What sort of challenges are likely to confront a manager who supervises a mix of temporary and permanent employees? In what ways might these challenges differ if the temporary workers have been hired on a temp-to-perm basis rather than on a strictly temporary basis?

There are many challenges when hiring employees. One of the main challenges when hiring a mix of both temp and permanent employees is who is eligibility for overtime pay and employee benefits. Temporary employees are not eligible for certain employee benefits. Likewise, permanent employees must receive certain benefits. It is also important to not pit the two groups against one another as it may create animosity among team members -- a little friendly competition is one thing, but animosity hurts productivity. Finally, temporary workers need more help and explanation than permanent employees so it's important to clearly explain all work. Training and feedback are important for all employees, but vital for temp workers.

These challenges might differ slightly if the temporary worker is hired on a temp-to-perm basis rather than on a strictly temporary basis by degrees, but the primary challenges remain. That said, temp-to-perm employees can look forward to being full-time employees and therefore part of the team, which should make them easier to both manage and train.