Cool Opportunities in a Hot Job Market — Finding, hiring and building brand ambassadors

Summer is almost over and as the end of the year approaches, the demand for temporary employees rises by the day. Faced with peak sales during the holidays, retailers turn to temporary and seasonal staffing for relief. This solution is a perfect alternative for companies that need support in meeting the seasonal demands of their industries, but don’t necessarily need that extra hand the remainder of the year.

However, for the employment relationship to be mutually beneficial, the company must offer perks and benefits that will help attract top talent and create great brand ambassadors. In this second article of a three-part series, we share five tips to help find stellar hires who will endorse your brand, and maybe even come back as traditional employees!

1. Consider hiring customers. As the hiring of temporary staff is aimed at meeting specific needs and filling open positions as quickly as possible, it is important to consider alternate sources for candidates. Recruiting customers, which is most applicable in the consumer-goods industry, can be highly beneficial for employers. Finding candidates who know and use the products, understand the company culture and are genuine brand ambassadors can save a lot of time and effort in training. This is especially important for temporary workers, who are expected to be able to come in and hit the ground running.

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2. Targeted job postings — where, when and how. You want to choose the sites and platforms most appropriate to the industry and the position that is open, so find out where your ideal candidates go looking for jobs and what social networks they use. And start your recruiting process early. Be aware of local events, job sites, university job fairs, software and social networks to help publicize your company’s job openings. It is beneficial to advertise at the right time, in a few select or targeted places and more assertively, rather than employ a spray-and-pray approach.

3. Focus on what matters. A long selection process does not necessarily mean it will provide the precise results you desire. Your selection process should be as lean and agile as possible. To do this, focus on the skills and behaviors that are essential to the job. Plan your steps so that you evaluate and access these competencies without deviating too much from what really matters. It’s no wonder that 52% of talent acquisition leaders agree that the hardest part of recruitment is screening candidates from a large applicant pool.

4. Remember background screening. There are several reasons why employers conduct background checks of new hires. Legal mandates are just one reason. Others include protecting employees and customers and improving quality of hires. To benchmark with best practices, seasonal hires should also undergo background checks.  Your employees, customers and brand still need the same protection with seasonal hires as with any other hire.

5. Have an onboarding guide in place. The onboarding of seasonal hires is often ignored by some companies, or is often brief and lacking the right amount of attention. This important step in the hiring process can generate positive feelings for the new hire. It can provide a better understanding about the company, culture and environment, together creating a special bond between the new hire and the company.

Once the peak holiday season is over, companies can’t afford to keep that many extra hires on the schedule and payroll. However, if your seasonal hires have a positive experience, the chances of them coming back or moving on to a traditional employee role are much higher.

Stay tuned for our next post to learn about what happens after you have secured the best seasonal hires. We also will discuss how to build a culture that not only attracts the best people, but keeps them coming back.

Click here to learn more about the importance of background screening for seasonal hires. Do you have any other questions? We would love to hear from you. Contact us today for industry-leading background screening and identity solutions geared for your industry.

 

Vincenza Caruso-Valente

Vincenza Caruso-Valente
Vincenza Caruso-Valente is general manager, retail and staffing, Sterling. Find her on LinkedIn.

Vincenza Caruso-Valente

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