Cultivating a Strong Workplace Culture with Temporary Associates

Cultivating a Strong Workplace Culture with Temporary Associates

Every day, millions of temporary staffers help keep operations running. While they may not have as much tenure as long-term employees, their contributions are just as valuable—so, they should be celebrated – That’s where National Staffing Employee Week  comes in!

During this month’s NSEW celebrations, American Staffing Association member companies hosted associate-adjacent events and activities to recognize and thank their staffing employees. Highlights included award ceremonies, appreciation luncheons and social media campaigns illustrating the stories and successes of staffing employees around the country

This year, Integrity’s own Dorina Olloni won National Staffing Employee of the Year Award in the Clerical/Administrative Category.

These ongoing recognitions further empathasize (to both industry leaders and employees) that culture is king.  Forbes defines workplace culture as the “values, belief systems, attitudes, and set of assumptions that people in a workplace share.” The word “share” is key: When culture is strong, it resonates across the entire workforce, helping workers of all stripes feel inspired and engaged in their work. Organizations need to think strategically about how to bring culture to life across the natural divides in their workforces, from long-time workers to newcomers and full-time staffers to temporary associates. For culture to flourish, it must feel authentic to all workers.

Understanding the Role of Temporary Associates

Temporary staffing  has long been a cornerstone of the American economy, even more so in the last few years. According to the American Staffing Association, U.S. employers hired 13 million temporary workers last year, many of whom are turning to temp roles as flexibility becomes an increasingly important piece of the career puzzle. Nearly three-quarters of temporary staffers are in full-time roles, as many as in the general workforce—highlighting just how critical temp associates are to the workplace.

Flexibility is also a primary driver on the employer side, as organizations look to stay agile. Amid a volatile economy, rapid tech advancements, and challenging hiring landscape, temporary staffing can enable organizations to keep pace with change.

However, as organizations integrate temporary staffers into their work environments, they must ensure they are creating a workplace culture that welcomes them. Workplace culture and all that supports it—from policies to benefits to informal avenues for advancement—are often tailored to full-time, permanent employees, which can have temporary associates feeling left out in the cold.

According to the National Business Capital, when culture doesn’t extend to all workers, it can discourage high-performing associates from innovating, navigating uncertainty, or delivering a top customer experience. All of that can threaten employee retention and outcomes, which creates obstacles to long-term business performance.

Building a Strong Workplace Culture

Core to any workplace culture effort are company values. These will range from company to company but should be closely tied to the organizational mission—and embraced authentically in day-to-day operations. To open the aperture on workplace culture, leaders should ensure temporary associates know what the company stands for, how these values are brought to life, and the role they can play in helping the organization stay true to its values.

That commitment should continue throughout the associate lifecycle, with company values reinforced at every turn. For instance, leaders can:

• deliver formal employee recognition for temporary associates who have most embodied company values;
• include temporary associates in signage and materials promoting company values; and
• solicit feedback from all employees, including temporary associates, when it’s time to revisit what the company believes in.

This process can start even before a new hire’s first day with processes for onboarding temporary employees that center company values. A recent report from HCM solutions provider Paychex found that leaders and employees alike report a range of benefits from effective onboarding—from helping new hires acclimate to culture to jumpstarting productivity and even reducing quit rates. As companies are onboarding temporary employees, the process must be convenient, frictionless, and efficient—in keeping with the fast-paced nature of taking on a temporary role.

Once temporary associates are situated, it’s critical to equip them with the same training that their peers in permanent roles are receiving. Consistent training on everything from workplace safety to the nuts and bolts of the job will convey to temporary associates that leadership wants them to succeed, seeing them as more than just a number on a headcount list.

Welcoming temporary associates isn’t just a job for leaders; permanent staff can also be key to fueling an inclusive workplace culture. Before temporary associates even start, managers and leaders should educate their teams on the new additions joining, what they will bring, and expectations for how team members will include them. Leadership can match temporary associates with longer-tenured employees on their team in a mentorship-type relationship, encouraging them both to share ideas and problem-solve together.

For any team to truly be successful, it takes work! Managers and leaders can focus on team building with temporary workers through activities like:

• Volunteering: Coming together for a worthy cause spreads positivity—and that will make it back into the workplace in terms of collaboration and teamwork.
• Education: While associates will learn plenty on the job, team-building experiences are an opportunity for leadership to offer hands-on learning on the fun side! From cocktail-making classes to cooking sessions, learning side by side in a relaxed atmosphere allows newer and long-term employees to share interests and build the ties that will create successful teamwork.
• Recognition: Getting praise from a supervisor is one thing. Hearing it from those you work right alongside may mean even more. Incorporate recognition time into team meetings or even host a recognition event to raise a glass to the accomplishments of temporary and permanent associates.

Recognizing and Rewarding Temporary Associates

Employee recognition is an important aspect of talent management, no matter the type of employee involved. Research by Quantum Workplace found a strong correlation between employee recognition and retention: Organizations with formal recognition programs have 31% less turnover than those that do not and are 12 times more likely to have strong business performance. However, researchers found many organizations are falling behind when it comes to employee recognition, potentially alienating employees.

