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Addressing the Needs of Seasonal Employees

Guest post by: Jennifer Loftus

Article Overview: Tis the season…for more workers! In many places, especially retail locations, the fall season signifies a flurry of seasonal, temporary workers to help make the holiday rush activity function smoothly. How can workers become quickly acclimated to the organization’s culture, in order to yield the desired levels of productivity and efficiency? Furthermore, the season itself carries stress. How can an organization and all its employees survive the pressure? In this issue of Astronology, we take a look at these challenges.

Addressing the Needs of Seasonal Employees

Giving seasonal employees an in-depth training with a section on team-building can assist in meeting both the employees’ and the employer’s needs.Elizabeth Rice, SPHRsuggests the following: A quick one day program that includes the organization’s values, goals, customer service policies, and valuable product knowledge. Such a program will allow seasonal employees to quickly see where they fit in with the organization’s goals.

Next, to demonstrate appreciation for and the value of the seasonal employees’ work, maintain contact with outstanding performers. This can be done by sending them reminders and available work schedules for the next busy season. A great incentive to bring back skilled seasonal workers is to offer such returning employees a slight pay increase every year they return.

Effectively managing stress during the straining seasonal flurry of activity can be a challenge, whether an organization hires seasonal workers or not. Although hiring more staff can alleviate employee stress in regards to completion of tasks, stress will still be present due to customer behavior and the atmosphere of the season in general. So how can organizations boost morale and manage stress despite the environment? A nonprofit resource website,HelpGuide.org, suggests the following:

1. Recognize employee warning signs of excessive stress at work:

· Feeling anxious, irritable, or depressed

· Apathy, loss of interest in work, trouble concentrating

· Problems sleeping

· Fatigue

· Social withdrawal

2. Help employees to see that stress can occur, and it can be managed:

· Inform them that some form of stress should be expected

· Share your own tips on how you previously dealt with and currently manage stress

3. Reduce job stress by prioritizing / organizing:

· Maintain balanced schedule of employee roster

· Do not over-commit employees

· Schedule appropriate breaks

4. Improve emotional intelligence:

· Develop the capacity to meet challenges with humor

· Resolve conflict positively

5. Reduce job stress by breaking bad habits:

· Lead by example

· Resist perfectionism

6. Reinforce positive behaviors and actions:

· Give simple recognition for completing difficult tasks

· Designate positive examples among employees for others to reference to when challenged with a task

· Share employee experiences within the organization

While all this pressure may be only temporary, extra precaution is needed to ensure a successful and enjoyable rush season. Why not try to incorporate a few of the suggestions listed above during this season, or during your industry’s busy season? Andplease let us atAstronologyknowhow it works out for you!

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Article Tags: Seasonal Employee, Seasonal Employment, Seasonal Stress, Stress at Work



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