Around the holidays, it’s essential for companies to effectively incorporate seasonal staff members and rapidly get them up to speed.

From hiring and training to off boarding, seasonal workers can put human resources staff and managers to the test. Not only must hiring personnel locate and hire the proper people, they also have a very limited amount of time to train these workers and get them plugged into the organization.

Here are a handful of ways to surpass your normal on boarding system and get seasonal staff members prepared to succeed.

Hire the right people

Job postings for seasonal positions should clearly express the details of the job, specifically the potential for seasonal workers to transition into a full-time position. Hiring personnel should screen candidates for seasonal jobs as they would for full-time positions, including checking references and looking into candidates’ soft skills, like problem solving and communication.

Provide a consistent on boarding experience

Think about the best way to make seasonal employee on boarding less of a weight on your supervisors and hiring personnel by optimizing the process and make it uniform. Achieving this can get seasonal hires ready to go more rapidly, and establish regular expectations for full-time staff, significantly reducing their staff.

Some companies use digital platforms to make the on boarding part of the new hire experience more regular and efficient for both staff members and supervisors.

Standardize the training program

Make sure supervisors are training seasonal employees on policies that are essential to the success of your company and that allow you to mitigate risk. Track and authenticate which workers have been trained on which policies, possibly through the use of HR software.

By keeping tabs on the training and information seasonal staff members have acquired, it allows supervisors to see progress, refine their processes and produce this data in case of an audit.

Furthermore, supervisors need to take the time to train seasonal employees properly. These workers must know where to find everything they need, who they can talk to for clarification and specifically what is expected of them. Inconsistent, dysfunctional employee training can result in lower productivity and poor customer service, which can negatively impact the bottom line.

Support effective communication

To be able to effectively connect with and on board seasonal employees while maintaining uniformity across the entire company, it is critical for a company to make sure each supervisor and hiring manager is on the same page. A software platform can be a powerful tool that allows a company to get everyone on that same page by standardizing the hiring sequence for seasonal hires, coordinating the on boarding process and providing management with a high level of visibility into training programs.

Getting Ready For Seasonal Employees?

At Cornerstone, we work with our clients to ensure the seasonal workers we provide are effectively incorporated into the existing workforce. If your company is currently looking to add seasonal workers, please contact us today.