Hiring temporary warehouse staff can help your business respond to fluctuations in demand without the time and investment required to expand your permanent warehouse team. Temp staff can be recruited quickly and released back to their agency employer as soon as your staffing situation stabilises, saving your business time and money.
However, relying on temporary workers does present some challenges that you must overcome to ensure you get the best from your team. If you’re planning to hire temporary warehouse staff, stay aware of these common problems and the ways to overcome them:
1) Problem: Temporary warehouse staff don’t know your warehouse systems or procedures.
As they are likely to work in many different warehouses, each with their own systems and procedures, temporary staff may not be immediately familiar with your business’ operations. This can impact productivity and increase human error.
Solution: Implement a systematic checklist which clearly outlines your company’s procedures, so that temporary workers have an unambiguous understanding of their responsibilities. Keep it simple!
2) Problem: Temporary staff won’t know where stock is in the warehouse or the names of the products.
This will affect efficiency, cause confusion, and reduce productivity.
Solution: Remember that temp warehouse staff need to learn quickly but there is a limit to how much information they can take on board at one time! Plan tasks that they can complete which do not involve locating products in the warehouse; instead, focus on work that improves efficiency and productivity, such as loading pallets onto lorries which have been packed by other team members.
3) Problem: It is easy to have unrealistic expectations of temporary staff.
This can lead to dissatisfaction with temporary warehouse staffing agencies as the workers are perceived to be substandard.
Solution: Temporary warehouse workers are not intended to be a long-term solution to a short-term problem. Therefore, set realistic expectations around their working hours, workload, and deadlines, with greater flexibility and support when undertaking more complex tasks. Talented temp workers could be ideal permanent employees, but ensure you discuss this with the recruitment agency: don’t assume this is an automatic right.
4) Problem: When the project ends, it can be difficult to let go of high-quality temp staff.
End dates may be ambiguous and, if not managed properly, unfinished tasks could leave your permanent staff with problems to resolve.
Solution: Ensure a clear plan is in place for when temp staff are due to end their placements with your company. Specify the date they will finish and provide them with a list of tasks – non - negotiables – that must be completed prior to their departure.
Do you need reliable temporary warehouse staff? Contact Kingdom today. If you’re in need of temporary warehouse staff for your business, please call Kingdom today on +44 845 051 7700.
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