The holiday season usually means more opportunities for businesses to maximize their profits. Unfortunately, the influx in demand can put a strain on your employees as they now have to handle more tasks and take on new responsibilities.
To take some of the pressure off their team’s shoulders, business owners often look for temporary labor for the holiday season. But, finding good seasonal employees can seem like a daunting task, especially with the rush of the holidays. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here are Laborjack’s four tips for holiday hiring success.
Don’t Wait Until the Holidays to Start Hiring
If you know that the holidays are one of your busiest periods, then it’s important to start your search early. This way, not only that you won’t be understaffed during the holiday season, but you can also make sure that you will find the best employees for the job.
Most businesses start looking for seasonal employees at the beginning of September when most temp workers start looking for jobs. By starting your search early, you can be more thorough about the process and have a larger candidate pool to choose from.
Write Honest Job Descriptions
One simple way to make holiday hiring easier is to pay closer attention to the job description. You could be losing everyone’s time if you are not honest about the job or if you don’t include essential information. For example, make sure to include the period (days and hours) for when you need temporary workers. This way, you will save time by interviewing only candidates who are available for that specific period. Moreover, if you write incomplete or dishonest job descriptions, you may be losing on high-quality seasonal employees who don’t want to waste their time calling to ask for additional information.
Clearly communicate what the job requires, what your needs and expectations are, and the benefits the employees will get.
Ask Relevant Questions
Your permanent and temporary staff may sometimes have the same job requirements on paper, but you want your seasonal employees to have certain skills to align with your needs during the holiday season. One way to streamline the hiring process is by asking pre-qualifying questions that are relevant to the position you are hiring for.
For example, you will want to ensure that your temporary staff will fit in with the team nicely. You could ask them about the types of teams they’ve worked with before to get a better sense of their teamwork skills.
Have Dedicated Training Time
Of course, you don’t want to throw your temp workers in the middle of the holiday season with little to no preparation, but you also don’t want to spend too much time on training as they won’t be part of your team for too long.
Have dedicated training time (such as a week before the job) to help them become more comfortable in their new roles. Use this time to not only train them on the specific skills they need for the job, but also to inform them on your company’s policies and procedures, your goals, and expectations, who to report to when there’s an issue, or who to go to if they have questions, and so on.
Work with Laborjack for Your Temporary Staffing Needs
The consensus when it comes to the holiday season is that finding quality temporary workers is hard. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, we can make it quite simple for you to find the right seasonal employees, regardless of the type of job you are looking for or the industry you’re in.
Book your next job with Laborjack!