Lots of businesses and organizations get busier November through January. During the holiday season there are additional tasks and projects, extra customer service duties, and end-of-year responsibilities. Filling seasonal positions for the holidays can help you profit and get through the holiday rush without overextending your current staff.
When hiring seasonal employees, during any occasion, you need a strategy to quickly recruit, hire and prepare new staff. Here are KeyStaff’s tips for making hiring for the holidays a little smoother.
1. Revise Job Descriptions
Ensure that job descriptions for seasonal hires are correct and up-to-date.
Take the time to note the specific duties and responsibilities of the job you are staffing and make sure to revise the time frame for seasonal employees.
It can be tempting to write a vague description as a short cut, but when employees are unsure of expectations it can lead to frustration and employers may also not be happy with job performance. Recruiting the right candidates is also easier when you have an accurate job description.
2. Seek Help from a Top Staffing Agency
Whether you are hiring for a handful or for hundreds of seasonal positions, you will probably benefit from a staffing firm. Agencies are constantly in touch with job candidates and can make the hiring process much easier for you.
Not only will a staffing firm like KeyStaff quickly assess and hire holiday staff, but they will also ensure compensation is on target, handle paperwork and can also be helpful with training and communicating expectations.
3. Have a Plan for Onboarding.
Just as you would with a candidate for a full-time position, have a plan for onboarding seasonal employees. Putting seasonal employees straight to work without adequate training in order to save time, money or both, could inevitably cost you more in the end. Employees can definitely improve with “on the job training,” but it is crucial that holiday hires go through a basic boot camp before interacting with customers, handling products or managing one of the many tasks expected of them.
A nice holiday bonus… Although many of your temporary hires will only be around for the season, some of them may be just right for permanent positions. A little extra work before hiring for the holidays could prove fruitful.