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Temporary Staff Facing An Attitude Time-Warp. Deterring Knowledge Development and Contributions. Michael Richards. HRINZ Conference September 2001 The Future of Work: Talent Balance Results. Who has worked as a Temporary employee? Hired Temporary Staff? - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Working Relations
Deterring Knowledge Development and
Contributions
Temporary Staff Facing An Attitude Time-Warp
HRINZ Conference September 2001
The Future of Work: Talent Balance Results
Michael Richards
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• Who has worked as a Temporary employee?
• Hired Temporary Staff?
• Managed directly temporary Staff?
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What words do you associate with the word?
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Objectives
Describe the Attitude Time-warp
Identify its self-fulfilling characteristics
Explore the implications for business success
and organisational learning
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A Temping Story
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Just a temp is such a damming phrase to use. If, for example, the temp gets injured on the job, or creates a whole pile of scrap then people
take notice.”
Temporary Employment Consultant
Meaning of Words
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“Field research matters. Even if at the end of the day you have far fewer
knowledge claims to make because of so many other possible confounding variablesYou still have a tale to tell…a wealth of
informationabout what really goes on in a field setting
and more importantly, ... an excellent understanding of the
phenomenon of interest.”
Canadian Society for Industrial Organisational PsychologyKline, T. (July, 2001).
The trials and tribulations and payoffs of field research.
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Are people less important than the quality and quantity of their outputs?
A Business Reality?“Just the hired help!”
Perhaps we have just become desensitised to the needs of people in favour of the need to
produce?
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Old attitudes towards temps
still cloud today’s workplace!
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Training
“Our clients often use temps in a manufacturing setting…they had a 10
minute rule.”
10 minutes from the front door to the job.
That was all the job allotted to HR issues, safety and job training.
Temporary Employment Consultant
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“The fallacy is that most HR people think that the jobs temps do are so
simple a monkey could perform them. By underestimating the level of effort for the job, HR does a great
disservice to the temp employee but also to the company.”
Temporary Employee
Monkey see, Monkey Do
YESTERDAY’S
TEMPS
VoluntaryExtra Income
Secure Future Work
FewEmployment Agencies
Short-term
Small% of Company Staff
Secretaries•Kelly Girls
•Girl Fridays
Transient LabourersHousewives
Students
ClericalAdministration
TemporarilyUnemployed
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Disposable
Negative Labels
• Uneducated
• Unreliable
• Uncommitted
• Unable to find a real job
• Second-class worker
• Job-hopper
• Low-maintenance
• “Just a temp”
Beliefs
Expectations
TODAY’S
TEMPS
VoluntaryExtra Income
Secure Future Work
BoutiqueAgencies
GreaterFrequency
Increased Volume
Expanded Roles
Highly skilled
DiverseSkills
A Lifestyle
Current Trends
• According to Australian, Recruitment & Consulting Services Association (RCSA), 69% increase in casual workers between 1988-1998.
• Last 5 years in USA, increases from 1.2 to more than 2 million in temporary staff.
– In 1990’s 22% of all new jobs were temporary.
• 90% of companies use temporary staff to augment full-time regular workforce (NATSS, 1999)
• Fastest growing segment of staffing industry.
The Temping Triangle
*RCSA NZ Coporate Members,2000
Employment Agencies
Organisations
Human Resource
Positive Positive
PsychologicalPsychological
ContractContract
•8000 working every day in NZ
•32,500 registered NZ*
•450 Employment Agencies
•1200 Personnel Consultancies
•1000 Members NZ & Australia in RCSA*
Unlimited
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Lack of a Positive Psychological Contract
“A person’s experience of work and the interpretation they place on that experience, plays a fundamental part in how they view their job and the organization
they do it for. This experience creates a set of unwritten rules, beliefs, and commitments about
how people approach work that we call the psychological contract.”
Eder, G. (2000, October). The Psychological contract: Its implications for Managers. NZATD Networker, p. 3.
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People or Machines?
Temps are not human robots, replaceable at whim. They are potential employees who come
into the organisation in a unique way. Each one has the opportunity to grow in competence and confidence, evolving into
successful, permanent employee.
Some of the best employees our clients have came to them as temps.
Training Consultant
Congratulations!We have reached out target!
Temporary staff Area
Full time staff Area
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Temp WantedProven Flexibility & Adaptability
“Can-do Attitude”
Variety of Assignments
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The attitude time-warp
The
Pygmalion
Effect
Today’sReality
Yesterday’s Expectations
The Pygmalion Effect in Temporary Employment
Many organisations believe temporary staff are “disposable”
Communication of these beliefs/expectations through biased/selective verbal and non-verbal
interactions/cues
Staff respond to these behavioural cuesand behaviour is constrained and changed
Staff perceives self as “disposable” and original belief is validated
SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY
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Picking up Cues
“…our research shows that most employees can-and do-’read their boss’s mind.’ In particular they know full well whether they fit into their boss’s in-group or out-group. All they have to do is compare how they
are treated with how their more highly regarded colleagues are treated”.
Manzoni, J. & Barsoux, J. (1998 Mrach-April). The Set-Up -to Fail Syndrome. Harvard Business Review.
What we believe affects how we act. The way organisation's manage temporary
staff can constrain and limit the possibility of them behaving in other ways.
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The Attitude Time-WarpWhat are the costs?
Costs of the Attitude Time-Warp
Organisational• Decreased
performance• Mistakes• High Turnover• Failure to get
best from staff• Unavailable &
Detached staff
IndividualDisempowered
• Alienated • Indifference• Dehumanised• Frustrated• Ignored• Isolated• Undervalued• Marginalised• Reduced
Motivation
Interpersonal
“Them-us” Culture
Temporary vs Full-time
• Decreased team functioning
• Tension
• Uneasiness
DECREASED BUSINESS SUCCESS
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The Attitude Time-WarpWhat are some solutions?
People Management*
•Job design
•Skills Development
•Climate of involvement
•Trust
•Fairness
People Management
Practices
+
Supportive Organisational
CulturePositive
outcomes
• Knowledge development
• Organisational learning
Positive Psychological
Contract
Commitment
Motivation
Contribution
Productivity
Profitability
Flexibility
*Rudman, R. (6 January, 2001) People Management and the bottom Line
http://www.hrinz.org.nz/info/academic_journal/articles/default.asp
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The Challenge
for your attitude time-warp
to ensure that what you like about
temporary staff does not become
the organisation's continued nemesis
in the future.
Be Aware, Acknowledge and be Accountable
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Think back to our earlier exercise.
Are the words we thought of……?
+ POSITIVE? +
- NEGATIVE? -
o NEUTRAL? o
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Objectives
Describe the Attitude Time-warp
Identify its self-fulfilling characteristics
Explore the implications for business success
and organisational learning
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The Attitude Time-Warp
Does it exist where you work?
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Mike RichardsPeople, Systems & Working
Relations30A Hogans RdGlenfield, Auckland 1310New ZealandPh/Fx 64 9 443 [email protected]
The Psychology of the Temporary Employment Industry.
Human Resources, August 2001.
Working Relations Expert (On-line) LibraryAvailable: http://content.monster.com.au/experts/Richards
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