Navigating seasonal hiring challenges with clear expectations.
One Friday each month, I dedicate the post to looking at some questions I have heard recently from developing leaders. Sharing those questions and my thoughts for them is a way for me to spread the information to as many leaders and future leaders as possible. If you have a question about leadership, or just a situation you would like some additional insight on, please email me at Effective Retail Leader. Let’s take a look at this week’s question.
You have to actively counter that, and it does not take much. Introduce them to everyone by name. Include them in whatever the team does. Ask them how it is going and actually wait for the answer. Small things, but they change how someone shows up.
Tell them it might not be temporary
I have seen some genuinely outstanding people start as seasonal hires and build long careers. And I was close to being on the other side of that. I was hired part-time in August, right before seasonal hiring started that October. I was not even sixteen yet. It was my first job. And I understood, even then, that if they found somebody more reliable during the season, my hours could disappear in January or they’d just let me go as part of the seasonal cut back.
So tell your seasonal hires the truth: you are always looking for good people, and seasonal roles turn into permanent ones all the time. Paint that picture for them. Then watch who steps up. You will find out pretty quickly who wants it. I know many people who began as a seasonal part-time employee that ended up as a District Manager or higher for the same company many years later. There are always opportunities for great people.
What actually made the difference for me
I have thought about why I was kept on, and honestly, it was not complicated. I showed up on time. I asked questions. I was polite and friendly. I did what people asked me to do. That was it. Basic things, from a fifteen-year-old on his first job.
The other piece was initiative. When I was not sure what to do next and there was nobody around to ask, I did not stand there. I went and found something. Helped a customer. Asked if they were finding everything okay. Cleaned something, because there is always something to clean and nobody ever wants to do it.
Today, I think it takes even less to stand out than it did then. So tell your new hires plainly:
Be here, and be on time
Ask what needs to be done
If nobody is around to ask, do what you have seen done before or what makes sense right now
If you are truly stuck, go help a customer or go clean something
Just do not stand around
That is a two-minute conversation. It will do more for their first two weeks than a training video ever will. Good hiring and simple expectations up front can make the busiest season of the year better for everyone.
You may also want to read Hiring for the Busiest Seasons and Hire Right, Train Right, and Treat Them Right: Proven Strategies for Retail Leaders.
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