Tips For Seasonal Staffing

January 19, 2016 | Staffing Blog

In 2011, the economy was slowly recovering. Businesses that wanted to keep the cost of labor down found a large pool of unemployed people who were willing to hire on for a season and perhaps stay all year if they could do well during the limited time. These days, the national unemployment rate is 5 percent, its lowest since 2008, and the search for talent is more intense but still fruitful. Boosting the number of potential seasonal employees is the growing desire on the part of workers for a work/life balance that seasonal work can bring. There are also the college kids who need the work experience and bridge between school loans. This is fortunate, since many industries rely on seasonal staffing to keep their companies efficient and find good life-long employees. So when you are planning on hiring only for a season, here are a few things to consider.

Training

Even your full-time workers and returning seasonal workers can use training to renew their skills and to raise their awareness of more obscure aspects of their job. Make some time to train everyone at the beginning of the season.

All that said, you want to keep the training short and to the point. There isn’t much time to waste with people who will be there temporarily, or on people who need only a refresher course. Keep the training to what everyone will be doing.

Dedicate Staff To On-boarding

The time constraints in seasonal hiring can make getting everyone situated for the season stressful. Letting Allegiance Staffing find quality employees frees up staff members to complete the hiring process to your usual standards. It is important to keep up those standards, as not doing so puts you at risk. It is a good idea to train your HR personnel on hiring seasonal workers so they are prepared and aren’t tempted to cut corners.

Timing

It is a delicate balancing act to hire your extras just in time to take on the extra work load, plus be properly trained, but also avoid paying for labor that you don’t need. A good way to limit the extra days you pay for is to hire people who are already experienced in your industry. This will cut down on the time you have to spend on training (although, as noted above, it is always good to train.)

So, when should you start hiring your temporary employees? Ideally, about 2 or 3 weeks before the start of the busy season. For instance, if your season starts in January, you will want your seasonal workers on board by the second week of December. You can get people to agree to work for a season months in advance, but that is a hard goal to shoot for. Allegiance Staffing specializes in getting reliably experienced seasonal workers to your business in the optimal time frame.

If you need reliable, high-quality workers for your busy season, Contact Us and we will quickly fill your needs. Looking for Seasonal work? Join Our Talent Network today.