The need for seasonal workers comes in waves, depending on your industry and product. 36% of employers hired seasonal summer workers this summer to support their business. Between November and December of this year, it’s predicted that retail companies will hire over 800,000 people to fill in during the holiday season rush.
Regardless of the time of year, organizations must be fully prepared to attract, onboard, and train their seasonal workforce as quickly and effectively as possible.
This week, during the L&D Hangout hosted by Fistful of Talent, I sat down with Kris Dunn, CEO of Kinetix and Founder of Fistful of Talent, and Mary Faulkner, talent strategist and founder of the leadership and development blog Surviving Leadership, to discuss how to identify the right candidates and get them up to speed as quickly as possible!
Watch the full video and see some of the highlights below!
Highlights included:
- How do you attract the right talent for the job? (Reader’s Digest version (RDV): Smart pros seek niche candidates. Think retired workers, college students on break, returning veterans, and people looking to start building their careers.)
- How do you get people up to speed as quickly as possible? (RDV: Many planning and structural training focused on the specific tasks and competencies these individuals need to master.)
- Where do you focus your training? (RDV: You need to limit the number of things you train people on. It’s the talent pros’ job to push back on the hiring manager about the amount of training requirements. Seasonal workers are only there for a short period; they don’t need to go through all the training of a full-time employee.)
And two of the most important takeaways (from my POV) were:
- Talent pros and hiring managers need to be clear about the role and the expectations of the role when searching and hiring a candidate.
- It would be best if you always treated a seasonal worker with respect. Seasonal workers are often treated like second-class citizens because they will only be at the organization for a short period. You can still mentor and coach seasonal workers and give them a great experience working for you and your company. Plus, you have a better chance of getting that person to come back to work the following season.