Message #71631

[Cathy S]

In sympathy with your point Cathy, it works both ways:

I have been on the receiving end of some pretty shoddy treatment as a temp over a 2 year period, but with one exception fulfilled every engagement professionally - the exception was when I went to a new assignment in torrential rain and was unfortunate enough to upend a paving slab soaking myself inside and out my clothing.  I reported early to the Reception desk, explained my predicament and expected to be shown to the ladies to try and make the best of the situation.  Instead I was escorted to my desk and given a pile of copy typing which required me to fetch documents from the filing stack.  I wasn't shown the filing stack, had to find it myself in another part of the building.  But the clincher was, having sat in soggy clothes all morning I suddenly found the entire office had gone for lunch and not said a word to me.  I went to the nearest phone box, rang my controller and told her I would stay the week for her, but she would need to find someone else after that.  It was a most unfriendly office.

On the other hand, as a manager I hired temps from time to time and always used a preferred agency (the one I had temped for unsurprisingly).  One week the temp arrived punctually on the Monday morning, worked perfectly well and seemed to be quite happy with the input from her immediate colleagues.  She said she was popping home for lunch and didn't come back ... nonplussed I called my contact at the agency and she spent several days trying to speak to the temp.  It turned out she had gone home, had a violent fight with her partner and left home - so nothing to do with our company at all!

Cathy