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Want to retain your seasonal workers? Follow these 9 simple strategies that work
Many businesses rely on extra employees to manage the surge in visitors during the holiday season. If you’re in the leisure, travel or hospitality industry, you’re probably already thinking about recruiting your seasonal workers. Yet even with plenty of experience and a slick recruitment process, scouting for seasonal workers can still be time-consuming.
Many will be students or recent graduates. Some might be retired and looking for short-term work. Others may be in between jobs. While they’ll only be with you for a few months, taking the time to attract the right calibre of candidates is still important.
It’s good to have a healthy mix of work and life experience in the team. However, such diversity and differing abilities make the onboarding process even more critical. Making sure everyone gets the training they need to do the job safely and to the best of their ability is vital. However, it can make the process more time-consuming.
So how can you reduce the time you spend recruiting seasonal workers, attract quality candidates and speed up the onboarding process?
Why retaining your seasonal workers is good for business
When you retain your seasonal workers for the next season, you cut the cost of recruitment and reduce time spent on selection. Your recruits know the job inside out, and so the onboarding process takes less time. Ultimately, it’s better for you, better for them and better for business.
Let’s look at some of the strategies you can use to retain your seasonal workers this year.
1. Ask them to return
If you’re impressed by their work ethic, skill set and all-round ability, tell them. Also, let them know you’d be pleased to welcome them back next year. If they know there’s a job waiting for them, they’re less likely to look elsewhere. It gives them peace of mind and makes your life easier too. Maybe go one step further and offer your seasonal employees a contract before they leave so you both know where you stand.
2. Offer an incentive
Financial incentives aren’t the only option. Flexible hours, discounts on your products or services and other non-monetary incentives also go a long way to making seasonal workers feel appreciated as well as tempting them back for another season.
3. Give them a good experience
No matter how good the incentive, seasonal workers won’t return if they don’t have a good experience. A positive culture is essential for temporary as well as permanent staff. A friendly environment, supportive management team and employee recognition all make for a good workplace. By earning a reputation as the company of choice for seasonal workers as well as permanent staff, recruitment and retention can become easier.
4. Conduct exit interviews
While exit interviews with temporary staff may not seem like the best use of time, they can be eye-opening. Not only can they help you understand why some seasonal staff might not want to return, they also give you ideas for changes or improvements you can make to reduce staff turnover within your permanent team. Often, a temporary employee is more open with their opinion than someone who might be concerned about potential fallout from their feedback.
5. Go above and beyond with the onboarding process
A comprehensive onboarding process means your seasonal workers will learn faster, be more productive sooner and be more engaged. The better their experience, the more likely they’ll want to return, and recommend your workplace to others.
6. Treat them like permanent employees
Seasonal workers know they’re with you temporarily, but that doesn’t mean they should be treated differently to your permanent team. Give them proper training and the tools they need to do the job well.
Make them feel like one of the team by inviting them to team meetings, involving them in social activities and giving them a name badge. High quality reusable name badges don’t need to cost a lot, and when you show your temporary staff that you’re investing in them, they’ll be more engaged, work harder and be more likely to return.
7. Give them a name badge
Even as seasonal workers, they’re likely to want to feel like they belong. It’s simple but effective. And it’s inexpensive. For example, Premium Instabadges from Badgemaster are reusable name badges which are fully customisable to your brand. You can print your name badge card inserts on demand locally, in an instant – ideal for an ever-evolving workforce.
8. Stay in touch
Even if you’ve asked them to return and they’ve agreed, still stay in touch with your best seasonal workers. It helps build the relationship and shows them that you’re serious about their return. Add them to your mailing list (with their permission of course) and share staff updates, so they still feel part of the team. For others that haven’t yet committed, keeping in contact means you stay top of mind for when they’re looking for their next seasonal job.
9. Consider your seasonal workers for permanent roles
Many of your seasonal workers might be students and so won’t be looking for permanent roles quite yet. But it’s best not to make assumptions so asking about their career plans during selection can tell you whether they might be interested in permanent roles with you.
Giving them the opportunity to become permanent employees demonstrates that you recognise potential and reward hard work. It enhances your reputation as a good employer and again, can help you become the employer of choice for seasonal workers.
These nine strategies are ideal for retaining seasonal workers; however, having the end goal in mind at the start of the process can make it much easier. Attracting the right candidates in the first place is critical to building a bank of seasonal workers that you’d welcome back year after year. Of course, no process is perfect, but by investing in it now, you could save yourself time and money further down the line.
Some of the UK’s biggest brands in leisure, retail and hospitality rely on Badgemaster for a reusable name badge that’s the perfect fit for their brand and budget. The Premium Instabadge is available to design and order online.