How to Manage Agency and Other Temporary Staff More Efficiently

The workplace as we know it has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. With cost cutting and adaptability being crucial for survival, more and more companies are turning to the use of temporary workers at all levels to meet their staffing needs.

Flexible work arrangements are also becoming increasingly popular with employees, especially parents, who are seeking a better work-life balance. Temporary work is one of the best ways that businesses can offer flexibility to their workforce and at the same time meet their own needs so they can compete more effectively in today's challenging market place. As a result, the UK workforce now has a higher proportion of temporary and interim workers than ever before.

Hiring temp workers makes good business sense as it is generally more cost-efficient than hiring permanent employees with benefits in the short term.  It also avoids the financial and potential legal costs involved in making permanent staff redundant in a downturn.  

Temporary staff agencies

Recruiting and managing teams of temporary workers is easier said than done, which is why many organisations rely on agencies to supply them with temporary and interim staff. This saves time and administrative costs as the agency is effectively the employer and therefore responsible for recruiting, screening and hiring workers; payroll and withholding taxes; holiday pay any other employee benefits.

Nevertheless agencies charge a premium for their services and the added cost may outweigh the financial benefits of using temps. To reduce staffing costs many larger organisations have their own staff banks and effectively run their own internal “temp agency”.  However this generates new administrative and operational challenges which create additional demands on managers.  

Specifically designed temp management software

The effective use of workforce management software is essential for maintaining control over `temporary workers, whether as an in-house function which replicates an agency model or in conjunction with a temp agency.

Employee scheduling software is available that can streamline the in-house recruitment process and ensure that temporary workers are qualified, trustworthy and fit for the role they are being hired to do. The latest versions can also help operations managers adhere to the Agency Workers Directive which came into force in 2011.

Those responsible for managing in-house staff banks need flexible and customisable employee scheduling software that can handle all the technical, administration and communication aspects of in-house recruitment as well as every aspect of workforce management. These include:  

·         Assigning workers to temporary positions and monitoring their progress

·         Multiple timesheet processing

·         Online timesheet entry and remote record checking

·         Payroll integration with support for various candidate payment methods e.g. PAYE, Ltd Company etc