3 Effective Ways to Onboard Seasonal Employees

Seasonal workforcesand seasonal employees are limited time contract workers that are significantlyinfluenced by seasonal factors such as holidays, accounting periods, and evenclimate considerations.

In retail alone, it is predicted that companieswill hire between 640,000 and 690,000 seasonal employees to help fill growing holiday sales and customer servicedemand. Companies have a short window to onboard and make these employeeseffective team members.

Given the transientnature of seasonal employment and the seasonal workforce, the challenge forboth recruiters and hiring managers remains how to train, motivate, and monitorseasonal employees. While temporary, seasonal employees help fill a criticalgap in labor, they need immediate tools and training to best perform their jobrequirements.

Below are provenstrategies that can help build a motivated seasonal workforce:

_{1. Start by Training Hiring Managers}

The concept of lead by example is directlyapplicable to managers with direct authority over seasonal employees. In fact,Gallup research found that over 70% of variance in employee engagement is tied directly to a manager. The same study found thatseasonal pressure can often make managers tired, stressed, and feeling out ofcontrol of the situation. A recent survey by Aptitude research found that 67% of organizations cite burnout as a concern.

Managerial burnoutoften trickles down to seasonal employees who adopt the same feelings overtime. Seasonal burnout is particularly challenging when seasonal employees workdirectly with permanent staff. The risk of losing control can be catastrophicacross an organization as feelings of anxiety and stress spread. Thankfully,being well prepared and trained can help prevent this from happening.

To ensure a top-down strategy that works, managers cantry a few of these recommendations:

1.     Treat your seasonalworkforcewith the same respect and trust as permanent employees

2.     Instill an infectious positiveattitude and general enthusiasm for the work

3.     Communicate the value thatseasonal employees bring

4.     Offer ongoing feedback anddirect seasonal training more often than usual

5.     Drive the concept of teamworkthrough short meetings and activities

From a trainingperspective, managers should receive additional seasonal training that isindependent of normal onboarding and continued training. Ideally, this trainingshould prepare managers to better create a favorable seasonal work environmentand workforce.

_{2. Reward Top Performers}

It should go without question that seasonalemployees should be paid a fair rate with proper temporary benefits in place.In 2015, Payscale found that average seasonal employee wages averaged $15.37 per hour – a premium per hour due to a guarantee of less hourscompared to full-time employees.

When measuringseasonal employee training and development, take note of the top performers andreward them for their hard work. By doing so, great employees will be morelikely to return for future assignments and help recruit other motivatedpeople. In fact, in 2016 it was estimated that 67% of seasonal hireswere hired from the previous year’s batch.

It is important tonote that most if not every seasonal employee will start and likely keep thesame pay rate, but can be rewarded with other non-monetary incentives.

Otherways to show appreciation and drive engagement for top performers include:

a.     Provide new challenges andexpand job responsibilities

b.     Offer first-choice of positionor role during the next seasonal opportunity

c.      Welcome their ideas orsuggestions in the workplace

d.     Try to establish a mentormentality and help where needed or requested

e.     Reward them with discounts orgift cards depending on the company

Despite popularbelief, seasonal jobs can be tailored to include incentivized rewards. Openingup the feedback loop and dialogue between managers and employees will helpdefine this process and at least present opportunities that can encouragehigher engagement levels. For racking performance, look to add a gamified applicationor after-hours game that can be used to collect data and feedback from seasonalemployees.

_{3. Make Employee Training a Key Focus}

Historically, retail and seasonal jobs are known tobe lackluster for employee training. The Muse, a leading career developmentwebsite, reported that the basic job training a seasonal employee receivesduring his or her first day is often times their last training.

Employers can changethis perception and instill a lasting onboarding impression by formulating adefined seasonal training program that balances time with technology. MattHeller, consultant and author of “The Myth of the Employee Burnout”, recommendsusing spaced training as opposed to front-loading training into a seasonal employee’s first day.

By packing traininginto the first day, seasonal employees are left with little personaldevelopment to look forward to. Additionally, information retention levels willbe drastically lower when cramming. Spaced training and learning involves breaking down the training information intosmaller pieces that can be consumed over time at an employee’s leisure.

To promote spaced training,employers of seasonal workforces can easily use mobile training applications tobegin the onboarding process before aseasonal employee’s first day, as well as track performance to reward topperformers.

Beyond spacedtraining, employers should also explore pairing seasonal employees withfull-time employees to help create a bond and shorten the learning curve.