5 Solutions to help you endure Hiring frenzy this fall.

Fall has arrived. It’s the busiest season for employers and hiring managers, as the fall usually sets off a rush of hiring. You may be ramping up production for the busy holiday season, or you may have a huge push to meet yearend sales targets. Many companies face the same. In addition, the situation is fueled by the mass exoduses of the seasonal summer worker in combination that creates a "perfect storm".

Being busy is a good thing, but the fact that it is happening to many businesses at the same time creates problems for business owners and hiring managers like you. Most of these are staffing problems. After all, your employees are the people who keep things running smoothly even when production is at high tide.

Here are a few staffing problems  that you may encounter this fall and a few solutions for how to overcome them.

1. You need more staff, but the Job Boards do not produce enough candidates to satisfy your hiring needs.

When employers experience the need to hire new workers they rush to the most obvious source, job boards. The fall period is usually considered the busiest in the job board industry. During this period businesses feel the need to spend more than usual, but the ROE in most cases is not worth it. The reason is obvious... Supply and demand.

The Job boards are great hiring tools, but these tools are one sided. The Job boards rely on the job seekers to notice them, but increased number of advertisements posted  and decreased number of jobseekers on the market, produce unresponsive ads.  

Solution 1. Start working with a recruitment agency. The agency can determine your needs and fill roles faster. 

The Recruitment and staffing agency adds an additional ingredient  to the recruitment process. The Recruitment and Staffing agencies are more active in attracting potential candidates to your business. They not only safe your time wasted on the unqualified candidates that reply to the job posts, they also have access to the surplus of candidates who applied for different job post. 
Recruiters have databases of already registered local workers who may be interested in your job. They also can reach out to inactive candidates, candidates who may be working now for someone else, but would be interested to improve their situation.

Solution 2. Another possible solution... Take advantage of the fact the GTA in recent years has seen a huge increase in the number of international students. These students, although not available full time, are hungry for work and could be a helpful solution in certain situations.  
An average student is available to work for 20 hours a week, many second and third year students take sabbatical and are able work a full week. 

Yes, using the a student who can only work 20 hours a week is more problematic than hiring a full time worker, but as a temporary solution to go over the pick of the worker shortage, it can do the trick. An experienced Staffing Agency that is able to help you coordinate student worker schedules can be a solution. 

Alliance Employment Services has plenty of experience  dealing with all aspects of the fall hiring rush. Contact us, we would be glad to help. 

NEED WORKERS TO HELP YOUR BUSINESS GROW? WE CAN HELP! 

Alliance Employment Services will help you  ATTRACT, RECRUIT, HIRE AND RETAIN  FULL TIME STAFF as well as help you utilize TEMPORARY STAFF for your production needs.

2. Understaffed and Overwhelmed

Perhaps the most challenging thing this period is getting the right number of people on board to deal with demand. You may think you have enough workers to handle an increase. What happens if someone quits or needs to go on leave? You may find yourself short staffed.
Even if no one departs, your staff may still be overwhelmed by demand. The increase in volume may be too much to handle with your current staffing level, leaving you short staffed and overwhelmed.
This is true for some employers even if they do hire. They may not be able to make their hires soon enough. By the time they get the new hires on board, the busy season is almost over! Other employers hire too few people, believing they’ll be able to manage.

What can you do? Like many staffing problems, this situation has an easy solution. Work with a recruitment agency to determine your needs and fill roles quickly and easily.

3. Making Bad Hires

Every employer fears it: you make a bad hire. It’s forgivable. You’re only human after all. You’ll sometimes hire workers believing they’re a great fit for your company, only to find out they clash with your values, teams, or environment.
Making bad hires isn’t ideal under normal circumstances, but it’s even more problematic during the busy fall season.
Employees who call in sick frequently, are late for their shifts or just don’t show up, or won’t pull their weight, slow you down. 

So how do you avoid making a bad hire in the first place? Work with a recruiter! A staffing agency, like Alliance Employment Services, can help you find the very best candidates for the job.

4. Premature Departures

One of the other common staffing problems employers face is employee departures. These can happen at any time of the year, but you really don’t want them to happen during the busy season. You need your best people on hand. The departure of senior employees during the busy season is particularly problematic since it’s difficult to replace their knowledge and expertise.
Another problem may be your temporary and seasonal hires! Their departures before the busy rush is over can leave you short staffed.

Working with a recruiter can help you avoid this situation. Recruiters can find experienced people to fill the roles of experienced staff, as well as match people for cultural fit and availability.

5. Temporary, Permanent, or ...?

When compiling a list of staffing problems, you may not think about the employment status of any new hires as a “problem.” It can easily become one for employers who aren’t cautious during the hiring stage.
Always be sure to determine whether you’re hiring on a temporary, contract, seasonal, temp-to-permanent, or permanent basis. You’ll need to lay out the terms of employment prior to making the hire. You don’t want to try to impose a concrete end date on someone who thought the role was permanent.
Working with a recruiter is a sure way to avoid any ambiguities when it comes to laying out contract terms for your seasonal hires. Staffing problems can be avoided and solved quickly and easily.