Analyzing your holiday season hiring strategy is a smart move every year, but in 2020, it’s especially important.
From capacity limits to reduced foot traffic for retail stores, to an increased reliance on shopping online, businesses have to get creative to meet consumer needs, while industries like e-commerce, warehousing and trucking have exploded.
Do you need retail workers to manage lines or hand-sanitizing stations? Does your online storefront need more customer service reps to handle holiday shopping volumes? What about your supply chain, from stock clerks to fulfillment centers?
With millions of American workers still unemployed due to the pandemic, there is a wide talent pool full of candidates with transferable skills and in need of a job. Connect to these hard workers and get fully staffed ahead of the holiday shopping season.
What should you look for in candidates for seasonal roles?
Focus on soft skills. While a candidate is likely to have a variety of past roles and duties, look for opportunities where this person needed to be friendly and organized. Workers with the ability to take initiative, follow processes and quickly solve problems might be a good fit in a temporary, fast-paced role. Think about and prioritize professional experiences that might give someone an edge in your environment, from retail store employees to stock clerks or customer service reps.
How to quickly hire seasonal or holiday workers:
First, revisit your talent network or your candidate pipeline. Do you have job seekers who might not have been the right person for a previous job, but have the skills you need for your temporary jobs? Reach out!
Second, if you haven’t started building a candidate pipeline, now is a great time. Utilize virtual open houses or hiring fairs to advertise your seasonal jobs and connect with interested candidates. As work environments and business needs evolve, it saves you time and money to have a pipeline of engaged potential new hires.
And finally, use features already at your disposal, such as the work-from-home toggle on a job post for a customer service rep for your e-commerce site (as an example). Advertise your holiday hiring plans, virtual open houses, safety measures and more on your company career site. Categorize your job post as part-time to maximize views or put “holiday” or “seasonal” in the job title. There are plenty of ways to tweak and optimize the tools and platforms you already use in order to reach more applicants.
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