Contingent workforces are becoming more and more prominent. The majority of your workers will be temps or independent contractors rather than permanent fulltime employees. How do you prepare for this? How do you build a contingent workforce for the future? Here are four tips.
Develop Relationships with Recruiters and Employment Agencies
A good temp agency can eliminate the worry of finding the right person for each available position by putting the decision in someone else’s hands. Tell the agency what position you need filled and they’ll search their database to find someone qualified. In order for this arrangement to be effective long term, you need to develop a close working relationship with at least one agency. The better they know your organization and what you need, the better they’ll be able to meet those needs. This saves a lot of time and hassle in the long run. If you call and say you need someone to fill the following position, an agency that knows your organization will be able to send a qualified worker immediately. You will not have to spend a lot of time clarifying who your ideal candidate is and what their qualifications are.
Use a Digital Recruiting Strategy
In this modern age, particularly when reaching out to millennial employees, your recruiting strategy needs to be all digital. This means more than just posting job listings on recruitment websites. It means making your company and your jobs accessible to those who are interested. That includes mobile accessibility. An increasing number of job seekers are actively using their mobile devices to search for available positions in their field. It’s a part of your candidates’ everyday lives. To appeal to those candidates, digital strategy needs to be a part of your recruitment.
Develop New Training Techniques
Training contingent workers is different from training permanent employees. A permanent employee can learn through experience on the job and build up their skills over time. With contingent employees, you don’t have the luxury of gradually building experience. Ideally, they should already have the basic skills required to do the job for which they have been hired. However, there’s still training to be done with regards to policies and procedures that are unique to your company. You’ll need to pinpoint those specific areas in which contingent employees will require training. Develope a training program that will show your contingent employees quickly, clearly, and efficiently what they need to know to jump right in and maintain the workflow.
Create a Contingent Worker Family
It can be difficult for contingent workers to feel invested in your company or care about what happens within it since they are not a permanent employee. It is important to take steps to make them feel like they are a part of something bigger and their contribution is valued. Hold official company events and functions and be sure to invite your contingent workers. Offer them ongoing feedback to improve their performance, not just for your company, but for any future jobs they may take in that field. Make a special effort to connect with your contingent workers and appreciate them as individuals rather than just replaceable cogs in a machine.
These are just a few of the ways that you can prepare your company to accommodate a contingent workforce. There is far more involved than simply getting a recruiter to help you fill available positions. You need a complete strategy for taking on contingent workers and getting the most out of them, both short term and long term. Do some self-evaluation and work with your recruiters to create a company environment in which contingent workers can thrive.
