It’s that time of year again - the holidays! But before you get your merry on, of course, there’s work to be done. It’s time to recruit and hire a sleigh-full of seasonal employees to help with the holiday crunch.
Staffing up for the holidays can be a headache and an annual one at that. But it doesn’t have to be. Below, you’ll find four tactics that can help to take the hassle out of your seasonal staffing.
But first, some good news.
Good news for seasonal staffing
Finding and hiring seasonal employees is always tough, but it’s particularly difficult when demand is high and supply is tight. Some economic data suggests that this holiday season, the reverse will be true.
Given rapid increases in the cost of living, a record number of people are going to be looking for seasonal jobs to make extra money. In addition to the employees who have taken seasonal jobs in years past, more people will be looking to supplement income from other jobs with seasonal work. In one survey, conducted by Monster.com, 73% of respondents said they need additional income due to inflation, and 47% plan to work at least two jobs this year. While this isn’t particularly good news on a socioeconomic level, it does mean that the traditional seasonal labour pool will be deeper and broader this year.
It also appears that there will be lower demand for these employees in some areas and sectors. Some larger retailers are scaling back their hiring plans in anticipation of sluggish retail sales, and the potential of recession on the horizon. Among them, notably, is Walmart, who plans to hire under ⅓ the number of seasonal employees this year than it did last year.
In short, all signs point to more people looking for work, and fewer seasonal jobs for those people. This is good news for companies seeking to hire them.
Even with that considered, seasonal recruiting will never be easy. But there are some things you can do to make the job easier.
Tactic 1: Never stop recruiting
The single biggest mistake when it comes to seasonal recruiting is leaving it to the last minute. If you wait until it’s almost holiday season to ramp up for the holidays, you’ll have to work a lot harder and faster to get the people you need on board … if you’re able to do that at all.
Starting early is one approach. How early? You could take a cue from Macy’s, who starts their winter recruitment push a full six months before the Black Friday crunch.
Another approach, and we believe a better one, is to simply never stop recruiting at all. Sure, you might not be looking to hire until close to the holidays. Building a pipeline of potential employees, and keeping that pipeline active, doesn’t have to wait. And it shouldn’t.
If seasonal employees are a regular part of your hiring mix, the ‘Jobs’ page on your website should have an entry for seasonal jobs all year round. Someone might visit your page in June or July, and - even if they know you hire seasonal employees - forget to come back closer to the time. Why not strike while the iron is hot? Provide a way for the candidate to introduce themselves as a potential seasonal employee, no matter when they visit.
Similarly, there’s no reason you shouldn’t include seasonal recruitment messages in your social media posts throughout the year (although, naturally, a bit more sparingly when the holidays are a long way off). Your followers and fans might be thinking ahead to the holidays and considering taking a seasonal job. They already know and (presumably) love you; let them know you’re one of the companies they should consider working for. And naturally, each of those people has a network of friends and family who could also be prospects for a holiday hire.
Tactic 2: Identify untapped talent pools
Posting seasonal jobs on job boards and the like is the most obvious way of attracting applicants. But if you’re stopping there, you’re missing out on a significant number of potential employees.
Seasonal employees may be right under your nose, in places where few companies look.
Former employees
Employees who have been strong performers on your team in previous holiday seasons can be excellent candidates. They know the company, they’re trained in your systems, and they’ve proven themselves. Do you keep in touch with yours? Consider your seasonal employees as a sort of ‘alumni’ project. Keep in touch with them, sending a few notes through the course of the year, sharing updates and keeping your company top-of-mind. When the holidays are on the horizon, let them know you’ve got an opportunity waiting for them if they’re looking.
Current employees
Your permanent team members are connected with lots of friends and family members who might be looking for seasonal employment. Why not tap into those networks with an employee referral programme? Offering an incentive for each successful new hire can encourage your team to share seasonal opportunities with the people they know. Best of all, employees sourced this way tend to be more successful, since a current employee is unlikely to recommend someone who wouldn’t be a good fit.
