Working for a Temporary Agency, Would You Prefer Micromanagement or Macromanagement?

The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 14.6 million (9.5 percent) in July 2010, and 143,000 temporary workers completed their work as Census takers. Health care jobs appear to be on the rise, employing 231,000 total and 27,000 in the month of July. With full-time work being so hard to come by, unemployed people are looking at temporary agencies more often and temp agencies know it. Posting a resume on sites like Monster.com, JournalismJobs.com, Craigslist.com and CareerBuilder.com are bringing in plenty of calls from recruiters but not nearly as many jobs after the application process. But for the lucky ones who do get the temp jobs, is micromanagement or macromanagement preferred?

Recruiters are paid a percentage of money for each day that a temp worker shows up to work so asking for days off can be a make-or-break deal. Even taking the day off for a job interview is a risk because the temp employee loses pay and the temp company loses pay. If the employer hires a temp worker to work for a certain number of days and that temp can't make those days, chances are that person won't get the contracted position. But what happens when the temp company is completely hands off or hands on?

There are two types of temp agencies. One type of agency is pretty hands off with a macromanagement philosophy. If you're late, you contact the employer instead of the temporary company. If you need days off, the temp company will tell the worker to contact the employer. There are some temp companies that are so out of the loop that they'll call you for a certain job and have no idea what it is you do on a daily basis. As long as you show up and they get paid, that's all that counts.

I was once called for an editing job. The temp company said I'd either be a copy editor or a fact checker, but even when I arrived to the employer's location, they asked me what I was hired for. Shouldn't somebody know beforehand? I went from copyediting documents to fact checking to completing projects. This was fun stuff for someone who enjoys the work, but when the work ran out, I ran into a problem. The editors didn't have anything for me to do, but they didn't want to let me go either. Although other temps worked for the company and would be given more office work to do, I was asked to clean the science supply closet full of clay, dirt and shelves everywhere. Keep in mind I was wearing heels, light-colored business casual attire and had no apron or goggles. I was told, "All the temps do this job," but in the four months I was there, I hadn't seen one temp clean the closet. What's worse was the temp who made the science supply room a mess was sitting right next to me and power-walked out of the room when she found out my new assignment.

I informed the temp agency I was working for about this and let them know if my assignment was complete, I'd prefer to try a different assignment with a new employer. I have to give that temp company major kudos for explaining to the current employer that since I was hired to do a certain position, that was what the contract must stick to in order for me to stay. Sometimes a temp company that's pretty hands off must go into management mode in order to make sure their temps aren't taken advantage of. This is when macromanagement curves into micromanagement.

I also worked for another temp company after college who was a Human Resources nightmare. They'd make all kinds of racist and sexist comments (see "Politically Incorrect Comments in the Workplace"). When I explained to the temp agency that I was uncomfortable there, the recruiter was understanding about why I wanted to leave. But she wanted me to go to the supervisor and tell him I would no longer work there even though the handout said that I should report all information to her. In other words, she didn't want to do the dirty work and explain that their workplace environment was counterproductive. Luckily, I found a full-time job soon after and didn't have to confront the employer.

Then there's micromanagement. After graduating from college, I worked for another temp agency that believed in micromanagement. They wanted a description of what I was doing, when I went to lunch, when I arrived and left, and the employers were quick to report every single thing that was done. The company was located three hours away from me, so there were a couple of times that I was late. I reported this to my temp agency, who would then report it to the hiring manager. But the supervisor under him would lecture me about being late although the temp company and hiring manager already knew what had happened. The employer's supervisor that I reported to would also constantly sneak by to make sure I was doing the work. Even worse, the hiring manager had a habit of yelling at temps and screaming "What the hell is wrong with you?" This is when the temps should definitely report treatment to the temp agency. While employers may feel like they can take advantage of the temps, the person temps really report to for future assignments is the temp company, not this employer.

A temp agency with micromanagement and an employer that uses a micromanagement style is a lot like too many cooks in the kitchen without enough food. When you're not answering to one, you're answering to another. If both clash in their work strategy, temps may find themselves always picking sides.

But with the current economic state, some would rather not complain at all. Do the job. Get paid. Answer to whoever and pay bills on time. So what do you prefer, a temp company that's pretty hands-on or one that lets the employer handle all the day-to-day issues and the only thing you do is turn in a timesheet? How do you handle workplace controversy with a temp company?