Is your company like many businesses that have decided to make some temporary engineering hires this summer? Seasonal contracts can provide real benefits for companies with an influx of work during the summer months. But managing and working with a temporary team can be a little complicated. Here’s how you can prepare your current employees for working with these temporary hires, and ensure productivity stays at an all-time high.

Focus on Organization and Communication

Managing a large workforce is challenging enough without the added complexity of temporary staff. In situations like these, there are often greater demands on your time and resources based on training and onboarding new team members, and the chance you will need to deal with a higher rate of turnover than with regular employees. It’s important to hire the right people, keep your standards high even when your needs are great and above all, keep your team organized.

For a team of full-time and fully invested workers to mesh well with a group of temporary workers, there needs to be no confusion over roles or responsibilities. A well-oiled machine works well because each part knows it’s job and is capable of meeting the goals set for it. Make sure your team has the resources and information they need to get the job done right by staying organized, tracking successes, addressing obstacles quickly and pivoting as needed.

Encourage Everyone to Be Flexible

New hires will take time to settle in and learn their new roles, and teambuilding takes time as well. By encouraging your staff to be flexible and open to working with new engineers, whether they are employed long term or short term, your team will be more successful. When it comes to temporary hires, chances are not every recruit will stick around for the full length of the project. Turnover can be high, and sometimes one project simply isn’t the right fit. This uncertainty, if left unchecked, can make it more difficult to get the project done. This is especially true if you are unable to pivot as needed or to be flexible in your approach to the project. But by being flexible in terms of schedule, budget and workload, you can adjust expectations in terms of remote workers, hours and incentives to recruit high-quality talent. A little flexibility can go a long way.

All in all, a large temporary workforce requires a lot of effort to manage, and existing employees might have some difficulty settling in with their new co-workers. The thing to remember is by keeping things organized, maintaining flexibility and open communication you can be there to support your team to achieve your group goals. For more tips on how to bring a team of salaried and temporary engineers together, connect with the recruiting experts at Verum Technical today.