Seasonal or full-time; employees represent your company and should have the tools and knowledge to do this well. After all, you don't want your customers to be temporary.
The holiday season is fast approaching and, for most retailers, this means hiring seasonal employees to help with the extra work demands. Yet seasonal workers present a unique challenge because... well, they are temporary, but nonetheless, you need your seasonal workers to perform their best at your busiest time of the year. Here are strategies that will help onboard seasonal employees quickly.
Remember, it is your business that will suffer from skill gaps and poorly motivated employees - temporary or permanent. The solution is training... for everyone.
1. Prioritize Learning Needs
You want your seasonal workers to hit the ground running on Day 1. To ensure that they can succeed, prioritize or short-list training needs and ensure that the core set of requirements can be taken during the first week of employment. You can create a learning path specific for seasonal workers so that it will be easy to implement across multiple stores or locations.
2. Train with a Friend
Seasonal workers often feel the "temporary" nature of their position and you do not want this to translate into lack-luster attitude toward the company or your customers. Consider developing a Train with a Friend Program or pair your seasonal employees with your star performers so that they can learn from your company's best.
3. Incentivize Learning
Rewards for learning do not have to be monetary but incentivizing learning can be a great way to achieve some friendly competition and motivate employees ~ temporary or otherwise.
Finally, remember that temporary may not be temporary.... Research shows that about 1 in 10 seasonal employees ultimately become a permanent hire. Seasonal work lets you see how an individual fits into your team and performs on the job without long term commitment so investing early means that your seasonal employee will be ready if you want to offer a full time position.
Cheers to the success of your holiday season.
TRIFT's Seasonal Worker Program lessens the work required to onboard and train your seasonal workforce and pricing is at a whopping 66% discount off the standard price. To learn more about this program and our mobile-ready, micro learning solutions,