NEW YORK -- Every fall, the staff count at Fun.com swells from 150 to as high as 2,000 as the online retailer fills orders for Halloween costumes and decor.
The company offers its seasonal staff members at the warehouse in North Mankato, Minn., an incentive to perform well -- those who do will be recommended for jobs at a greeting card manufacturer in town. That business needs between 300 and 400 people soon after Fun.com lets its seasonal crew go, said Joe Riska, the company's head of human resources.
"Since they've already gone through a season and shown they can do good work, now they can go work for another company," he said.
Small businesses that need extra help during the holidays or other busy times of the year are looking for employees willing to work hard and help the company meet its increased demand for products or services. So some owners approach recruiting and managing with the goal of turning temporary workers into long-term ones or of helping them find other jobs. It's a strategy that's critical when a national unemployment rate of 4.1 percent has shrunk the pool of candidates.
It can be hard for a business to find seasonal workers if it offers them only short-term paychecks, said Melissa Hassett, a vice president at staffing company ManpowerGroup. Many of these workers want to learn new skills.
"A lot of people would love more career growth over time," Hassett said.
But owners need to manage their seasonal workers' expectations and be clear what their chances are of getting a permanent job, said Carrie Gonell, an employment law attorney with Morgan Lewis in Costa Mesa, Calif. Some workers take jobs hoping that they won't end when the season does.
"Make sure you say that you intend for the job to be seasonal," Gonell recommends to owners who expect to let those workers go when business slows.
At Fun.com, the seasonal workers start arriving in August, and most work until Halloween. About 10 percent will remain through Christmas to handle holiday shipments. Recruiting and managing that many temporary workers can be difficult, so the company increases its human resources staff from three to 15 people each year. It recruits college students looking for human resources experience that they can list on their resumes, Riska said.
When NewAir, which makes small appliances like wine coolers and ice makers, recruits workers for its busy seasons, warehouse manager Ronnie DeLeo tells prospective hires that they have the chance to keep their jobs when the sales surge is over. While they're working, they'll compete for permanent jobs with NewAir's existing staff.
NewAir takes on seasonal help for the summer and the winter holidays. The company's warehouse in Cypress, Calif., has about 20 employees and hires 10 during the periods when orders from online customers and retailers soar and there's more to pack and ship. During interviews, candidates learn that the company tracks employee productivity on a public scoreboard, and everyone knows the highest performers keep their jobs when the busy season ends.
"I've had cases where I've had fresh, new, driven, excited people working a lot faster and being more motivated than current staff members," DeLeo said.
The company works with employees to help those who need to improve their performance, and it pays severance in some cases when workers are let go, said Andrew Stephenson, NewAir's product marketing director. The competitive strategy is part of NewAir's long-term growth plans, Stephenson said.
"We want to double -- if not triple -- our business in the next few years," he said. "In the warehouse, the pace is going to increase, and we have to staff accordingly."
Hugh Jones hires 25 people every spring for his Mosquito Squad franchise to install and maintain outdoor pest-control systems through the end of October. Jones, whose territory includes North Carolina cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point, believes that providing his seasonal employees with career counseling and mentorship will motivate them to do good work.
"Rather than say, 'Come work here, it's wonderful,' we say, 'Let's work here and help you find a wonderful job,'" Jones said.
Business on 11/16/2017