Given the nature of their roles, temporary staff may be at higher risk for feeling out of place and like their contributions are not significantly meaningful to the organization, given that they are not in a traditional, progressive role. National Staffing Employee Week can be an opportunity for employers to change that misconception and to promote retention of temporary staff! Lack of recognition, particularly among temporary workers, isn’t a topic that employees will raise themselves. So, leaders need to be proactive in recognizing and rewarding their temporary staff, and National Staffing Employee Week provides an avenue to jumpstart those efforts.

How to put it into action?

Recognition software: When rolling out an employee recognition platform, ensure all temporary employees are given access. Educate them during onboarding about the value of recognition and consistently encourage temporary associates to leverage the platform.

Storytelling: Highlight temporary associates in a regular feature through a company intranet or newsletter.

Relationship-building: Empower managers to nominate standout temporary associates to be honored at company events or to have dedicated face time with senior leaders.

Employee recognition programs often go hand-in-hand with rewards. After all, saying “thank you” isn’t quite as powerful as showing that “thank you.” Spot awards—small incentives like gift cards, for instance, delivered immediately after an accomplishment—are a great fit for temporary associates, given that they may not be with the company for long. To ensure that the type of incentive is meaningful to your temporary associates, survey them about what would resonate with them—such as a cash reward versus extra PTO—and develop a rewards program that speaks to those motivators. 

Maintaining a Positive Work Environment

Creating open lines of communication between management and temporary associates is key to building a workplace culture where all talent can flourish. Workers today are craving transparency: A recent study from Slack found that more than 85% of job candidates want their future employers to be transparent with them, and nearly as many want to better understand how the business works. This is especially meaningful for temporary associates, who may lack the institutional knowledge that can help build trust in the employer.

Be clear with temporary associates from the start—about their pay, benefits, job responsibilities and expected offboarding timeframe and processes. The more detailed and consistent information that can be shared, the more temporary associates will understand they’re in an environment that values and respects them.

Communication can’t be one-sided, however. Temporary associates also should be empowered to share their viewpoints and ideas. Those who join the organization for a short time bring a unique perspective that can help leadership identify entrenched problems and create innovative solutions.

Invite frequent feedback from temporary associates throughout their time with the company—from surveys about the onboarding process to pulse checks on their engagement and follow-ups about the effectiveness of ongoing training. Importantly, show temporary workers how their voices are being used to effect change.

Long-Term Benefits of a Strong Workplace Culture

While a positive work culture can make for more engaging, productive work in the day-to-day, organizations will also realize sustainable success by investing in a culture that includes temporary associates.

According to a study by MIT Sloan Management Review, poor culture is the primary driver of turnover. Researchers even predict that culture is 10 times more important for leaders looking to forecast attrition than compensation levels. MIT describes the key indicators of a suffering culture as inequity, exclusionary behavior and a lack of trust—all of which temporary associates may feel even more acutely.

By investing in a positive workplace culture that resonates with temporary workers, employers are thinking long-term. While organizations may look to temporary associates to navigate a busy season or market changes, the relationship doesn’t necessarily have to be short-term. In today’s unpredictable hiring landscape, having a pool of top talent available that has already been trained and acclimated to the company can be a game-changer. Creating a workplace culture where temporary associates can see themselves long-term is critical for the temporary-to-permanent conversion that can drive business success.  

Retention of temporary staff is one piece of the workplace culture puzzle. A recent report from Harvard found that positive workplace culture is correlated to higher annual revenue. Meanwhile, Great Place to Work, which prioritizes healthy culture in its rankings, says that organizations on its list outperform the market by nearly four times. Culture drives innovation—and temporary associates can be key to that success.

How are today’s organizations boosting business performance through culture that includes temporary talent?

As a company that helps connect companies with seasonal, part-time, and full-time employees, we understand the ever-evolving challenges that can occur when retaining talent. At Integrity, we’re doing all we can to support our clients with a roster full of capable and engaged associates. And that includes bolstering the concept of a time-honored workplace amenity: benefits. In our case study, How We Reimagined Benefits to Improve the Associate Experience we illustrate and encourage ways to leverage employee benefits to boost overall employee satisfaction and sustainability.

Temporary associates can be a vital part of business success. To embrace that potential, employers must cultivate an inclusive, people-centric workplace culture that resonates with employees of all types. The tone for this work needs to be set from the top of the company—and be felt at every turn of temporary associates’ journey with the organization. From recognition programs that include and even center temporary associates to feedback strategies that empower all workers, leadership must remain proactive to create and continue to cultivate a healthy workplace culture.

National Staffing Employee Week provides an ideal opportunity for organizations to hit the ground running. By turning the spotlight on temporary associates, leaders can help bring culture to life—driving engagement and productivity in the short-term while also laying the groundwork for long-term business success.

In a challenging and uncertain market, organizations must be flexible. And in today’s landscape, that means embracing temporary staffing solutions. The approaches we’ve reviewed are built on Integrity Staffing Solutions’ decades of experience offering temporary staffing solutions. We know they will be successful because we’ve seen the results for both employers and employees when a company invests in a workplace culture for all.

Have you had your own experience maximizing the value of temporary associates to your company? Let us know. We would love to hear how you are bringing out the best of your temporary associates for the good of your workforce and the company.