When contingent workers finish their assignments with your company, make a record of what you thought of their performance. Depending on whether your experience was positive or negative, you may want to ask the staffing firm for a particular person again — or ask that she never return!
Sharing your assessment with the staffing firm helps the firm do a better job of meeting your company’s needs. (Many staffing firms offer evaluation forms after an assignment to solicit this type of feedback.) As you go through this exercise, you and line managers who have used contingent staff should ask yourselves whether he
Met your expectations
Finished the job on time and professionally
Required little, some, or too much daily instruction
Fit well into the workplace
Additionally, ask yourselves:
What could the contingent worker have done differently? Done better?
Would you hire this person as a full-time or part-time employee? If no, why not?
Be aware that your assessment is not to be used as a performance evaluation. Your records should be treated as internal documents only and shared only with internal staff and with the staffing firm.
Under no circumstances should you share what may be perceived as a formal performance evaluation with a contingent worker. Why? Doing so is one of the criteria the courts use to determine whether the worker was really working on a contingent basis or directly for you. If you’re sued, and the decision goes the wrong way, you could be liable for back payroll taxes and other expenses.
This is not to say that you can’t offer words of encouragement (“Good job!”) to a contingent worker or point out when she hasn’t met your expectations during the course of the assignment (“I need you to improve your performance”). Just don’t formalize the encounter or offer anything in writing.
At the end of the assignment, ask for feedback from contingent workers about your company or department and its procedures and approaches. They can usually offer unbiased opinions that are invaluable. There’s a good chance they’ll be more forthcoming with an HR practitioner than the managers they’ve been working with each day. If problems arose with the project, the individual’s comments may help you prevent similar situations in the future.