‘Tis the Season to Be Hiring: Tips for Recruiting Seasonal Workers

There’s no getting away from it – the festive season is almost upon us. With many businesses experiencing a peak in demand at this time of year, employers will most likely turn to seasonal workers to help them handle the increased workload. However, it’s absolutely vital that you manage any hiring spikes as effectively as possible – otherwise it really won’t be the season to be jolly.

The U.S. and Canada are in the middle of the busy retail hiring season. Retailers are expected to hire over 700,000 people to fill seasonal positions this holiday season. According to John Challenger, CEO at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, “While seasonal retail jobs remain flat or shrink, there has been a marked increase in seasonal job gains in other sectors. The sector with the biggest increase in holiday hiring in recent years has been transportation and warehousing, as more and more holiday shopping is done online.”

This time of year – and indeed any holiday season – is obviously extremely busy for industries such as retail and hospitality, but there will be times throughout the year when businesses in other industries will need to take on extra workers to cope with increased demand. For instance, the tourism and leisure sectors may need to boost employee numbers in the summer months, while finance and accounting staff will find themselves more in demand at the end of the financial year.

Yet whatever industry you are in, and whether you are planning on hiring two, 20 or 20,000 temporary staff, you must still ensure you source and select the best candidates to help meet demand, enable you to take advantage of any rise in trade, and ensure you minimize any risk of making a bad hire. Here are some tips to optimize your seasonal hiring.

Create clear, specific and up-to-date job ads

If you hire seasonal workers every year, don’t just rely on last season’s job posting as it could now be out-of-date. Make sure you update any details if necessary, and include clear, accurate and relevant information so that you don’t waste time flicking through hundreds of resumes from people who aren’t right for the job. Before posting the job ad, think about exactly what you need for the seasonal work you are offering, so that you can set clear expectations and source high-quality candidates.

Look in the right places

When it comes to deciding which channels to use to source the best seasonal candidates, you need to think about where your seasonal talent is likely to search for jobs. This could be career sites, university/college job boards, social media, local newspapers and so on. Take the time to research the most effective channels for reaching seasonal job seekers so that you can tap into the richest talent pool possible.

Don’t skip background checks

Some hiring managers may not be clear on the importance of background screening when it comes to hiring temporary or contract workers. While there is the temptation to cut corners when recruiting short-term workers by side-stepping background checks, the consequences of this can be huge. You must therefore ensure you perform the same checks on your seasonal workers as you do for your permanent staff, so that you minimize any risk of making a bad hire or damaging your company’s reputation. It is also crucial to understand global background screening procedures and processes in hiring temporary staff for the holidays.

Keep in touch with returning seasonal workers

Some temporary workers may be keen to return the same time next year, so if you’ve been impressed with their work, strive to stay in touch and make them your first choice when the next busy season approaches. This will not only help to streamline your hiring spikes, it will also allow you to concentrate on recruiting other good quality candidates should you need to.

With just a bit of careful preparation and planning when it comes to managing seasonal hiring spikes, you can ensure your business will be armed with a skilled, experienced workforce to help handle any surge in demand, whatever the time of year.

Learn more about the importance of background screening to avoid having a bad hire to protect your organization during the hectic holiday season in our white paper, How to Avoid a Bad Hire.

How to Avoid a Bad Hire