Over 2 million Australians, or 1 in 4 workers, are classified as casual workers. A spokesperson from the ACTU described the trend in the increase in casual workers, or ‘casualisation’ of the workforce as “one of the dominant trends in the Australian workplace during the past decade”.
Much has been written about the casualisation of the workforce and there are many opinions on the benefits and costs. Casual employment can facilitate flexibility in the organsiation and help achieve a better work-to-lifestyle balance for employees. It can be particularly attractive to those who have other commitments, be it study or family, and who cannot or prefer not to commit to full time work. However, there are some hurdles that organisations should be aware of in relation to hiring a casual workforce.
One of the biggest hurdles is related to the hiring process. Less time and money tends to be spent on hiring casual workers compared to full-time employees. For this reason, it can be difficult to ensure that the workers being hired not only have the right skills and qualifications, but also the right values and ethics, and commitment to the organisation.
In certain roles, casual workers can also be less well supervised than full-time workers and often do not have the same stringent performance review systems. They can also tend to feel less a part of, and invested in the organisation. For these reasons, disengagement can be an issue, and ethical behaviour needs to be monitored.
RightPeople can help! In addition to our intelligence, cognitive ability and skills tests, we also have a range of tools that can assess how committed your employees are, what their values are and whether they are in line with organisational values, whether they are likely to act ethically and to comply with policies and procedures and how effective their time management skills are. We also have a range of test packages designed for different staff levels, that take the guess-work out of deciding which tests to use.
For a full list of our assessment tools and test packages, visit our website.
Or contact us for further information.
