Decide what you are evaluating before day one.
Start with the same standards you would use for a permanent employee. Define the work output, attendance expectations, safety requirements, communication habits and team behaviors that matter in the role.
Without that baseline, a Temp-to-Hire period can become a vague impression instead of a useful hiring decision.
Look beyond raw productivity.
Production speed matters in many jobs, but it is rarely the whole story. Pay attention to whether the person learns from feedback, shows up consistently, asks useful questions, follows process and contributes to the team without creating extra management work.
Give feedback early enough to matter.
If something is off in week one, say so in week one. A working interview is more valuable when the candidate has a fair chance to adjust. Waiting until the end of the evaluation period only tells you how they performed without coaching—not how they respond to it.
Include the people who actually work with them.
Supervisors and coworkers often see details that never reach HR or senior leadership. Ask the people closest to the work whether the employee can be counted on, whether they communicate well and whether the team would want to keep working with them.
Ask whether the employee wants the job too.
Temp-to-Hire is a two-way evaluation. The employee is learning about the manager, schedule, culture and daily reality of the job at the same time. A successful conversion works better when both sides are choosing the relationship rather than simply arriving at the end of a clock.
Make the permanent decision based on evidence.
By the time you convert someone, you should be able to explain why: attendance is dependable, the work is at standard, they respond to feedback, the team trusts them and they want to stay. That is a much stronger decision than relying on interview chemistry alone.