Getting an early start on hiring for peak season is always a good business move. Starting early allows you adequate time to determine your staffing needs, find and hire the right employees, and adequately onboard them.
Start preparing for peak season now with the following guidelines.
Invest in a quality applicant tracking tool
With more people looking for work, you could see an overwhelming amount of applications this year, which means an overwhelming amount of work for your hiring team. An applicant tracking system (ATS) cuts down the time of manually sifting through resumes to automatically find the most qualified candidates for you.
With many systems today, you can also automate the process of posting jobs, setting up interviews, and sending follow up emails to candidates. If you do not already have one, a good ATS is worth looking into – both for now and in the long-term.
Working with a trusted staffing partner means you can leverage their applicant software systems that not only hire the best people but manage them as well. At SIMOS we use Stafftrack, a proprietary hiring and workforce management tool that brings in the right people at the right time.
Adjust your hiring and onboarding process
In effort to protect potential hires and existing staff and adhere to social distancing guidelines, you may need to conduct interviews remotely using video conferencing software. This entails having the technical support in place and training your hiring managers on the technology now to ensure a seamless experience for new and potential hires.
The same goes for onboarding and training new hires. Adjust your process to take place over live video to simulate the in-person, hands-on experience, and transfer any and all training materials to digital files so employees can access them anywhere at any time.
Put safety at the forefront
Now, more than ever, candidates are concerned about their health and safety on the job. Make sure you are ready now to supply workers with the resources, equipment and training they need to stay safe and keep customers safe.
Don’t forget about employee engagement
The holidays are usually a stressful time in and outside of work. Schedule regular check-ins with your employees to ensure they have the resources and support they need to do their jobs well.
You may want to consider offering extra health and wellness benefits, which will not only help employees manage stress so they can stay productive, but will differentiate yours as a company that truly cares about its employees.
Of course, if there’s one thing the last few years have taught us, it’s that you can’t plan for everything. If you’re still feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about what peak season (and beyond) holds, consider working with a staffing firm like SIMOS. A good staffing partner can help you find ways to scale quickly, meet demand and keep your business running.
