Train and hire seasonal employees that will return to your business for your busiest seasons.

Whether it’s peak ice cream season or time for black Friday sales, seasonal employees are important to your business. Continually searching for skilled and enthusiastic workers for the annual cycles of your business comes with significant financial and monetary costs. Not only are valuable resources expended during the hiring process, but the training process also must be thorough to ensure that the brand reputation is upheld during such an important time of year. As a result, constant employee turnover and replenishment can take a toll on company culture.

Here are a few steps you can take to retain your seasonal employees:

Ask.

Asking skilled employees back is a simple gesture that is often overlooked. Employee Engagement surveys are a good way to get a gauge on interest in returning and receive any feedback employees may have. You can then use the survey results to reach out to interested employees, inviting them to return and find out why others aren’t looking to come back for another season.

Keep in touch in the off-season.

Whether you organize off-season employee parties or just send business updates via email, saying a quick hello to employees you hope will return can go a long way. Keeping lines of communication open will help employees feel valued and excited.

Get serious about competitive pay.

Seasonal employees typically work long hours that are often over holidays. To retain skilled employees, make sure you make it worth their while with a competitive wage, exclusive perks and even end of season bonuses for their hard work.

Collect information on how new employees respond to onboarding.

Your onboarding process and company culture are important to understand, especially in high-stress environments, such as the restaurant and retail industry. With New Hire Feedback surveys you can get a good look into your onboarding processes, work relationships, and future plans before the season is over.

Emphasize the team experience – for everyone.

If your company has permanent and seasonal employees, ensuring that seasonal employees feel included in your company culture is important if you want them to return for another season. Make every effort not to create a culture of two distinct groups.

With sometimes hundreds of seasonal employees, organizing and implementing processes can often get lost in translation. If you need help retaining and streamlining your HR processes, contact HSD Metrics today. Our outsourcing technology and decades of experience serving the hospitality and retail industries gives our clients the tools they need to retain employees from season to season.