Hiring a temporary employee can have certain benefits for your company. Perhaps you simply need some extra hands for a specific season or project. Sometimes it’s because you’ve experienced fast turnover in a position before due to employees leaving quickly or the wrong person being hired. Depending on your reason, the end of the contract might be the end of your time with that employee.

In some cases, you may find the employee valuable and decide to bring them on as a permanent hire, or you extend the deal you gave as a trial period for a certain position. Extending the contract to transition a temporary employee to a permanent role breaks down into two categories: working with and without a staffing agency.

Direct temp hires by company

If you’ve located and hired this temporary employee through your company, the conversion process is fairly simple. Using your standard hiring practices, you can simply bring this person on board like you would any other new employee. If they’ve experienced certain aspects of training you typically do, remove that piece from the onboarding and get everything else in order.

Hires through a temporary staffing agency

The presence of a third-party requires a little more planning, usually prior to bringing the temp into your company. When establishing the contacts with the staffing agency regarding items like payment to the employee and the agency, discuss the possibility of converting the person into a permanent role. Depending on the contract, there may be a fee associated with this, such as a percentage of the salary.

If you decide to hire the employee after the contracts are finalized, you can wait until the specified period ends to extend your own offer or work with the agency to amend the clauses to bring the employee on permanently faster.

Either way, establish this person as a part of your team

Contacts and hiring aside, one of the most important things to do when transitioning a temporary employee is to make sure this person is now perceived as a permanent member of the team. Some may continue to view him or her simply as a temp and you want to make their new role clear. Send a mass email to all staff congratulating the transition and treat the situation like you would any new hire. Check in with them periodically to ensure everything is going well and they feel as if they’re a part of the team.

Find the temps you’ll want to hire

LaJoy Group is one of the most trusted staffing agencies in Michigan and we provide for many industries, including management, retail, human resources, IT, and home health care. We specialize in temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct placement, meaning we have the right employee waiting for you.