Temp(ting) but is it healthy?

Fast foods are among the most tempting eatables available for consumption. Yet many times questions are raised on their nutritional values and often they are branded as junk food. There are people who agree with the same and there are others who do not abide by the same faith. Fast food preachers count the pros that such foods have, like they are cheap (compared to a gourmet restaurant) yet tasty, they are readily available and they can be consumed anywhere. Those who oppose fast food blame their belief on the silent damage that such foods cause to the body making it obese and less efficient.


The issue of temp hiring is also quite similar to these temp(ting) fast foods. There are companies who think temps (temporary recruits) are good ones to have while there are others who do not really believe in temp-hiring. Those companies that do temp hiring count the benefits such as temp-staff give them the flexibility to manage the unexpected business demand, seasonal manpower requirement, quicker scaling with tested/productive workforce, trial run to convert from temp-to-perm seamlessly and more importantly cost advantage. Recent reports suggest that many leading IT firms in India have increased their temp hiring (contract staffing) by almost 20 per cent this year. HR analysts say that in retail, temp hiring has jumped by almost 45 per cent. It is estimated that this year, the six-lakh temp workforce in India is expected to grow by 20-25 per cent over 2010.

Yet there are others who have burnt fingers with temp hiring. Maruti Suzuki is an excellent example. The recent labour problems at Maruti Suzuki plants in northern part of India have mostly stemmed from contract temp workers. Certain industry leaders believe that temps may serve the short-term need of a company but the damage that they cause in the long-run mostly goes undetected till it flares-up phenomenally like in the case of Maruti. Experts believe that the degree of engagement and commitment in temps can never be very high – one of the reasons why Titan has recruited mostly on-company-roll employees in their retail stores.

Many companies like Titan, believe the degree of engagement with the internal customer (employees) has a direct or indirect impact on the degree of engagement that a company has with its external customers. For instance, retail sector in India suffers from high rate of attrition especially when it comes to floor level workers. They are paid very less (salaries can start as low as $60 per month even in cities like Bangalore) and these workers switch sometimes for just $10 hike. Retail companies are not too concerned about it because they can find a lot of temp staff and they believe that the only thing these staffs have to know is what is kept on the shelf, which they can learn quickly. But how many times have you as a customer been irritated when you walked into a retail store and found no help when you tried to locate something or found an unsolicited help when you preferred to browse at your own pace and will? How many times has the sales executive at the store has been able to help you with valid information, in other words how many times have you received an informed help?

Coming back to fast food, yesterday we ordered our dinner from Domino’s. I visited the store and ordered for pizzas and pastas, paid my bill and requested for a home-delivery. The order was delivered in 30 minutes sans the mousse cake that I had also ordered. The delivery boy (a temp) realized his mistake and went to fetch the mousse cake. Since the same thing had been happening last couple of times, I was not very impressed. Anyways after good 20 minutes the cake was delivered. This time it was some other delivery boy who asked for the payment of the bill, as well. I told him politely that I had already paid-up the bill. He didn’t seem too convinced yet left. Around midnight when we had almost retired for the bed, our door bell rang. And voila…there was the same delivery boy who came to deliver the mousse cake with another delivery boy. They charged me that I had not paid the bill. I was surprised and very angry. I had tough time in convincing them that I had already paid the bill causing me immense embarrassment and annoyance. I called-up the store manager and asked him for an explanation. The store manager apologized profusely for the terrible mix-up (which does not lessen my suffering). However I told him that all these things have started to happen in Domino’s of late only and I am sure that it indicates at some systemic-rot. Do the delivery boys really care about engaging with the customer in the right way (after all they are more in service delivery role). Bigger question is are they engaged themselves to Domino’s ?

Many times my son, who has been told in the school that fast food is junk food, asks me – ‘If fast foods are junk food, should we have them?’ I tell him that there is no harm in having them occasionally but be sure that you have it from the right store and eat it the right way. In short approaching fast food with more ‘engagement’ with an eye on quantity to be consumed vis-a –vis the normal food consumed, which fast food stores to really visit and looking at the compatibility of the type of fast food with your body system (for example some people are allergic to some substance like monosodium glutamate seasoning used in fast food) becomes important. Similarly, hiring temps could at times become operational and strategic necessity but it is important to have greater ‘engagement’ with the temps in terms of their number in proportion to the permanent on-rolls, focusing on the source from where they are hired and training & deploying them in the right way in the organization.

Temp(ting) could be healthy too!