Hiring Seasonal Staff might be bain of your business – a necessary evil some might say. You need the staffing to operate but you need to put a lot of effort into a process for roles that you don’t need year-round.
The danger is that you get complacent with this process, or make short cuts and end up with a bad hire or no hires!
Here is our perfect process to make this situation a little bit easier.
Understand the Demand for Hiring Seasonal Staff
Use data from previous years to identify exactly when you need the staff and be able to forcast needs accordingly. Start too early and you will have employees ready to go but no work for them, start too late and you will rush the process and not have time to induct them properly. Align your hiring goals with your business objectives – such your sales targets, customer services levels and cashflow!
Start Early and Plan Ahead
We recommend setting a hiring timeline of 3 months before the season starts, this gives you 4-6 weeks for your advert to be live and for you to screen candidates, for your ideal candidates to work any notice period they may have, and for you to carry out any background checks and paperwork, ordering of uniform, name badges etc. If you need the staff to hit the ground running when your peak season kicks in, consider doing their induction the week before it gets too busy. This will beneficial to the new staff because they can meet key personnel but also means your managers are trying to induct new staff when it gets busy.
Streamline the Hiring Seasonal Staff process
Make sure it is simple and easy for people to apply. The application process needs to be relevant to the role. What do you need to know about someone to be able to make the decision if they are suitable for the role or not. You don’t need to be investing time in a long assessment process for a 3-month contract, but you do need to make sure you they can do the job! Focus on culture and fit – for seasonal staff it shouldn’t be a role that requires niche skills – sometimes good common sense and a can-do attitude is all that is needed so ask behavioural interview questions rather than skill based ones.
Look at any processes that you can automate – especially when it comes to new starter paperwork if you are taking on a large volume of staff and schedule interview days so that your time is used efficiently.
Set Expectations Early
The main reason people leave a job is because it wasn’t what they thought it was going to be, you don’t want to take that risk if they are only going to be with you for a short time. Make sure you are clear about the pay, duties, contract length and working hours. Ensure all employees have a point of contact if they have any issues or questions.
Stay compliant!
Even if they are going to be with you for a short time – you need to do the appropriate checks. Right to Work checks are mandatory, you may need to a DBS check. Just because someone is with you for a short time doesn’t mean you can employ them illegally. They are subject to the same rights are your permanent staff.
If you need support with the recruitment process or the compliance bit at the end – Slice are here to help. With fixed fees and project-based costing – we can also be seasonal to your business!