The demand for goods and services tends to rise months before the Christmas season. For this reason, many places need to hire additional personnel to cover this temporary demand. Supermarkets, shopping centers, shops, warehouses, transport and logistics companies, bars, hotels and restaurants are the places that most often offer temporary employment at Christmas.
The first thing you should do is analyze the profile of your staff right now and identify the shortcomings of your team. You should also review last year’s successes and failures, schedule and performance data. Once these have been evaluated, you will already know what type of staff you need and when, so you can state all the details of your vacancy on Workee.
Remember, Christmas entails a greater number of clients and services than other seasons, so the contracted workers must have special characteristics to meet these needs. For example, they must be able to respond in a short time to a large volume of work and show a high tolerance to stress. Also, you should remember about the high level of competition with other employers, which gives us another reason to start the search as soon as possible…but when?
Too early for Christmas? Not if you’re in retail / e-commerce
If the Christmas bustle starts in mid-autumn, the hiring period for the Christmas season begins as early as late summer, since new employees will not only have to be found, but also trained and prepared for the critical days and hours of sales.
If you haven’t done rigorous planning work, the peak season may be upon you and the rush to find workers is going to affect the quality of the hiring process. Keep in mind that half of all companies struggle with unfilled shifts during the Christmas season. So if you want to represent the other, successful half, we advise you to give it the importance it deserves and start planning the hiring of temporary workers in August.
In order to successfully overcome the challenge of finding the right personnel, read the recommendations provided by Workee on how to plan and manage your workforce.
Attract talent with a competitive salary
One of the best means of attracting well-qualified temporary workers is, without a doubt, a good salary. Normally, temporary Christmas workers are paid a higher salary, precisely because of the eventuality of the work.
Don’t be afraid to offer a little more money than the average. If you get a good worker instead of another with, say, lower qualities for the specific position, the increase in salary will compensate itself and, in addition, it will help you generate profits. With a low-wage policy, the only thing you will achieve is hiring low-qualified personnel who, in the long run, will be much more expensive than those who are qualified and well-prepared for the position.
Introduce a bonus system
Take advantage of an almost unavoidable circumstance in a company, that of overtime, to attract – and, when the time comes, retain – the best temporary workers. Assure them a few more hours of work per month and pay accordingly. They will be motivated and you will achieve greater loyalty to the company.
You can also offer bonuses for productivity and punctuality, as well as discounts to employees on specific products or services. Likewise, you can reward your best assets with continuity for the low season. You need less labor, but you can incentivize them to stay with you after the busiest season ends. This possibility of continuity will be a plus, encouraging them to choose your company.
Explain what the position will bring them
Make it clear how the position will affect your employee’s career path: they will get new experiences, improve substantially their level of professionalism and acquire new skills and contacts.
Of course, let them know that at the end of the contract you will write a letter of recommendation with all their skills certified, which will be very useful for their development in other companies.
Workee is there to lend you a helping hand
Digitization has become a key factor in various aspects of hiring staff. According to Snagajob.com, 74% of employees look for holiday jobs on online job platforms. Also, 90% of job seekers use a smartphone to find jobs, and this is why Workee, an application with which employers can get temporary workers in a matter of hours, is going to be so useful for your business. Once you are registered and the profile of your company is complete, you can publish a job offer and chat directly with dozens of candidates to find just the right one.
As you can see, hiring temporary staff does not have to be a particularly complicated process, but you have to be aware that, if you want to attract talent to your company, you must establish a thorough search process and offer differentiating conditions. And remember, the early bird catches the worm, so start looking for seasonal employees on Workee now!
Read more: Advantages of hiring temporary workers
