According to Stats Canada, less than half of Canadians worked full-time jobs in 2015. Moreover from the demographic of Canadians aged 25 to 54, less than 50% work full-time as they are shifting away from traditional employment to more part-time and pat-year work.

Being conscientious of this reality, and despite a partial involvement in a company’s operations limited to time, part-time workers can provide many evident upsides for business owners. These employees can reduce the impact a layoff would have had on your business and you are able to schedule them with more flexibility and proficiency. Thus, through this, this would reduce the work overload of your full-time employees.

Keeping these part-timers can be very important for a company moving forward. Part-timers can be in school or juggling multiple jobs at the same time. Their involvement with you should provide them with an opportunity for a valued experience and to learn. Also, and most importantly, it’s crucial to eventually try to create a path for these part-time employees to become full-time through a career trajectory.

Communicating Equality and Flexibility

To begin, even if some of your employees are not in the workplace every day, they’re still considered part of your team. Thus, it’s important that your employees feel integrated and involved within the core of your company. Keeping everyone in the loop is a necessity for better fluidity with company operations.

If you have lots of part-timers, it would be most ideal to create a system where all your employees understand what is going on internally. This can be exemplified through some source of media which could include a group chat online, a detailed email, or even a board in the staff room.

Maintaining a strong sense of communication can go a long way in a business. Having your employees stay informed about inside operations through simply checking one internal channel before starting their shift could inspire them to stay longer and feel more knowledgeable and representative of their brand, regardless of how long they have been off shift.

If you create the sensation that full-timers and part-timers are different, they will feel different, and it can impact productivity and morale. To keep part-timers happy, keep an overview of their preferred working hours and use it to make a schedule that suits everyone to the extent you can. Should any changes occur in their schedule, set clear expectations on when you need that information in order to account for the required changes made.

Providing opportunities for Advancement

As you are nurturing the development of your staff to let them grow and improve, don’t forget about the goals of your part time employees. Make sure that your management team has a clear plan and detailed program to supply your part-timers with a great opportunity for training, education, and, ultimately, experience.

If you allow any employee to deepen their knowledge, skills or experience as a way to reduce performance gaps, it will only help your organization, and their productivity.

Just because they are part-time does not necessarily mean that they aren’t interested in growing within the company or make progress in their career. Should a pat-time worker be a good fit in exemplifying all the characteristics that your company is looking for, make sure to show a level of appreciation and seriousness in their involvement in your company.

By creating a positive work environment, this will definitely encourage workers to invest more of their time in your company; which could ultimately lead to a satisfying career.