Where To Find Temporary Help
 By R.K. Sparkman

Many small businesses manage to function quite well with a minimal number of employees. Some get by nicely with an owner-operator running the whole show all alone. But there are occasions when success means extra help is needed, such as seasonal surges and inventory taking.

If your swimming pool cleaning company expects to increase business substantially during the hot months, you may not need a permanent employee, but you could use extra help for the summer.

To gear up for back-to-school sales, you may not wish to add a full-time salaried associate, but short-term counter help is called for.

Enter the temporary worker.

The staple of the temporary worker industry is the staffing agency, and there are many. Typically, these agencies match qualified contract workers with private companies in need of short-term staffing.

Businesses like yours pay a staffing agency and are sent temporary workers who are paid directly by the agency. The workers don’t become your employees. Typically you aren’t expected or required to provide them the benefits you provide employees, such as health insurance and vacation. However, many times temp workers who have performed well end up hired by businesses like yours that spot a talent worth making a permanent member of the staff.

The benefit to companies like yours is that you pay for the extra help only as long as you need it, which is ideal for companies facing seasonal fluctuations. Many temp workers enjoy the frequent change of scenery and even use a staffing agency’s referrals as a means of trying out for permanent jobs. It’s a way for temp employees to get a taste of a business like yours without having to commit to a long-term relationship.

And it works the same way for your company. You get to sample from a large pool of temp workers to find the ones who can prove on the job that they are a good fit with the company’s operations and culture. You can find temp workers by checking the Yellow Pages under “staffing agencies.”

But staffing agencies aren’t the only means of meeting the need for short-term or temporary workers. Some jobs are suited for volunteers, such as those provided by some senior citizen centers.

Obviously, volunteers run the gamut in ability, training, suitability and other factors important in finding the right worker for the job. But their price can’t be beat.

Let fairness be your guide. Many volunteers will work for no remuneration. But you should decide whether you can in good conscience accept their assistance without compensating them for their labor. Non-volunteer seniors sometimes contract for pay for their services through senior centers that serve as their de facto staffing agencies.

Paid or not, seniors, particularly those inclined to keep active by volunteering their services, can be a vast repository of skills and talents accumulated over a lifetime in the working world. Indeed, a 66-year-old retired middle manager who enjoys working for free might well prove vastly superior to a staffing agency’s 26-year-old temp in terms of knowledge, experience and business savvy.

When considering adding help, don’t forget to check out local universities, community colleges and trade schools. Internships and other credit-earning opportunities for students can be beneficial for them, as well as for you.

Some of these youthful temporary workers expect to be paid, but some work strictly for academic credit. Just as with temp workers sent by an agency, drawing on these young folks provides your company and them with a non-committal means of checking each other out. Many interns have returned after graduation to embark on long, mutually gratifying careers with the companies where they interned.


(Posted June 2006)

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