Struggling to determine the number of employees you’ll need to get you through busy season? Or, do you know how many you need but just can’t find them? An understaffed or poorly planned workforce can have a significant impact on productivity and your bottom line. Overtime payroll can increase, employee motivation can decrease and quality may suffer.
If workforce forecasting wasn’t a part of your ramp up plan this year or if you’re struggling to find the necessary number of employees, here are five last-minute tips to ensure your staffing needs are met during peak season.
1. Offer flexible work schedules to meet ramp up demands. Consider giving employees with the longest tenure incentives to keep them motivated when you need them most. Flexible Job-sharing, weekend flexibility and hiring part-time or temporary workers are just a few ways to help cover every shift during your busiest months.
2. Analyze your production process to discover where bottlenecks may occur and decide where improvements can be made. Reassign high-skilled, experienced employees to the areas that will need the most attention to maximize productivity.
3. Understand your workforce’s strengths. Allow full-time employees to do the heavy-lifting and leave smaller, less impactful jobs to new hires. If you haven’t already, consider developing a streamlined new hire training process specifically for ramp up.
4. Fill skilled and semi-skilled openings quickly by partnering with a staffing provider to bring top talent to your team in as little as seven days. Look for a partner who can handle administrative tasks like pre-employment testing and onboarding so your internal teams can focus on the ramp up.
5. Motivate your workforce by offering incentives other than flexible hours. Free lunch Fridays, complimentary coffee and donuts, referral bonuses and games or raffles with prizes like gas cards are simple ways to get your workforce more engaged and keep them around for the whole season. Reward employees for surpassing productivity goals as an added way to keep production on track.
Whether you’re looking to fill five or five thousand positions, keep your quality standards high. Choose a staffing supplier who is an expert in managing short-duration recruitment and will fill positions without sacrificing hiring standards to ensure a successful ramp up and busy season.
