Ask Yourself These 4 Questions When Evaluating Temporary Learning And Development Talent
You’ve always been on the cutting edge. You wore a Members Only® jacket before the ‘80s even began. And as soon as the Spice Girls appeared on the scene in the late ‘90s, you knew they were going to be the biggest thing to come out of England since the double-decker bus.
Your nose for business is equally keen. You’ve picked up on the rising trend in which companies augment their teams with temporary talent. It’s no coincidence that nearly half of executives surveyed (42 percent) in Bersin by Deloitte’s 2016 report, Global Human Capital Trends, “expect to increase or significantly increase the use of contingent workers in the next three to five years”.
The big difference between pop and fashion trends and business trends is that business trends make fiscal sense. In the case of hiring temporary Learning and Development talent, it’s becoming increasingly clear how much this practice can create efficiencies for your organization. And on the employee side, the benefits are equally impactful: the flexibility, the exposure, and the ability to “try on” a company, just to name a few.
By now, you’ve surely nailed down processes for attracting and onboarding full-time talent. But if your experience in hiring temporary talent is limited, you may be surprised at how different it is. Aside from any interview questions you’ll be asking your candidates (which are covered in our eBook How to Interview Temporary Talent for Learning and Development Positions), let’s look at 4 questions you should ask yourself when evaluating temporary Learning and Development talent.
What To Ask When Evaluating Temporary Learning And Development Talent
1. Can Your Candidate Hit The Ground Running?
When hiring temporary Learning and Development talent, your expectations should be high. These are seasoned specialists in their field - not rookies. They take ownership and professionally manage a workflow without hand-holding. So don’t expect them to require heavy oversight.
A good way to spot this trait is to talk about job history. Look for specific situations and challenges they faced. Listen for clues that they have the ownership and perseverance to succeed.
2. Does Your Candidate Have Project Management Skills?
Solid project management skills are to be expected of anyone working in a temporary capacity. A successful contractor must be able to tightly manage tasks and closely track time. During an interview, your candidate should provide an idea of what he or she can reasonably accomplish given a time frame and budget.
Ask questions about process: How does your candidate approach a new project and plan ahead for success? Look for evidence that your candidate can get their arms around the engagement, break down and assess the process, and take steps to reach the goal.
3. Is Your Candidate Actually Looking For Temporary Work?
No one wants to bring on a candidate only to have them resign two weeks later upon finding a full-time job. Ask about the course of their professional lives and how they arrived at a place where a temporary position makes sense. Are those reasons likely to change?
Learning and Development professionals take temporary work for myriad reasons. It offers schedule flexibility, it can ease a life transition, and it exposes temporary workers to a much wider variety of project types and types of management. Whatever the reason, it’s best to tease out those answers to avoid falling victim to candidates who bolt as soon as they land a full-time gig.
4. Are You In “Try Before You Buy” Mode?
It’s perfectly reasonable to hire temporary Learning and Development talent for a role that you expect to become full time in the future. You may need time to see if this role is needed on a full-time basis, and if the person you hire is the right fit for your needs and your team. “Try before you buy” is one reason clients like to engage a staffing vendor first - before making a more permanent decision.
However, it’s a mistake to assume that everyone interviewing for a temporary role wants it to turn into a permanent one. It might not work for their lifestyle, career preferences, or goals. It’s better to know about that now, before you hire them. So be honest about the likelihood that a temporary role will become permanent.
At the same time, don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you’re not sure the role will evolve into something permanent, it’s best not to “dangle the carrot” and bring on someone who is really looking for a full-time gig, only to disappoint them later. Again, honesty is always the best policy.
An Eye For The Best Temporary Learning And Development Talent
So we’ve established that in addition to your keen fashion sense and pop music clairvoyance, you know an efficient staff-augmentation model when you see one. And while it might be well within your skill set to do the recruiting legwork yourself, an increasingly popular option is to hire a staffing vendor. The right vendor can deliver best-fit temporary Learning and Development talent so that you can focus on your day job.
Oftentimes, it’s not the questions you ask your candidate, but those you ask yourself that can shed the most light on the best fit for your temporary Learning and Development needs.
Our new eBook, How to Interview Temporary Learning and Development Talent: Finding the Best Fit for Your Needs, will walk you through the all-important interview process and give you our best tips on interviewing temporary talent. It’s a free download, and it includes a handy Interview Questions Checklist to make your job easier. Enjoy!
Related articles:
1. 5 Top Interview Questions For Temporary Learning And Development Talent
2. How To Audition Temporary Learning And Development Talent
