Do you know what your contract employees are saying about you and your
organization?
More and more organizations are utilizing the services of outside staffing
agencies. Some organizations use the services to cut overhead by retaining
fewer people on payroll. Others outsource functions that are not their core
business. Although they may pay more in salary or wages, the company avoids the
expense of benefits and other permanent employee expenditures. Even though
these people are contract employees, they still represent your organization.
Therefore, contract employees need the same sense of belonging, learning and
contributing that permanent employees are afforded. Recently, while traveling
on an airplane, I sat next to such a contract employee. He had been working for
the airline (which shall remain nameless) for two years. His job was to survey
customers during the flight about their level of satisfaction with the service.
In the two years that this contract employee had worked for the airline, he had
never met the internal person who is managing this project. He had never gotten
any feedback about how he is doing on the job or about the cumulative results
of the surveys. Do you think that he has a sense of belonging to the company?
Is he learning about how he could be more effective in his job? Does he have a
sense of how his work is contributing to making the airline better? No wonder
he told me he is looking for another job. And while he is looking, how much
energy do you think he is putting into this job? He
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certainly spent a great deal of energy on this flight explaining how much he
disliked his job and the way he was being treated by the airline. From his
perspective, the job was a means to an end until he could find a better place
to work and the company had a lot to learn about how to treat contract
employees. I have a suspicion that this example is not an isolated one. In
fact, I was talking with an IT executive who told me that IT contract people
are treated in much the same way. An often-heard quote is, “Oh well, they’re
only temporary. Soon they’ll go away.” Maybe contract employees will leave soon
but what are they saying about you and your organization in the meantime and
after they leave? Are you a little concerned? How about learning some
practical steps your organization can take to ensure that contract employees
are singing your praises to your customers?
1. Be certain that there are real reasons, other than the short-term
thinking of cutting overhead to make the bottom-line look better, for
terminating permanent employees and hiring contract employees. The long-term
consequences could end up being more costly than the short-term benefit. In the
case of the airline, outsourcing customer surveys might have been a good
decision. On the other hand, one organization that laid off employees ended up
hiring the same people back as consultants at a much higher cost. They still
were required to get the work done but needed to satisfy a “budget-cut edict.”
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2. Make the contract staff feel a part of your organization. Meet with
them initially so that they know who is leading their project. Provide the big
picture. Talk with them about the importance of what they are doing and how it
will help the organization. Make sure that they understand the expectations of
the job, not only the tasks but also appropriate behavior related to the values
of the organization. Mission, vision, values and beliefs create a framework
within which people can be free to do their jobs.
3. Provide periodic feedback, specifically about how they are doing on
the job and, in general, about the project. How could they be doing things
better, more effectively and more efficiently, to meet customer needs? Include
them in relevant organizational communications so that they feel kept “in the
loop.”
4. Thank them frequently for a job well done. Provide appropriate
rewards and recognition.
You may be able to implement these suggestions directly or through the
contracting agency. A web site to check concerning the legalities of leading
contract employees is
http://www.wwwebtax.com
/general/independent_
contractor.htm. Belonging, learning and contributing are as important
to contract people as they are to permanent employees. So…do you know
what your contract employees are saying about you and your organization?
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