As the holidays bring in the spirit of giving, it also poses a challenge for businesses to keep up with the demand for customers. This means they would need to hire workers to cover the additional volume of orders without full-time commitment.
But much like any hiring process, it’s crucial to find seasonal workers who possess skills for the job. This way, they can hop into your operation right away with minimal to no training needed.
In this post, we will help you navigate seasonal hiring and what skills you should look for regardless of what industry you’re in.
7 key skills for jobs during the holidays
Hiring seasonal workers can be a daunting job. And if you’re the one tasked to find additional people for the job, here are some of the skills you should look for:
1. Customer service skills
Key skills for customer service are crucial if you’re hiring workers for front-facing roles. Some examples are servers, cashiers, retail associates, and more. This includes good communication, empathy, active listening, and professionalism during difficult situations.
Take note that your business’s reputation heavily relies on your customer service. You’d surely want someone who will embody the core values of your company.
2. Time management skills
The holiday season is a very hectic time for almost every business, especially those in retail, food, and logistics. In this case, you need to hire based not only on job-specific skills but also in terms of time management.
3. Collaboration skills
You should also look for workers who possess the skills needed to delegate tasks and work within a team. This will ensure productivity and harmony in your workplace even during tight deadlines and very busy schedules.
4. Problem-solving skills
The holiday season can bring a lot of challenges for your business. For example, you may face customer dissatisfaction, inventory issues, or workload management challenges. You’d surely want seasonal holiday workers who will help solve these problems before they interrupt your operations.
5. Physical stamina
Some seasonal jobs may require high physical stamina, such as lifting heavy packages or standing for long periods. With this, you have to ensure that the workers you’ll hire have the physique to meet this demand. This will help prevent emergency seasonal hiring when a worker turns out to be physically incapable of the job.
Overall, physical stamina is very crucial for logistics work. For example, if you’re hiring additional warehouse workers, it’s best to partner with a warehouse staffing agency. This way, you’ll find the best workers without all the work on your part.
6. Attention to detail
Attention to detail is crucial for roles involving inventory management, cash transactions, and so on. It’s important to find meticulous seasonal workers to ensure a smooth flow of operations during the holidays. The last thing you’d want on a busy holiday are payment errors or low stock due to poor management.
7. Flexibility
Most of all, companies hiring seasonal workers should look for flexibility. This includes personnel who are flexible enough to work on different shifts or situations. Also, it’s advisable to find workers who will be open to taking on additional responsibilities. It’s because the holiday season might bring in unpredictable demands.
Conclusion
Finding competent seasonal workers will make a world of difference during your holiday operations. It will ensure that your business can keep up with the increased demand while keeping your customers happy.
But if you’re too busy to handle worker screening, you can always outsource staffing to a reliable agency. They can source, onboard, and support the seasonal workers you’ll hire, so you don’t have to worry about anything.
By the end of the seasonal demand, the staffing agency will be the one to handle the offboarding of your temp workers.
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