The holiday season is fast approaching. It doesn't matter what business you're in; profits are going to soar, and as a result, you're going to need to hire new hourly employees to keep up with demand. Luckily, there is no shortage of ways for you to get new employees on board.
As you're looking for people to join your team, make sure you always look for quality and experience. Even if you are offering a part-time, holiday position, you don't want to sacrifice quality for fast employees.
Below are 10 of the best ways you can find great hourly workers for your business.
1. Post on relevant job boards.
If you have an open position, one of the first things you should do is post your job opening on relevant job boards. There are hundreds of different websites that let employers post their job for potential hires to apply and interact with the hiring company. Some of the more popular job boards are Indeed, Monster and Zip Recruiter. You can post both remote and local positions on these platforms. You'll get the ability to look through everyone who applies before contacting them. What makes this method ideal is the fact that you can set up deal-breaker questions on the application to save you time. If someone answers a question wrong on the application, they will be filtered into a separate group so can put all of the good applications on top.
2. Use social media.
In 2018, almost every business has a social media page. You can use your social media presence to entice followers to apply if you have an opening. A benefit of this method is that the people who are applying to the job are already familiar with your product or service. They follow your brand because they're interested in what you sell or your brand's identity – meaning they may be more likely to catch on if you decide to hire them.
You can also advertise your opening on LinkedIn, a business social media site. There are many ways you can advertise your position, such as adding a "now hiring" tag to your banner.
3. Create an employee referral program.
Even if you're looking for remote workers, you can create an incentive for your employees to help you find someone who can fill the positions at your company.
When most companies set up a referral program, they usually offer a cash reward to get new hires – with stipulations, of course. For example, if you get an employee to refer someone new and that new employee works there for 60 days, both the new hire and employee who gave the referral get a $75 bonus.
Employers prefer this method because they know their employees better than anyone. If a superior employee offers a referral, they can have confidence that the person they referred to them is also a good worker.
4. Reach out to colleges.
Most students leave college with a degree and no job. There are plenty of colleges that will happily advertise your job to their students as a means for them to get an internship or a potential hire after their graduation.
Some colleges offer programs for students even if they graduated years ago. The students can come back to the college with their experience and see if there are any job advertisements. This is the perfect chance for you to reach out to fresh-faced potential employees with lots of energy.
5. Use Craigslist.
Craigslist has turned in to a great place to find hourly employees. As it turns out, people check this platform on an almost daily basis for various reasons.
It takes just a few minutes to get online and post an advertisement every morning. Make it a routine until you fill the positions you have available. Wake up in the morning, get on your smartphone while you drink your coffee or orange juice, and post a quick ad letting people know that your company is looking for either seasonal or permanent employees.
6. Consider previous employees.
You're going to have people who quit your company without notice. However, in many cases, employees leave on good terms because they found a new job, are going through personal issues or various other reasons.
If you still have contact information of previous employees (and you should!), consider making phone calls to these employees to see if they would consider coming back to work on a part-time basis.
If former employees return, you could potentially save money on training time because they already know how the company works. A refresher course is a much less time-consuming process than a full training routine.
7. Contact job agencies.
Job agencies are good for both remote and physical employees. They are basically companies that have a Rolodex of potential employees who are looking for part-time jobs.
You can contact companies like Adecco or CareerOneStop and see if they have employees who fit your needs. They can look into their files and find out if they have people who match your required skill set.
Some people don't like the fact that they have to work through a middleman. However, some prefer this method because it gives them a chance to look at the potential hires without directly contacting them. You get to pick the person you think best fits your needs.
8. Rent out billboards.
If you're looking for remote workers, a billboard might seem impractical, but if you need a number of employees, it's still a great idea!
The fact is, if you put your billboard in a high-traffic area in a big city, people from all around are going to see it. All you have to do is include the fact that you're offering remote positions, and the people who are interested will contact you. When you consider that hundreds of thousands of people live in moderate-to-large cities, you can totally get people to apply for your position if you put your billboard somewhere smart, such as a busy intersection.
9. Advertise on your website.
Odds are you have a business website – especially if you're looking for remote workers. There are two ways to advertise your job openings online.
The most common method is by adding a "We are hiring!" button to your homepage. If a potential employee lands on your page, they can click the button and get right to the application and apply.
You can also add a "careers" page to your sitemap. If you're constantly hiring, this is a great choice. As job opportunities become available, you can upload them to your careers page and hopeful employees can see what jobs are opening, view the requirements, and access the application.
10. Hire internally.
Do you have multiple employees who work on an as-needed basis? Perhaps they get online and take care of your social media. Maybe you have an employee who just manages your customer care emails for a flat rate every month. Look to these dedicated employees to see if they would be interested in coming aboard full time as hourly employees. If these people are juggling multiple small jobs, they may be interested in working at your company for hourly pay to cut down on their overall work time – especially if you make the pay worth it.
When it comes time to hire this holiday season, make sure you take advantage of all of these different opportunities. There are benefits and disadvantages to all of these methods, it all comes down to your business model and how many people you want to hire. Before your next round of hiring, consider the hiring technique that will save you time and find you the best employee. There are plenty of qualified candidates out there. All that's left is to go out and find them!