Hiring, Motivating, and Engaging Seasonal Staff
With the holiday season upon us, staffing shortages are a concern for many companies around the globe who employ extra staff. The hustle and bustle of the retail season is no surprise to anyone who has braved a shopping mall on the weekend, but seasonal workers are hired year-round in different industries –summer camps, golf courses, pop-up Halloween stores, and construction projects just to name a few.
This means at a time when customers need services the most, businesses are often relying on new, temporary staff to represent their company and give them the best experience. So how do you make the most of that workforce to get the best results?
1. Get the right people in the role
The best way to start is with a clear job description that not only emphasizes the ‘what’ but the ‘how’. Write it in the tone of the atmosphere you want to create. The classic term ‘your vibe attracts your tribe’ comes to mind!
The importance of the interview cannot be understated. Hire for character and attitude – the rest can be trained. We like using behaviour based scenario questions to get to the root of who a person is and how they act when the rubber hits the road.
Already hired people? No problem. It is never too late to clarify roles, and should be done frequently to keep everyone pulling in the same direction anyway!
2. Lower your expectations
I don’t say this to minimize the work seasonal workers do. Nor do I think employers should accept poor performance. Too often, we see employers expect the commitment, the motivation, and the drive they have for their business out of part-time seasonal staff.
But the cold, hard fact is that seasonal staff have a start and end date. They overwhelmingly want to do a good job, but it’s a job - not a career. Most of them don’t want to be with your company forever, and that’s okay! Its not to say they can’t be motivated to do a great job, but just that they have their own motivation for being there.
Which brings us to our next point…
3. Connect them to their ‘why’
What gets you out of bed each day? What service or product do you provide people that affects their life? Why did you dedicate your work life to this career?
Yes, make sure your staff know that. But here’s the catch: your why might not be their why. Theirs might be to get experience on their resume. Or extra spending money for a trip across Europe. Or to make ends meet with the rising cost of rent.
Take the time to understand what your staff’s ‘why’ is and help them connect to that– it’s going to level up your leadership.
4. Create a social network
No, you don’t have to start doing TikTok dances. But who you work with and for is one of the driving indicators of satisfaction at work. Just ask Gallop, whose research has shown that having a best friend at work increases both effectiveness and productivity (Patel & Plowman, 2022).
When career business-people go to luncheons, we call it networking. An opportunity to get to know others in your industry, find new ideas, learn from others, and hopefully find synchronicities that are mutually beneficial. Yet when part-time or seasonal staff socialize, we tend to see it as a distraction to their work or ‘slacking’. Of course there is a balance. So why not take the reins and create opportunities for socialization and connection when it makes sense for the business?
5. Train them!!
Often, companies hire seasonal workers because there is an increase in business. That increase can come with pressure and stress that is unique to the season, and can be overwhelming to an individual still trying to figure out where the washrooms are or remember the names of their coworkers.
The duration of an employees estimated tenure should have no bearing on how well they are trained!
Spend the time, energy, and money making sure they’re comfortable with what they need to know and resources available to them. In addition to the tasks specific to their role, some key areas to remember to train in include:
Workplace safety (usually this is also the law so really don’t skip this one!)
How to trade/pick-up shifts, and what steps to take if they’re sick
Practice in dealing with difficult customers, including reviewing scenarios of potential situations they’ll encounter and how you (their leader!) would like them to handle them
Emergency procedures; both environmental (power outage or first aid) and role specific (point of sale system stops working)
Seasonal workers are here for a good time, but not a long time. Give them an experience that leaves them ranting about your company while also sending them off into the world with transferrable skills. You’ll find it pays off for you, too…quite literally.
References
Patel, A., & Plowman, S. (2022, October 10). The increasing importance of a best friend at work. Gallup.com. Retrieved November 9, 2022, from https://www.gallup.com/workplace/397058/increasing-importance-best-friend-work.aspx
