Lets be honest, sometimes it’s hard being a contractor
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Wednesday, 23 June, 2010 | Tagged in Running Your Own Business | Written by Crackerjacks
Says Andy McCormack – a qualified Counsellor and Life/Career Coach.
Having been in the recruitment industry for over 15 years across Europe and NZ I have had the pleasure of working closely with some great people, both as clients and as contractors and/or candidates. I have recruited for everything from temporary Warehouse staff to Contract GM’s and Contract Country Managers in Europe. One of the things that has always stood out to me as being common across all areas, is how isolated contract and temporary staff can feel at times.
As a contractor, how many times have you sat and watched the rest of your team disappear of to a meeting, whilst you’re left to ‘hold the fort’ (answer the phones more like), miss out on a team lunch or not be invited to the Christmas party at all!
Not only do you miss out on the ‘fun’ stuff, you can miss out on the supportive stuff as well. Who do you turn to when you are being bullied at work, who do you talk to about feeling stressed or not coping (EAP doesn’t always apply to contractors), who is there out there for you?
Some would say that’s what your agency is there for, I would say depends on how good your consultant is. Some consultants will only think of the $$$ and do their best to keep you working for their client regardless, whilst some ignore any issue by ignoring your calls. A few will actually be ‘Consultants’ and actually listen and work with you (but these are few and far between I’m afraid).
And then there are contractors who don’t work through agencies – “Sole-traders” who contract directly to the client.
So what can you do if you are finding it tough at work or feel that you are not getting the professional development advise you need? Firstly, know that you are not alone and that many contractors feel the same way. Network hard with other contractors when you can, so you build a support group of fellow professionals who know how you feel. Talk to whoever has been involved in the process of getting you placed in your role (Crackerjacks are always as supportive in this regard) and explain what’s happening. Talk to your Manager or HR Manager at your assignment company, they will want the assignment to work out as much as you do. Share your worries with friends, family, counsellor etc, bottling it up won’t make it go away.
If you would like some external support then contact Andy at www.itsmylife.co.nz
Andy McCormack is a qualified Counsellor and Life/Career Coach. He is also a partner and proud supporter of Crackerjacks.
July 14th, 2010
I agree with Andy McCormack on most of the topics he has raised. However, the one issue he doesn’t tackle is how temporary/contract staff are often treated as though they are idiots.
Having temped/contracted for a number of years now, I am still amazed at how badly, a lot of companies are run. Very often the incumbent managers are in their positions through luck more than reason; the organisations poorly managed, badly organised and staffed with the wrong people.
Along comes the innocent temp/contractor with oodles of savvy which, if they wish to keep their jobs, they have to keep to themselves and ‘go with the flow’. This puts them between a rock and a hard place because, when things go wrong – as they inevitably do – the temp/contractor is a convenient scapegoat and the incompetent permanent staff get to breathe another day. The offending temporary staff can be dismissed without ever having been allowed to say a single word in their defence.
Not all companies behave in this fashion – some are very kind and supportive to us lonely Nomads of the workplace; the role is well thought out, well managed and the managers invite constructive criticism. Where this is not the case, it is usually due to the manager(s) involved being insecure in their own roles and therefore inclined to protect their own position at all costs. They need to see that temporary/contract people are often, if not better qualfied, certainly a match for them.
August 6th, 2010
Reply from Andy McCormack:
Thank you for your input Linda. Your last paragraph clearly defines what the issue is for many temps out their in the market, even more so over the last couple of years. With a tight market for jobs employees have been more focused than ever at keeping their own job. This is especially so when they have seen redundancies happening within their own business, all of a sudden the possibility of losing ones job becomes very real.
This heightens insecurities, not just of managers but of all employees, and when mistakes are made a scapegoat has to be found. These mistakes have become more prominent as well due to the reduction in employee numbers, those that are left are having to pick up more responsibilities and if the employee is already struggling with their own role (now that there are fewer people in the team to hide behind), then suddenly they are very exposed and the ‘wheels start to wobble’.
As a temp you are caught up in all of this and as Linda mentioned, are an easy scapegoat. There is no answer to this (I don’t think) and my encouragement is to hold your head high and ensure that your work is beyond reproach. If possible indicate to your manager that you have other skills that you can utilise “if they wish”, as you are keen to help. But try not to be too pushy, no-one likes someone new to the business telling them all the things they are doing wrong and what they should be doing… leave that to the Gen Y’s, experienced temps know better.