The fourth of July is right around the corner. Preparing for this busy day is essential. When this holiday arrives it is important to make sure you have the right amount of employees. But generally that’s true for all major U.S. holidays, not just Independence Day. Here’s how to staff employees during the holiday season.
1. Hire supplemental staff to increase your workforce
The best solution for this is to hire part time workers or supplemental staff. This will increase your workforce and will help manage the demands for the season. You should take time in hiring them, though. It is important not to think of them as temporary workers because you may need them in the future, or they may have the potential to be a regular employee.
For help deciding how many and what kind of staff to hire, see this post on staffing correctly during the holidays.
2. Prepare early for holidays and be mindful of employee requests
Make sure to prepare early. Also, you need to know when to keep your business open or have shortened hours to give your employees a break. Inform your staff of your plans this season as early as possible. Note their time off requests and schedule preferences for this season to reduce being understaffed.
3. Offer perks and incentives for attendance
You may also want to offer incentives like bonuses for attendance to encourage employees to keep their work commitments. Another idea is gifts and perks like grocery store gift cards, gift certificates, or phone cards. These are similar to fringe benefits but just for the holidays.
4. Cross-train employees when you can
It may be possible to cross train your employees to expand their skills within the business. The added benefit is that they can be staffed more flexibly around the holidays and fill in as needed.
5. Maintain fairness when staffing holidays
Staffing employees during the holiday season also means building in their time off requests. Be fair when you take some time off as the boss, because if you can’t give your employees the same treatment it may cause problems. Allocate properly the shifting of your employees to maintain balance and fairness to everyone’s schedule.
6. Use employee scheduling software to staff employees during the holiday season
The stress can easily be dissolved with employee scheduling software. You can quickly input and adjust certain parameters like having more time offs, readjusting employee availability, addition of staff, and shift needs. This employee scheduling software will save you time and increase employee efficiency. In addition, you can set up holiday calendars directly in the software to ensure that employees are paid the right amounts according to any local or state rules about holidays.
If you found this post helpful, you might also like our holiday advice for new managers.
