Temps Love Free Stuff: Unique & Inexpensive Incentive Ideas for Short-term Employees

December 15th, 2011

When hiring temps, you may think you have someone coming in for a short term position and that’s that. However, many companies will find that the hardest working people in these temp positions can be the best employees for long term work should the position open up. More so, to create a positive work environment, employers can offer inexpensive, but appreciated incentives to these employees.

Inexpensive Bonus Programs

Financial gain motivates people. However, if you do not want to invest in an expensive bonus program, consider a lesser expensive one. For example, rather than a high percentage for the bonus of sales, you can cut down that amount. You may also want to offer shift differential pay for those that take on those harder to fill positions. The key here is to keep the amount of bonus paid lower, but still to offer it.

Gifts That Motivate

Sometimes, it is necessary to push temporary workers harder so that you can meet a deadline. To encourage employees, offer incentives for achieving goals. For example, you may be able to offer a gift certificate to an area restaurant for the person with the most completed work for the day. You may be able to offer an incentive for those that do the best job possible (while setting standards for this.) Gifts do not always have to be expensive to be worth working towards to to earn.

Casual Dress Days or Themed Days

To get people talking and having fun, offer a day of the week or month where everyone can dress down. To make it even more interesting, choose a fun theme for the dress down day. Everything from silly socks to funky hats can put people in a good mood. There is no cost to this to your company, either.

Parent-Driven Incentives

If your staff is mostly parents, why not offer incentives for them? For example, at the start of the school year, pack a backpack full of school supplies for each child as a thank you to the parents for their hard work. You may be able to sponsor a night at the movies with the kids at your location. Host a pizza party for those who achieve goals at work where they can bring the kids in and perhaps play a few games.

Any of these incentives can be done without spending a lot of money. For example, you can buy gift certificates from discount programs online and offer them to your employees as rewards for doing a great job. You can also put out a suggestion box and ask employees what type of incentive ideas they have. That is the perfect way to show your employees you care about the job they do and about them, even if they are just temps.

Image Credit:David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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