Customers
You’ve shared hiring messages with your social media and other communication platforms through the year, but when the holidays are drawing near, you can be more direct. Strike when the iron is hot: consider putting signage right at the point-of-sale, letting your customers know that there may be an opportunity to take their existing relationship with you in a new direction.
Students
Colleges and universities are full of students who are often looking for a bit of extra cash when their academic schedules allow. Fostering relationships with careers offices at these schools can help you get word out to those students about seasonal employment opportunities.
In addition to these, there are some relatively nontraditional talent pools that can be surprisingly fruitful.
Roads less travelled
In every community, there are people who sometimes have difficulty getting a foot in the door to the traditional workforce. Depending on the nature of your business, this represents pockets of prospective seasonal talent you can dip into. People who have left the workforce for a variety of reasons - raising children, or caring for elderly loved ones - can find it difficult to return. Veterans and new immigrants often have challenges connecting with employment opportunities. Depending on the communities in which you operate, there may be associations that support these people, helping to connect them with opportunities like yours.
Finally, one unique possibility to consider is identifying industries whose busy times are different from yours, but where similar skillsets are required. Collaborating with employers in those industries can be a win-win-win, helping employees move seamlessly from one great company to another, while consistently improving their skills and growing their experience. For inspiration, look no further than Yellowstone National Park in the United States, who invited winter employers in the area - ski resorts and the like - to meet their summer-season staff, helping to build a talented all-year-round labour force for everyone’s mutual benefit.
Tactic 3: Use automation and offer a great candidate experience
Most companies are coming around to the fact that a great candidate experience is the first step to a great employee experience. A smooth hiring and hiring process gets the relationship off on the right foot, and it means you lose fewer candidates to companies who are moving more quickly. This applies to seasonal employees and permanent employees alike.
Mobile-friendly application processes with a small number of steps make it easy for your candidates to apply on the run, right at the moment their interest is piqued. Make the rest of the hiring process just as smooth and streamlined. Move as quickly as you can through the various steps in your process, and eliminate any steps that aren’t truly necessary.
Don't hesitate to leverage automation tools wherever possible, to assist your hiring team. Even rudimentary applicant tracking systems (ATS) offer the ability to automate your communication with new applicants, meaning that your candidates get a prompt and welcoming response when their interest level is high. At the other end of the hiring process, background and reference checks, which can be laborious and time consuming even at the best of times, can be streamlined as well, allowing your focus on core tasks. Now, we’re a little biased here, but we do highly recommend looking into our solutions.
Tactic 4: Create a great employee experience
As with the candidate experience, a great employee experience is just as important for your seasonal employees as it is for your permanent hires.
Seasonal employees are often customer-facing, and are therefore key ambassadors for your brand. To be successful, these people must be well-trained, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic about your business and customer base. Moreover, these employees all have the potential to return for future seasonal work, and are potentially rich sources of referrals to other prospective hires. Bottom line: it pays to treat them well.
It begins with a solid onboarding process, one that sets them up for success despite the often rushed nature of seasonal hiring. It continues with competitive compensation packages that reward them appropriately for their hard work, and - if it’s appropriate for your business - provide incentives for going above and beyond. In an annual survey of seasonal workers conducted by Snagajob, respondents expressed interest in a wide range of perks, such as weekly payouts, flexible scheduling, sign-on bonuses and the opportunity for more permanent employment.
The icing on the cake is work - and a workplace - that is as engaging and enjoyable as it can be (while still remaining productive, of course!).
Invest just as much thought and effort in creating a great employee experience for your seasonal hires as your permanent hires, and you’ll create enthusiastic ambassadors for your employer brand.
Well Seasoned?
Seasonal recruiting will never be easy. There are some signs that this year may be somewhat less challenging than previous years, but recruiting and hiring great seasonal employees will always be hard work. We hope the four tactics outlined above help to take some of the hassle out of your holiday hiring.
Keen on supercharging your recruitment by taking the hassle out of reference checks and pre-employment screening? Get in touch today and let Checkmate take care of it. 🦾
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