The holiday season brings with it magic and wonder, as well as stress and unique challenges. For businesses, one of them is meeting the increased demand that comes with the holidays. Whether you’re running a busy retail store, a bustling warehouse, or another type of business, temporary staffing can help you to keep up, so you’re not left scrambling. Here’s how.
How Can You Hire Through the Holidays?
Start Holiday Hiring as Early as Possible
Plan your holiday staffing needs well in advance. To do that, take a look at your previous years’ performance to estimate the number of employees you’ll need and start recruiting as soon as you can. One simple way to do that is to reach out to past temporary workers and inquire about their interest, and also ask your existing employees for referrals.
Partner with a Staffing Agency
If you have too much on your plate already and can’t find time for hiring, turn to a temporary staffing agency for help. They have large networks of pre-qualified candidates ready to go to work for you in a wide range of roles. They can also handle all the interviewing and vetting, so you get the reliable, hard-working temps you need to go through the holiday season successfully.
Offer Competitive Pay and Benefits
With a tight labor market, you need to be completive with what you’re offering to candidates in the way of pay and benefits. Make sure your pay rate is in line with your local area and the industry you work in. Also, offer extra perks, like employee discounts, an end-of-season bonus to promote retention, and flexible scheduling. This help you not only hire the best people for the jobs, but retain them as well.
Be Clear and Upfront About the Role
Setting clear expectations about job responsibilities, schedules, and duration of employment from the start is critical for successful temporary staffing. Being open and transparent helps attract candidates who are genuinely interested in working hard and will also go a long way in reducing turnover, since there are no unwanted surprises for those you do hire.
Train and Onboard Your Season Staff
Even in a time crunch, onboarding is essential to ensure your seasonal hires can hit the ground running. So create a training program that gets new hires up to speed quickly without compromising the quality of service. Assign each one a buddy from your core staff to turn to for questions or concerns. This will help your temp employees feel comfortable and perform successfully in their roles.
Ready to Simplify Holiday Hiring?
Navigating the holiday hiring season doesn’t have to be stressful. When you turn to a temporary staffing agency, like OneSource Staffing Solutions, we make holiday hiring easy. We can provide you with access to skilled, dependable workers to meet the demands of the season and reduce stress among your core team. Contact us today to make this holiday season your most successful one yet!