals know that getting everyone together for a shared activity in a casual setting, like a happy hour, can improve team spirit and create a more cohesive unit. After time spent bonding outside of the office, people are going to get along better and communicate more effectively in the workplace. But if you leave your temporary employees out of these activities, you’re missing the opportunity to create real improvements in morale and performance — across your entire team. Make sure to plan a happy hour for your new employee’s second or third week.

Many companies survey their new employees to measure the effectiveness of their onboarding efforts. You should do the same. Expect the process evolve continuously and you’ll learn what works best from the feedback you receive from your new employees.

For more information about effective hiring and onboarding processes, visit the Nesco Resource website.