Is it You or Them – How to Determine Why a Temp is Struggling

If your temp is struggling, you should not necessarily assume that it is their fault. Sometimes the blame can be placed on your business’ own internal practices. To determine where the problem lies, ask yourself the following questions.

Are your company’s processes straightforward or are they hard for an outsider to understand?
Solution: Review these processes and make adjustments if necessary. You can ask recent hires and temps how easily they got up to speed, how they would rate these processes and any feedback. Look for jargon in materials and unclear or missing descriptions of job functions. Ensure that the processes include a training component. Your business should have clear and intuitive digital and paper filing systems, and user-friendly software. Your company should also have an efficient labeling system and a workflow that is free of clutter. Temps ideally should have their own work space and their own materials and supplies. A temp should not scrounge every day for tools.

Are you clearly communicating the job expectations and what needs to be done?
Solution: Improve communication. For example, a temp may have been told he or she needed to have five reports done by the end of the day but was given no further guidance on how to do them. So, they wrote them according to their own methodology as opposed to the one your company thought they would use. It is important not to assume. Communicate what job you would like done and how it should be done. Examples of previous or similar work are helpful. Give constructive feedback. If a temp turns in a report that does not meet standards, you risk another bad report if the manager says: “This is unacceptable!” without much elaboration.

Are you giving the temps a reasonable amount of time to learn?
Solution: If you are not, adjust time frames accordingly. In general, temps need four to eight weeks in a new environment to work comfortably and independently. If your processes have been unfriendly, temps may need more time and more training.

Image Source : David Castillo Dominici,