Contract employees are only part of your team for a short while — unless you decide to bring them on board permanently at the end of their tenure — but they can make a huge impact. These professionals are working on behalf of your company, so you need to integrate them into your culture. Otherwise, they may feel disjointed from the rest of the team. If they are unable to grasp the beliefs and behaviors that drive your organization, their level of job satisfaction and the quality of their work could suffer.

5 Ways to Incorporate Contract Employees Into Your Culture

1. Treat Them Like Part of the Team

More than just extra names on your employment roster, contract employees are people, so treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve. Add them to group emails, have them attend staff meetings and invite them to team lunches and happy hours. Being left out feels pretty bad, and it also keeps contractors from fully immersing themselves into your culture.

2. Ask For Their Input

Your contractors are intelligent people with brilliant ideas, so use this to your advantage. Ask them to weigh in on projects, instead of simply putting tasks in their queue. Since many have experience working with several other companies, ask them for advice on issues long-time employees might be too close to, such as ways to improve your processes and procedures. This shows the contractor the type of culture you have and their input will be helpful to your company.

3. Provide Regular Feedback

As long as contractors do decent work, some employers mostly ignore them, but your culture doesn’t work like that. Show the person you value their contributions by offering regular feedback on things they are doing well and areas for improvement. This will help them grasp your culture of learning and make them feel appreciated.

4. Recognize Their Accomplishments

When an employee does great work, you recognize their achievements, so this rule needs to extend to contractors. Recognize their efforts the same way you would a full-time staffer — i.e., send an email, stop by their desk or call them out in a meeting — to really make them feel like part of the team. This will encourage them to work harder and take extra pride in every assignment on their plate.

5. Hire the Right People

Many employers consider fit irrelevant when hiring contractors because they will only be on staff for a limited time. However, this approach is all wrong. If the person fails to blend with your team, they will not be too effective in the job. Take the time to evaluate fit when hiring anyone, because this will be reflected in the quality of their work.

Find the Contractors Your Business Needs to Succeed

For your company to get ahead, you need a team filled with top architecture, engineering and construction talent. Count on RealStreet to fill your lease, lease-to-hire and direct hire positions with the right fit every time. Contact us today to discuss your needs.