Summer is just around the corner, and depending on the nature of your business, you may be in full-force seasonal hiring mode. So, let’s say you’re already on track with finding and hiring the best people for the job. Equally important is having a training plan in place so when they do start, you’re sure to get the most out of your seasonal staff. After all, if it’s important enough to put them on the sales floor, shouldn’t it also be important enough to train them?
So, the question is, do you have a training plan in place for your seasonal staff? If yes, great! If not, here are some ideas to get your seasonal staff up to speed quickly and efficiently:
1. Prepare a list of FAQ’s that your seasonal staff should know before getting on the floor.
- Be sure to consider product, service and policies.
2. Run a series of ‘mini-orientation’ workshops for your seasonal staff.
- If you have a lot of seasonal employees coming onboard at one time, it’s a far more productive use of your time to train as a group.
3. Make them feel like part of the team. Do what you can to make them feel comfortable.
- Stay involved with your entire team, seasonal staff included.
4. Give them highly-structured tasks and roles.
- The more specific you can be about what you want them to do, the more likely they’ll succeed at doing it.
5. Manage their performance. Don’t wait to do this, get on it now.
- Catch them ‘doing things right’ early on, but never tolerate poor performance.
- Make sure that constant reporting and strong supervision are in place to boost individual accountability for performance.
6. Make it worthwhile … use plenty of contests, incentives and games. And, of course, have fun!
- Showing recognition and appreciation for a job well done is important.
- Don’t forget, incentives and rewards do not have to be large amounts of money or high priced items.
Remember, you know they’re only seasonal staff, but your customers don’t, and they won’t care. Get your new hires up to speed on product, service and policies from the get-go. Having poorly trained seasonal staff makes a negative impression on customers. Avoid this by making sure that these employees arrive on the first day ready to hit the ground running!
Bonus tip
- Our clients who subscribe to our Get Selling Online Sales Training like to use our Fast Track video to get their seasonal staff up to speed. It’s very effective and easy to use!
