The holiday season has arrived and so has the sprint for seasonal hiring. A great way to boost productivity and sales, especially for the retail industry, seasonal hiring is a necessary item on most companies to do lists. According to the National Retail Federation, holiday sales between November and December represent 20 to 30 percent of annual retail sales each year. So it makes sense to beef up your staff for this time of the year. Seasonal hiring doesn’t just start in November or October, though. FedEx, UPS, and many retailers have already started their seasonal hiring. For the 2019 holiday season, UPS committed to hiring approximately 100,000 employees for the holidays, beginning as early as June. Kohl’s has been hiring since the end of the summer, and hosted their first ever national hiring event in October to employ stores, online fulfillment, and distribution centers.
It’s smart to start holiday hiring early, but don’t fret if you’re just now getting those temp employees on the payroll. We put together some tips to make the seasonal hiring process as smooth as cranberry sauce – and better tasting.
Seasonal Employees
Seasonal employees are typically hired to fill open positions created by higher volume in peak seasons. Country clubs for example, bulk up their staff during the summer when golfers are vacationing with their families. Most retail stores, shipping and packaging, and logistics companies increase their staff numbers during the fall and winter holidays. A seasonal employee can work part-time or full-time and earn overtime. The FLSA doesn’t give specific guidelines on seasonal employee hour limitations from a legal perspective. But it’s a good idea to staff accordingly.
Tips for Hiring
Reach out to Former Employees
Former employees represent a large swath of people who already know the job, systems, and perhaps most of the staff. College students coming home for the holiday’s may want to pick up some extra hours, especially if they worked a previous holiday or during their summer break. This doesn’t mean they don’t need training, but the training process might be expedited for them.
Ask Current Employees
Open hours for retail are generally extended for the holidays and shipping companies like UPS work around the clock to load and deliver holiday gifts. With so many employees working long or late hours, it might boost morale to hire some people your current employees already know, or offer plenty of that overtime to your current staff. This instantly builds culture and increases moods. Most people enjoy working with peers they know and like. If you plan on hiring friends or family of your employees consider setting boundaries so productivity isn’t compromised and to reduce a clique atmosphere.
Take to Social Media
If ever in doubt, take to social media for hiring. The reach of LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are massive and the opportunity to bring in young, fresh faces for the holidays is unlimited. With record low unemployment going into the 2019 holiday season, it’s a good idea to start hiring as early as possible to secure quality talent. Social media is a great way to reach the job seeker pool and promote your business as a great source of extra holiday cash.
Tips for Training
Multiple Training Materials
Seasonal employees are only employed by companies for a small window of time, from six to just two months. It’s important to put them through the usual training and onboarding program, but their learning curve isn’t as forgiving as your regular employees. Consider providing them with quick info sheets for company logistics systems, cash registers, or other processes new employees need to know. Providing multiple training tools such as written materials, videos, and hands-on learning can also help new employees quickly learn all these new systems and structures.
Pair Them With Regular Employees
Dole out some responsibility to your full-time employees and let them act as mentors to your seasonal staff. Assign a full time employee to each seasonal worker to answer questions and show them the ropes. It will speed up their learning curve and build peer relationships.
Terminating Seasonal Workers
Ending Dates
With their tenure being conditional to the holiday season, make sure to give them a solid end date when they’re hired. This will avoid any confusion or hurt feelings when the holidays have passed and the company can no longer support as many employees.
Consider Hiring Full Time
Just because they were hired as seasonal employees doesn’t mean they can’t earn a full-time or part-time position. If they showed initiative, were punctual, have a good attitude, and anything else that’s important to your workplace culture, they could be considered to stay on as regular employees. Make sure to work the budget and understand your post-holiday staffing needs before committing though. You don’t want to get either of you into a Valentine’s Day work-breakup.
Rehire Next Season
Be sure to thank your seasonal employees for the great job they did and their efforts during such a stressful time. These employees would appreciate the offer to return next season if their life allows. It’s a heartwarming gesture that can translate to positive brand experiences and loyal, quality employees for years to come.
Stay Legal
Be sure to follow all FTC and EEOC guidelines for hiring and firing seasonal workers, just as you would with anyone else. They are still under the same discrimination protections as regular employees so it’s important that everyone involved understands how the post-season departure will happen when the time comes.
Amid the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it’s important to maintain your company’s health by performing background checks on seasonal hires. Ensuring a safe and strong work environment builds confidence that will bring seasonal employees back year over year.
Seasonal hiring can be stressful and overwhelming. Some companies have been hiring workers since the end of June in preparation for the 2019 holiday season. Go through your current and former employees to find quality hires who already know some of the products and processes. Make sure to give them extra help during training and some quick guides to aid them along the way. Always be sure to maintain EEOC compliance, set a solid start and end date, and remember to keep an open mind for hiring on quality workers full time.
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