In America currently 20% of its workforce in currently engaged in part-time jobs. This data is derived from a study undertaken by monster.com. These part-time workers work around 35 hours a week.
The growing trends to engage people in part-time jobs is not limited to any specific domain but can be seen in every sector like finance to fashion and even in some areas of health care domain.
American Medical Association has noted the fact that over the past few years the percentage of doctors working part-time has considerably increased. Currently they are about 44% trained female doctors and 22% male doctors working in the healthcare domain, as part timers.
In case you are looking to recruit part time employees in your company here are a few things that you need to keep in mind.
Golden Rules for Finding Part Time Employees:
Describe the personality of your company well:
When you are publishing a part time job for your company, it is very important that you highlight the personality of your company.
For example if you are looking for employees who are sociable and young, you should describe your company as a place where employees enjoy themselves at work. Do not make the mistake of publishing a job listing which is simple, boring and plain.
If you do so, then do not be surprised when you receive response from people who are old, dull and boring.
Is the job compatible for part time?
Are you thinking of creating a new part time job or making a full time job into a part time one? If the answer is in affirmation then you have to consider a few facts which are:
- Do not fit too many responsibilities in a part time job which would be around 35 hours a week.
- Are you open to hiring two part time employees to do the job responsibilities of one full time job?
- How are you going to define the responsibilities?
- Would both the part time employees have a few common responsibilities which they would share? Then how are you going to monitor their work.
- It is also essential that you analyze regarding how the full time employees in your company are going to be affected when you recruit a few part timers.
Create a good reward program:
When looking for part time employees, it is essential that you plan a good reward program for them and discuss this program with them when you are interviewing them. Remember most part time employees are looking for jobs where they can enhance their career growth.
Thus it is essential that you clearly show them the path of growth that they can enjoy when they meet the company’s objective.
For example if you are employing part time sales employee to boost your sales and marketing program for a new product, it is important that you plan an incentive program for the best part time sales personnel who brings in large volume of sales for the month.
When personnel received this incentive, he would discuss it with his close friends and colleagues and this in turn would ensure that you have a good will generated in the employees market.
Always keep looking for good part time workers:
Most companies make a mistake of looking for part time employees only when there is a need. But this simple strategy makes them lose out on recruiting quality part time workers. Since there is a demand and the job needs to be filled, thus you mostly recruit employees who are good but not the best in the market.
Hiring managers share a trade secret which is, the best way to recruit quality part time workers is by constantly searching for them and updating your job listing at a regular basis.
Actively involve your full time employees:
One of the most effective ways to recruit part time employees is to actively involve your company’s full time employees. You could ask them for recommendations and referrals.
Here you should understand that your full time employees are better equipped to understand the type of employees that would best fit in the company and also how effectively they would work with other people. It is essential that you understand when seeking referrals from your existing employees, you have to be clear in the skills that you are looking into for a part time employee.
You also have to be sure whether you can trust their judgment especially when you are involving them in the initial interview process. The best step to take here is to lay out certain rules which would help to create a good working relationship between both the groups.
Specify your part time job specifications clearly:
When you are recruiting part time employees you have to understand that people work part time jobs for various reasons. A teenager would get employed to earn quick money, while a senior management student might get employed in order to add work experience in his resume.
Thus it is very important that you clearly specify in your job posting regarding the type of people and skills you are looking to recruit. Here you should also mention the work experience that you want and this would indicate the fact that this is an important position and it thus has a good career growth associated with it.
Where are you going to post your part time jobs?
Apart from your company’s website where you would post your part time job postings, it is essential that you understand what the other places where you would post them are.
It is not always beneficial to post your part time job posting in a website where you could get large online traffic. What is essential here is that, you get across to people who have the right set of skills and are looking to work in companies like yours.
The key here is to attract less but better skilled people. This would also save you time from reading through a huge list of unwanted resumes.
Be rigorous in your interview process:
When recruiting part time employees you should undertake the interview process with seriousness. They should follow the same procedures which are undertaken when recruiting full time employees. Here it is important that you ask the person certain questions like-
- Why is he undertaking a part time job?
- How long would they be engaged in part time jobs?
- What is his work experience and skills in this regard?
- What is his expectation from this job?
- What sort of job remuneration is he expecting?
How do you manage part time employees?
After recruiting your part time employees it is essential that you know how to engage them well. Here are some guidelines which you should follow-
Assign them into specific projects:
Part time employees work best when they are assigned to a specific project and not to a team or any departments. Shawn Allison explains this fact by mentioning that she had recruited a few part timers to help her out in a specific project related to accounts and marketing. Therefore these skilled employees did their work well and did not interact with other employees.
Treat them well:
It is very important that you treat part time employees like a staff member of your company. Thus they should be updated with all internal company communications and also understand various decisions which are being taken by the company. Their contribution to the company should be considered seriously and they should not be judged on the basis of the hours they are working in the company.
Schedule meetings at regular intervals:
Steve Durie CEO of Secure-Search explains that part time employees should be encouraged to participate in project meetings and strategy sessions. Here they can contribute well and this would also help them feel contented with the job they are doing for the company.
Tips for Managing Part-Time Workers:
Monitoring employee work is a very essential duty of every employer so as to make sure the quality of their work and also to help them guide where they are lacking. This applies for every employee be it part time workers or full time workers.
But when it comes to managing employees dealing with part time workers is completely different from full time employees. Part time workers are employees who work for just few hours and are paid accordingly.
Part time working is a win win situation for both the workers as well as organization. Also in most cases employers choose part time workers to work as full time workers for their organization, providing them permanent employment.
So it is very important to manage your part time employees carefully, this helps employers to build a bond with them. Having a strong relation with your part time employees helps them become loyal and trustworthy.
Few ways to manage part time employees:
- Not limiting the to particular work or tasks
- Treating them equally as other employees
- Make them a part of regular events and meetings
- Provide best development opportunities
- Build specific policies for part time employees
- Communicate very often with them
- Make sure they are provided with tools and resources
- Consider their flexibility necessity
- Set up possible expectations
- Allot even vital projects for employees
Best Part-Time Job Sites and Search Engines:
Whether it is any internship or part time job, searching the right source is very important. There are many frauds in the name of part time jobs or internship in the market, so avoid falling into such traps and act smartly.
Good search engines and job portals are the best sources that help you find best part time jobs. The benefits of searching in such sources is that they not only provide job posts but also a detailed information about the company and the job role.
Some of the best job sites for searching part time jobs are
Conclusion:
It is important that you understand that recruiting a part time employee is an investment that your company is undertaking, just like its full time employees. Thus you should comply with all the employments laws that are needed to be maintained by your company, in accordance with your state regulations.
Such an initiative would make the part time employee feel secure and help them to give more than 100% effort in his daily work. This in the long run would boost your company to new levels of success like never before and a major credit would be due to the part time employees you have cleverly recruited.
