5 Hiring Tips To Stay Well-Staffed In Back To School Season
Losing summer employees can leave companies scrambling to hire. It can often leave you shorthanded and, without a proper plan in place, you can struggle to fill the gaps in your staff. Here are some key tips for businesses as they lose seasonal employees and gauge the number of hires they need to make to keep functioning.

Know Your Business Needs

First and foremost, you need to know what your business’ staffing needs actually are. Too often, employers don’t hire the correct number of employees to fully address their business needs. If your busiest season is the summer, then you may not need additional employees during the off times. That means once your seasonal employees leave to go back to school you don’t necessarily need to fill their spaces.

To determine what your hiring needs are, you should analyze previous years and see what business was like. Take a look at how busy you were and address any needs you saw in previous years. If your business typically levels off after August, then you likely don’t need to hire any new employees to fill the positions your seasonal hires held.

Be Aware of Employee Timelines

You should know when your seasonal employees are scheduled to head back to school or when their time with your company comes to an end. Communicate with them and get an idea of when they’ll be returning to their obligations as a student. Keep this timeline in mind so that you aren’t caught off guard when it is time for them to clock out on their last shift and head back to school.

It is also possible that some of your seasonal workers will have some flexibility in their schedules once they return to work. Talk to them about what schedules they might be willing to work during time off or scheduled school breaks. They may also be open to working after school or on the weekends if their university is close by.

Start Searching Early

As most of us know, the summer usually flies by. Before it becomes an issue, you should start searching for replacements for your seasonal help. As mentioned above, keep track of end dates and try to have someone scheduled to start about a week before your current staff leaves.

Although a week is a short period of time, it will give your current employees time to show the incoming staff how the job is done. This will help you get them up to speed and trained where they need to be before your seasonal employees leave. It will also let you see how your student employees work with the incoming team, just in case they are able to return during their breaks throughout the year.

Maintain Open Communication

As an employer, communication is always important. When it comes to your seasonal employees, you need to communicate about when they are returning to school and whether or not they’ll be able to return at other points throughout the school year. You can put them on the schedule ahead of time and be sure they know when they’ll be expected to clock in again. Many college students will have several weeks of breaks throughout the year that many of them would be happy to work through.

On top of knowing whether or not they’ll be returning at different periods throughout the year, you will also build relationships with these individuals. Communication is an important part of workplace morale. Your seasonal workers are more likely to want to return if you communicate well.

Put More Thought Into Recruiting

If you are close to a local college, consider looking there for workers to fill in the gaps in your staff. Student loan debt is a big enough reason for many students to seek out employment while they’re in school. On top of that, the job market is fairly competitive. So, having a job that they can list on their resumes can help them land a position once they graduate. You might even try listing positions with your company as internships to help garner interest.

Need Help Hiring As Seasonal Employees Leave? Burnett Specialists Can Help!

Beyond that, you can look into working with a staffing firm to help you address your hiring needs during different times of the year. If you are worried about filling in the gaps after your seasonal employees go back to school, a staffing agency can be a great asset. They will help you address your staffing needs and determine whether or not you need to bring additional employees onboard to keep things running smoothly. An agency will also help you coordinate staffing changes as they occur, meaning they will help keep track of timelines and when your seasonal employees will be returning. They will also help you identify any other holes in your staff that there may be. Contact Burnett Specialists for help finding great employees.

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