Holiday Hiring: Why You Should Start Planning Now

In addition to everything you need to organize and plan for in preparation for the holiday shopping season (only 105 days until Christmas!), another thing you should be thinking about is hiring seasonal help. The National Retail Federation estimates that holiday sales account for anywhere from 20-40% of total annual sales for most businesses, so there’s a good chance this will be one of your busiest quarters.

To help you plan for the most wonderful time of the year, we’ve rounded up a few questions to get you started:

• How many additional employees do you need? Well, that depends. Do you have extended hours during the holidays? Do you offer online orders or delivery options for your customers? Additionally, look back to your scheduling and sales for last year’s holiday shopping season. Did you have enough (or too much) coverage?
• Can you hire people to fill specific roles? For instance, if you anticipate having trouble receiving and unpacking all your new merchandise, why not hire a seasonal employee who can help with just these needs? Another idea is to hire someone who can help with gift wrapping or gift-basket assembly.
• Where can you find seasonal help? When we think of seasonal hires, a few demographics come to mind: students on winter vacation, full-time employees who want a part-time or weekend job to make some extra money, and retirees who want to stay busy. You can advertise your hiring needs on your various social media accounts, online job search engines, or by flyer-ing at local community events. Don’t forget to reach out to your seasonal hires from last year (or this past summer) to see if they are interested in re-joining the team.

Just like with holiday shopping, the early bird usually gets the worm – so start advertising your staffing needs early! Starting early also allows you to take time in processing and screening the various applications you will receive. You don’t want to be stuck hiring someone that isn’t really a fit for your company because you’ve run out of time, and don’t have any other choice.

Lastly, during your hiring process, remember that even though most of these employees will be just temporary or seasonal help, they should still fit within your company’s culture. As the holiday shopping season can be stressful and busy for both consumers and retailers, you want to make sure that your seasonal help will be there to support you and take care of your customers.

Need more tips on successful hiring? Check out these articles below:

• Top 5 Ways to Attract Quality Employees
• Hire for Personality, Train for Skill
• The Importance of the Interview Question(s)

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