Whether it’s tax season, the winter holidays, or summer break, chances are good that you have your busy seasons and you need some extra help to manage that upswing in business. If you take some steps and precautions now, you’ll have strategies in place to face your coming season with a little more organization and a lot less stress. Use these suggestions to help figure out what will work best for you:
Start early. If your busy season arrives with the snow, start looking before the leaves fall. If you anticipate your seasonal needs early on (more about that below), you’ll have a better chance of finding quality seasonal hires rather than scraping up what’s left when everyone else has found employment. And when you begin looking early, it gives you a chance to be choosier with your potential hires.
Get organized. In that same vein, look at your projected sales and needs for the coming season, sales figures from the previous year at the same time, and buying trends in your industry to give yourself an idea of how much help you’ll need. Where will you need the most extra help? Sales? The stockroom? Inventory? Knowing all of this helps you strategize what kind of employees you’ll need.
Look at specific groups. If you need help around the major end-of-the-year holidays, look for college students on break. Many of them have about a month off, and they’re looking to make some extra money. Is your busy season summertime? Seek out recent grads who don’t yet have jobs or are off to college in the fall. And no matter what the season, don’t count out retirees, a largely growing group who still want to stay active and have the experience and maturity you may want.
Personality counts. Experience only goes so far — if your busy season involves stressed out, potentially angry customers, you want to hire people who can stay calm, resolve problems, and preferably do it with a smile. And no use hiring a somber employee if you need that person wooing customers.
Go with who you know. If you have a part-time employee who can work a flexible schedule during your seasonal needs, give that person first crack at a position, especially if they already know how things run and how you prefer things to be done. The same goes for employees who worked seasonally the year before, for the same reasons. And look at it this way: this year’s seasonal employee may be available for hire if something more long-term opens up.
A little planning and strategizing can keep you from scrambling at the time when you need a cool head the most. These tips can help you to have your most successful season yet. For more hiring strategies, read our related blog posts or reach out to our experienced nation-wide recruiting team today!