How To Onboard Christmas Temporary Workers

Published: Friday 3rd December 2021

With December, here comes the imminent period of carol singing, eating copious amounts of mince pies, and buying and receiving thoughtful gifts. For the most part, the festive cheer overwhelms everyone; however, for seasonal industries such as retail, it can be dampened by the urgency to onboard as many temporary employees as possible to manage the surge in shoppers during this busy period.

Hiring many people quickly, such as Christmas staff, can be an excruciating process. Onboarding them can be even more of a nightmare without the proper planning, especially if they’ll be working at distributed locations. Keeping onboarding consistent and of high quality can be an almost impossible task. You can’t be everywhere. It doesn’t have to be this way, in any case.

What Is Onboarding?

Onboarding is the process of providing a new employee with the tools and knowledge to become a practical part of your team. By ensuring the onboarding procedures are delivered appropriately, employers give staff everything they need to start their new role (and the holiday season) on the right foot.

So what can HR and Hiring Managers do to ensure they provide a high-quality employee onboarding experience to each of their new starters during the festive period?

To implement an effective onboarding process, companies need to develop a specific onboarding programme using online collaboration tools, supported by adequate documents and materials and a great communication programme. This is where technology plays a vital part.

Technology to sign onboarding contracts

Save yourself & your new starter the hassle of in-person meetings to sign starter forms. An utterly digital onboarding process will also speed things up on both sides, and there is nothing nicer than receiving a job offer over your email to sign from the comfort of your own home.

eSignatures play a crucial part here, making the process seamless and stress-free. Send & sign documents in under hours, helping fill those essential Christmas temp roles.

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Technology to collaborate with new Christmas temps

Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Zoom, of course. These three tech giants allow companies to invite & onboard staff before they get onto the shop floor or office. Documents can be shared with the staff member, such as the vital information they need to perform their job well, from uniform requirements to where to park, how to clock in, to staff policies and procedures.

During the chaotic festive season, communicating shift schedules to employees can be labour intensive and inefficient if it’s done using a traditional method such as a staff noticeboard. That’s why the communication channels listed above help with shift schedules.

You’ll reap the rewards by taking this approach when your new starters are entirely up to speed and enthusiastic on their first day on the job. Your customers won’t know the difference between a temporary member of staff and a permanent member of a team, and your managers will thank you for making their lives a lot less hectic and stressful.