Seasonal staff: Santa’s little helpers

On Wednesday Marks & Spencer announced plans to recruit 20,000 additional staff for Christmas. The sheer number of recruits required to deal with the festive peak presents a huge task for retailers’ HR departments.

The art of finding reliable festive staff is one that, if mastered, can lead to a smooth Christmas - despite a dramatic hike in footfall and spending.

However, when it comes to employing diligent temporary workers, retailers are up against fierce competition. McCarthy Recruitment divisional manager Lindsay Page says: “Each year there is a pool of candidates applying to all of the different retailers offering temporary work. Employers have to fight if they want to get the best recruits.”

Considering the seasonal workforce required by a number of the UK’s biggest retailers, Page makes a good point. Sainsbury’s has revealed it intends to hire a temporary workforce of 20,000 this year - a significant increase on last year’s intake of 12,000. About 1,000 successful applicants will be offered permanent positions.

Tesco will also be taking on temporary staff, but says current employees looking for extra work will be its priority in terms of shift llocation. In addition, its student workforce will have the option to transfer to a store in their hometown over the holiday period where possible.

Like Sainsbury’s, Asda will recruit a “seasonal squad” of 20,000 and Boots will take on an extra 7,000 colleagues nationwide. Bearing this in mind, the competition to get suitable, enthusiastic employees on the payroll is high.

However, Page says using advertising resources that lend themselves to a broad audience and the right recruitment techniques should lead to a full workforce. “It’s best to take the personal approach with candidates,” she says.

“Get to know them and take down their details over the phone. Online application can be quite speedy but it isn’t always best. If you take candidates’ details over the phone, it can be done quite quickly and making that investment could pay in the end as far as quality of staff is concerned.

“For this level of employment using the job centre is a really good idea but it’s often overlooked by retailers. So many people use it to find work and you no longer have to go into the centre to look at jobs. The downside of it is, you will get a lot of applicants and someone will have to screen the candidates to sort the wheat from the chaff. With the job centre you will get the numbers but when it comes to quality it will be touch and go.

“I would have people set up at a bank of desks ready to take calls. I think it’s the quickest and most efficient way to handle something like this where the number of applicants is likely to be significant.”

M&S is opting for the one-to-one approach in an effort to find “friendly, enthusiastic and helpful” people.

The retailer says it will be recruiting jobseekers that can stay calm working on a congested Christmas high street.

A spokeswoman says: “The interview process is about the candidates’ personality and qualities rather than their experience or qualifications.

The interview itself gives a flavour of what it is like to work at M&S at Christmas and presents to the candidate the sort of decisions we might require people to take and the responsibilities they might have to take on board. It also assesses their ability to remain enthusiastic under pressure.”

Considering the widespread search for employees, recruitment agencies are advising retailers to advertise their seasonal vacancies as soon as possible.

Jobcentre Plus thinks announcing festive positions four weeks before the closing date at the very least will lead to optimum recruiting results. It also revealed that in the past month 220,000 jobseekers allowance recipients have expressed an interest in working in retail. Half of this number is between 18 and 24 years old, 85,000 between 25 and 49 years old and 22,000 were over 50 years old.

A spokeswoman says: “We can work to a tighter deadline than four weeks, but I would advise this amount of time. When it comes to wording, the simpler and clearer the ad is, the better.”

A spokesman from jobs website Monster says: “Royal Mail is already recruiting for Christmas workers and has been since last month. This is not unusual.”

He adds: “The job ad should be no different from a normal job posting. Most importantly, companies have to remember to sell themselves as much as a candidate would at an interview. This is an investment for the candidate as well.”

Being clear about expectations of potential staff, should they be employed, is also crucial.

Management expert Jeff Grout says: “Recruitment staff or agencies should be made aware of the type of candidates that are suitable for the vacant roles. They need to be given sufficient information about the environment of the workplace and the type of people they’re looking for.

“Getting the right staff is absolutely critical for the seasonal period. Retail is an industry that needs good customer service and getting good staff on board can make a difference.”

Potential staff can seem enthusiastic in an interview when they are trying to make a good impression. But, how can a manager keep them motivated when they have to deal with continuous crowds of stressed shoppers?

Grout says: “The main thing is to treat them like permanent staff. If they feel like second-class citizens they are less likely to give a top performance. For example, if there are drinks after work, invite the seasonal staff along. It’s all about being inclusive. In terms of motivation, I think it’s also important the retailers make it clear they are always looking for talented staff to fill permanent positions.”

He adds: “When they start in their role, managers should ensure they give staff a full brief of what is expected of them. A common managerial error is when people show up to start work and they are not sure what they are supposed to be doing.”

Recruiting hardworking seasonal staff is important if a retailer is to reach its sales potential, while keeping its stores looking great and the festive crush to a minimum.