Summer is here in full force and businesses that need seasonal help might not only be concerned about finding extra help, but training temporary employees quickly and effectively. To accommodate bigger customer pushes from June to September everything from clothing stores to coffee shops need an extra hand to handle the load.
But to be productive, seasonal staff also need to be onboarded and trained to the best possible level in order to not cause a slowdown or breakdown of business, as highlighted by Monster. In order to do this effectively there needs to be an onboarding program already fleshed out and ready to go so adaptation is quick and seamless. Having important things in order, such as this and hospitality insurance, will help to create a built-in atmosphere of education and preparation.
Here are a number of ways in which businesses of any size and industry can train and onboard temporary employees to produce the best possible seasonal results.
Enacting a buddy system such as shadowing and observing from the start can instill a foundation of support. Mentoring is one of the best ways to learn work-related skills at a faster clip and with more effectiveness. This kind of work culture is hands-on and shows that businesses are willing to let new employees, no matter how temporary they will be, learn as they go. Do this by pairing seasonal employees with more experienced (and more patient) staff. Form taking turns to serve customers to running a cash register side-by-side, this kind of activity fosters camaraderie.
Training content and manuals need to be more engaging from the start as seasonal employees have very little time to get adjusted. Since time is of the essence, there needs to be an efficient, to-the-point essence in onboarding content. While some of your seasonal staff may already possess the required skills to do their temporary job well, they need to be enlightened on the processes and specific knowledge attributed to your business.
A great way to do this is to drive your onboarding content with branding. Through branding training can convey the creativity your business is known for. Use videos, images, and interactive content to train seasonal employees on everything from products to services.
Seasonal employees, while temporary, may operate their tasks feeling that they are not valued as much as regular employees. They should instead feel like they are an integral part of a company, no matter how long they are scheduled to work. The feeling from the start should be that they are valued and that they belong, and that their contributions, no matter how small, make a big impact.
Make sure to instill an environment of motivation and support at the beginning. This will help inspire positive results and a great overall experience for everyone involved. Giving your seasonal workers all the support they need in order to do their job well should be the number one priority for managers and leaders.
Seasonal and temporary employees inevitably will leave the business, and it's important that the restaurant can quickly adapt to the change in workforce. Any duties that the seasonal employees were performing should be reallocated to full-time employees, and the restaurant should ensure that it still has a sufficient number of employees to carry out operations.
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