Properly staffing your business is crucial year-round, and especially so during the holidays. Hiring the right workers and giving them the right training can have countless positive effects on your operations. With the right staff, shipments could be picked, packed and shipped faster. Stock rooms and warehouses could remain orderly and organized. Employees would more likely make fewer mistakes and help improve return rates in the future. Here, we dive into six hiring tips for the most important time of the year.
Start Planning Early
Every year, retailers hire hundreds of thousands of seasonal workers. To help ensure you don’t miss out on the best talent, start establishing how many employees you need to hire early in the year, and begin the hiring process while the applicant pool is large.
Advertise Your Openings
Assess your recruiting strategy and seek out the most valuable channels to find seasonal workers. Utilize industry job boards, make sure your job postings are accurate and up-to-date, and don’t forget about your social media channels. Post job opportunities on your most popular channels to leverage another pool of talent: your customers.
Recruit with Help from Your Employees
Happy, hard-working employees are your greatest advocates. Ask your staff to refer applicants for open positions, and give them incentive to do so. Countless companies use employee referral programs as one tool among many to find quality applicants.
Be Clear During Interviews and Ask the Right Questions
When meeting with applicants, communicate the expectations and responsibilities of the role clearly. If the job requires working late nights and holidays, be frank and honest about those responsibilities. Do not, however, ask questions that suggest applicants with personal responsibilities need not apply (for example, questions about child-care arrangements or or child-bearing plans).
Take the Time to Train Employees the Right Way
No matter how large your seasonal staff may be, giving them the proper training could make a noticeable difference on your operations and your bottom line. Work with full-time and star seasonal employees to construct a training program for every type of position you need to fill. Then incorporate it into your onboarding process to get your new team up to speed. Consider cross-training your employees for added efficiency during peak shipping times.
Helpful Tip: Consider cross-training your employees for added efficiency during peak shipping times. Learn more about seasonal staffing from
Terry Bicycles’ CEO Liz Robert
Get Acquainted with the Laws for Seasonal Employees
Familiarize yourself with the legal restrictions for temporary workers. This will help guide how many people you need to hire to properly staff your operations. Knowing local laws can also help you avoid any legal issues that arise with temporary employees.
In Conclusion
With careful planning, good hiring practices and efficient training, your business can get into great shape for the holidays. You may be able to improve your shipping operations, fulfillment times and your bottom line by carefully managing your seasonal team. Your year-end sales and your customers will thank you.
