Once you’ve made the decision to add temporary or contingency employees to your team, you’ll need to select the right candidates, and then you’ll need to prepare for the next step: seamlessly introducing these newbies to your current staff. As you do this, you’ll face a few common challenges. In some cases, current teams are reluctant to invest in temporary employees who won’t stay in the workplace for very long. Sometimes current employees have difficulty placing trust in temps, and sometimes they simply don’t understand what temporary employees should be doing at any given time, or what their contributions should look like. Avoid these problems by taking the following steps.

Announce workplace changes well in advance.

If your new temps will be arriving in two weeks, make sure your current employees know exactly when they’ll be showing up, what they’ll be here to do, how long they’ll stay, and who the new employees will report to. Announce this information as soon as you have these answers, then send a reminder a few days before the arrival.

Clarify your expectations.

If your current employees will need to do anything, accomplish anything, or delegate any specific responsibilities to the new temps, make this clear. Assign a specific person to welcome each new employee on arrival day, and be very clear about where the new temp will be stationed and what she’ll need to accomplish during her tenure.

Lay the groundwork.

Before your new temps arrive, let current employees know something about them. Provide names, backstories, and professional histories. Explain some key accomplishments and highlights, so your current workers will have a conversational starting point. This can help smooth the first day. While you’re at it, encourage your current workers to invite your temporary teams to lunch during their first days and weeks on the job.

Make sure temps know where to turn.

Temporary employees, like all new employees, often have questions about their work. Make sure they know where to take these questions. You won’t make money—and your temps won’t be happy—if they spend half the day tracking down answers, tools, resources, passwords, key codes, or instructions instead of actually working.

For more on how to bring your temporary staff on board and help them thrive in your workplace, contact the San Antonio staffing professionals at Expert.