5 signs you need a Christmas temp

Thousands of seasonal retail jobs are on offer every Christmas period, but did you know that temporary assignments are also available in almost all industries at this time of year? This boost in skilled professionals keeps a team productive despite absences and ensures end of calendar year deadlines are met.

Could your team benefit from a Christmas temp? Here are five signs you may need one:

1. Overtime is high, impacting morale

It’s rare that an employee wants to work additional overtime during the Christmas and New Year period, but if workloads are still high this could be required. Consider the impact of such overtime on employees during this time of year; we all have family and friends to see, events to attend and Christmas preparations to take care of after work and on weekends. The morale of your permanent employees very quickly decreases when overtime means they’re unable to balance their work and life commitments at this time of year.

Instead, a temporary employee can assist with workloads and help your team meet the demands of the business without foregoing their personal priorities.

2. Workflow is peaking

While workloads reduce at some organisations over the Christmas and New Year period, in others they ramp up. It could be due to a traditional spike in demand for your products or services or perhaps a client has moved forward their deadline for a key project. Whatever the reason, if your team is facing the prospect of additional work and you don’t have the staff numbers available to cope, a temp will be able to assist and ensure your staff don’t become stressed and overworked.

3. You’re shorthanded

Several staff have requested annual leave over the holiday season, but if they’re all on leave the team will be shorthanded. Denying leave to an employee over the holiday period can be hugely demoralising, but employing a temp to ensure work is completed so staff can go on leave has positive engagement outcomes.

4. Work is being rushed

When your top talent starts producing poorer quality work, they’re usually rushing because they’re either overworked or trying to get out the door on time to deal with the increasing number of other priorities associated with this time of year. The support of a temporary employee – even for a day or two – can help your staff get back on track, completing work to their usual high standard.

5. You can’t secure skills in short supply

If you’ve been struggling to secure highly-skilled professionals in a particular area, the holiday season may be an ideal time to engage a temp in that field, particularly if your competitors slow down or take a break from recruitment at this time of year. Get a jump on them by bringing on board a temporary professional to fill a staffing gap and get through specific workloads. If they work out, you may even decide to take them on permanently.

Temporary employees are certainly a highly effective resource at this time of year. They’ll help alleviate stress, keep morale high, use their expertise to complete work to a high standard, and ensure permanent staff can go on leave.  It’s a win-win for all concerned.

• 7 common temp interview questions
• What you need to consider with temp compliance
• Never hired a temp or contractor before?
• How to reduce temp time to hire

Author

Nick Deligiannis

Former Managing Director, Hays Australia & New Zealand

Linkedin

Nick Deligiannis began working at Hays in 1993 and since then has held a variety of consulting and management roles across the business, including the role of Director responsible for the operation of Hays in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. In 2004  Nick was appointed to the Hays Board of Directors, and was made Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand in 2012.

Prior to joining Hays, he had a background in human resource management and marketing, and has formal qualifications in Psychology.