The use of temporary services to stock a farm of employees is beneficial in a number of ways for an employer, and detrimental in others; but the one that will always be heard is that good labor is hard to find when using these services.

This is a very real and expensive reality for some, and the blame always falls on the employee. However, denial is a great way to be unsuccessful, and the word can be added to the overhead of any business that chooses to be less attentive.

Big businesses cultivate the employer/employee relationship. It costs money and takes time, which costs more money ... but the bottom line still beats those who choose the other way, which is to treat their employees like cattle.

The biggest asset an employer can have when dealing with their employees is experience at the bottom rung, or at least have the intuition to imagine what it would be like to be there at the moment they interact with the employee.

There is no substitute for respect, and it has to be given to all temporary employees from the moment they walk in the door. Too many times an employer will see a temp walk in and immediately dump the temp off to someone else, who then dumps the temp at a spot where there is someone else to train them - then the temp finds themselves alone doing a job they're not going to care about by lunchtime. Does anyone remember the employee name? Did anyone even smile or shake the hand of this one?

Is this the soft approach? Who has time for an employee who won't be here tomorrow? After all, the job is only for two weeks, the pay is lousy, the employee looks like they don't have what it takes to climb the ladder here, and we have no time for this.

But, there'll have to be time tomorrow. Temporary services will have to be called. A new employee will have be in to take the place of the one that's about to leave.