Best practices in seasonal recruitment
Recruitment has been giving employers a lot of trouble in recent years. There are many challenges for everyone, but for sectors requiring seasonal employees, recruitment takes on an added complexity. Every time the busy season comes around, the work has to be started all over again… it’s enough to make anyone feel discouraged! But there are simple things you can do to make your job easier.
Here are our 5 best practices for simplifying your seasonal recruitment!
1. Plan and forecast seasonal recruitment
When it comes to recruiting seasonal workers, timing is everything! Candidates looking for work during the summer have plenty of options: it’s important not to miss the boat. Make sure you plan your hiring rounds well, and above all, plan ahead. Have a clear plan of your needs, the number of people required for each of your positions, and a clear strategy for distributing your job postings!
Running a little late this year? Caméléon is ready to give you a hand!
2. Retain your seasonal talent
It can be frustrating to go to great lengths to attract top talent, only to see them leave at the end of the season. Why not put some effort into retaining your seasonal employees? Make them feel part of the family: keep in touch with them off-season, let them know they’ll have a place on the team when the season returns, offer them advancement or development opportunities. From referral plans to creating partnerships with an opposite-season company, the possibilities are endless!
3. Take an interest in your potential candidates and let your offer shine!
Take the time to tailor your job offer to the candidates you’re looking for. Think about what matters to your potential candidates: in what ways do your job, your team and your corporate culture match their needs and values? What differentiates you from your competitors? Why should they be interested in seasonal work? Properly positioning your offer with potential candidates is the key!
With the information you’ve gathered, you can create a fantastic job posting, and distribute it in a variety of ways! Adapting the message – language, graphic elements, etc. – will make all the difference. Also, don’t overlook the importance of promoting your employer brand on your media and website throughout the year: you’ll see the impact when it comes to recruiting!
4. Expand your pool of potential candidates
The reflex in seasonal recruitment is often to target students. That’s still a good idea, but limiting yourself to students deprives you of a whole pool of interesting candidates. Retired and semi-retired people, for example, are now looking for part-time or seasonal jobs to keep them active. Mature, experienced and more inclined to return year after year, they are a definite asset to companies. International workers are also worth considering, as many of them are looking for temporary jobs to gain experience.
Are you waiting for applications in your HR inbox, or are you proactively approaching passive candidates? Consider sourcing to broaden your candidate pools!
5. Create a concrete integration plan
Just because they’re non-permanent employees doesn’t mean you should neglect their onboarding. On the contrary, all you need to do is optimize the integration process to make things faster and more efficient! For example, have you considered group integration? Or automated communications to guide your new employees through their first few days? A good onboarding increases productivity, reinforces the employee experience and enhances the employee experience – we would even go so far as to say that by creating a concrete integration plan, you’ll increase your chances of seeing them again next season!
Thanks to these best practices, your seasonal hiring headaches are over! Need some help implementing these great tips? Our team is here to help: contact us here!