Every week we comb through the news to find employment trends affecting the hospitality industry so you donโt have to. This weekโs topic: integrating temp workers with your internal team.
The more the merrier
As the gig economy grows in popularity, businesses in hospitality and foodservice have begun to integrate temporary workers more and more into their daily operations. Utilizing temp staff is a great way to supplement your hiring needs, whether youโre looking to make them a permanent addition to the team or need a few extra hands for an event.
While using temporary (or โcontractโ) workers comes with several benefits for employees and employers, itโs also important to remember to communicate with your in-house team on why they may be seeing some new faces at work. Without this communication, internal staff can feel like they are being replaced or like their work isnโt good enough. This can lead to full- and part-time employees feeling misplaced resentment towards temps, causing a stressful work environment for everyone.
Here are a few topics to begin integrating temp workers with your internal team:
Integrating Temp Workers with Your Internal Team
- Why youโre using extra staff. The first step towards transparent communication is by explaining why theyโll be working with temps. Popular reasons like, โwe need an extra cook for the banquet tonightโ or โweโre short staffed while we cross train serversโ will show that contract employees are in place to help the team, not take anyoneโs place.
- How to help make them comfortable. When your staff is comfortable on the job, your business will be more successful. Encourage your internal team to introduce themselves or answer any questions their new colleagues may have.
- What to call them. Prior to making more personal introductions, educate your internal team on how to refer to temp employees; this is helpful for creating a welcoming environment.
When you integrate temp workers with your internal team, building trust up front is so important. Mainly, itโs crucial to emphasize that temporary workers are not there to replace the internal employees, but to help and learn from them. By educating your full- and part-time staff, and creating a clear line of communication, youโll see a great collaboration between both sets of workers.
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About LGC
Having the right people in place is essential to creating a memorable guest experience. And focusing on the guestsโ experience is one of the best ways to create word-of-mouth referrals. When partnering with LGC, youโll have access to the people you need to build or augment your team so you can focus on operations that grow and scale your business.
