Editor's note: Deborah C. Sawyer is president of Information Plus, a New York research company. She can be reached at 212-355-2205 or at infoplus@idirect.com. This article appeared in the July 9, 2012, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter. 

 

Sooner or later, research firms that rely on human talent face a labor crunch. When your work balloons, it's often necessary to bring on some extra help. But if you don't actively manage your temps - whether you call them independent contractors, subcontractors or something else - their efforts, however well-meaning, may capsize the project or worse, your firm. Here are some tips on how to survive and thrive with the hired help.

 

Keep it confidential

 

One of the trickiest areas to manage is confidentiality. You need your temps to know enough about the assignment to get the work done but not so much that it jeopardizes confidentiality agreements you have signed with your clients.  

 

Some laxness in this area landed Barbara in hot water. As the owner-manager of a small consultancy, Barbara turned to a tried-and-true subcontractor to help with a project. Somewhere along the way, not enough information was provided about keeping the client's name confidential. The subcontractor named the client in an e-mail and sent the e-mail to a potential source, who passed it on to the client - who had, after all, been named - and panic ensued. The client came down hard on Barbara, who spent three sleepless nights while tempers cooled and the issue subsided.

 

What could have saved some grief here was a confidentiality agreement or rather, two of them. All those who work with your firm, whether full-time or hired for specific projects, need to sign at least one umbrella confidentiality and nondisclosure agreement. This can be a standing agreement for any and all projects they take on for you. But it is also very helpful to have each temp sign a per-project confidentiality agreement, where specifics for the project are spelled out to avoid misunderstandings and mistakes. For best protection, this needs to occur for every assignment they handle, no matter how frequently they work for your firm. In Barbara's case, she had incorrectly assumed the subcontractor knew the ins and outs.

 

Illustrate the deliverables

 

Another area where research firms trip up working with temporary staff is that these occasional employees may not know what the end result is supposed to look like. Whether your deliverables are submitted via e-mail, hard copy, an in-person presentation or another format, knowing what these deliverables should be like can help improve their efforts. Unfortunately, many firms keep temps in the dark. Although these folks may not be needed to write the final report, it can be very helpful for them to see something tangible, such as past completed work. Even if you have to modify an old report to hide identities or other sensitive details, showing people who come in on a project-by-project basis what you want to be able to deliver to clients can go a long way in helping them meet goals for quality and thoroughness and preventing problems with the client and the reputation of your firm.

 

Confirm availability

 

Just because a potential temp seems ready, willing and able to pitch in on the assignment, this may not be a good sign. People who are working at contract positions may be forced by their uncertain circumstances to take on more than they can handle.  

 

One time, we hired three extra staff to work on a rather large project. One of these people, Janet, seemed keen to take on as much work as possible and since it was there, we were initially happy to give it to her. Trouble was, she did not complete all the assigned tasks, what she did complete wasn't quite right and we ended up in an embarrassing situation with the client.

 

We later found out that Janet had a sister who was in the hospital and facing grave health problems. Janet had been trying to earn enough money not only to pay her own bills but also cover her sister's mortgage. The hours she was working - not just with our firm, we eventually found out - plus the extra stress of her situation seriously undermined Janet's ability to perform. Perhaps, had we known these things, we wouldn't have taken her on. While this would have affected her earnings level, in the long run everyone would have been happier. Alternatively, we could have tailored the assignment to her time constraints, even if it had meant fewer hours for her.

 

Avoid conflicts of interest

 

Beyond time conflicts, it's equally important to find out if any temps have a conflict of interest. Just as your firm likely juggles several accounts at any given time, so might those in your temporary labor pool. Perhaps they will not want to tell you who their other clients are (fair enough) but you might need to identify companies you consider to be direct competitors or otherwise pose a conflict. Including this information in a confidentiality agreement, or having a separate agreement giving a list which you ask people to sign and state that they are not working for any of the above-named companies, can also add extra protection.  

 

Morty ended up with a near-miss when he brought in a moderator to run some groups regarding a top-secret beverage one of his biggest clients was planning to introduce. Morty found out later that his moderator had just wrapped up a series of groups for the client's major competitor, although in a non-competing product division. The moderator never thought to mention this but then again, Morty never thought to ask! Now, he makes sure the paperwork is in place before any client assignment starts.

 

Seek out self-starters (or watch very closely)

 

The nature of the services you provide may limit headaches with temps who aren't self-starters but if you have subcontractors who are working on reports, presentations or other material that they can prepare away from your premises, you need to consider how the work should be managed.  

 

Elizabeth found she had made a serious error when she allowed one of her subcontractors to work from his home office to write reports. First, she suspected that the office in his house might be no more than his dining room table and therefore not private enough. Then, his promises to deliver were never met, meaning clients were getting their reports late. Elizabeth found herself scrambling as a result and vowed never again to let someone work where she couldn't keep an eye on what they were doing. While insisting a temp work at your premises may run counter to labor laws and how the employee-versus-contract-worker issue is resolved (depending on where you are based), sometimes it's worth the risk to insist people work where you can see them, at least until you know they are true self-starters who will come through for you no matter what.

 

Define correct conduct

 

The newer the temp, the more important it is for a senior staffer to go out with them and demonstrate how to conduct themselves (i.e., the manner your firm wants them to adopt, the image of your firm wants them to convey, etc.). You need to spell out how they should address people, how to describe the project and how to represent your firm when dealing with the public.  

 

This was true with our hiring of Richard, who we engaged to contact companies and obtain their product literature. It was only after Richard had finished his assignment with us that the ripples started to come back. There's a difference between telling the truth creatively and outright lying. Sad to say, Richard had been doing more of the latter than the former. Explaining to temps how to phrase things and how to present themselves can be crucial to maintaining the integrity of the project, as well as your firm. It's never a good idea to assume that common sense will prevail. Temps' prior experience at other firms, even if in the same industry as yours, may have provided them with a less-than-desirable skill set.

 

Help them get up to speed

 

The most critical issue with temps is that you want them to get up to speed quickly. The greatest barrier to facilitating this process is your familiarity with your own firm. You know where supplies are kept, how to get an outside line on the phone, how to use the equipment, what the passwords are, etc., so it all seems obvious to you. Remember that someone coming in cold does not know these things. To truly provide a constructive work environment for such hired help, you either need to be able to look at your workplace very objectively or ask someone else to do it for you.  

 

So, the final way you can prepare to forestall problems with temps is to ask all those who are about to complete assignments with you what could've helped things go more smoothly. Tips they can give you, once assembled into a manual or primer, can create a powerful tool and ensure that every time you have to turn to extra help, that help is what you'll end up with and your temps won't turn out to be a hindrance instead.