The Advantages of Offboarding Seasonal Employees

The Advantages of Offboarding Seasonal Employees The Advantages of Offboarding Seasonal Employees The Advantages of Offboarding Seasonal Employees Conlan After the bustle of the holiday season, it may be tempting to jettison your seasonal employees with not much more than well-wishes. But this is a mistake; carefully offboarding seasonal employees offers a variety of advantages that makes it worth the effort. If offboarding is handled inefficiently or without the same care a company would take in the onboarding process, the organization risks damaging their reputation as an employer of choice, says Deb LaMere, vice president of employee engagement at Ceridian, a human resources software firm based in Minneapolis. This can lead to difficulty in attracting and retaining all types of workers, not just seasonal, and can affect the bottom line if the company cant find enough employees during the peak season. Knowing the advantages will help you do it right and make hiring for next season even easier. You Create Brand Advocates Seasonal employees can be excellent brand ambassadors if you treat them right, says Susan Vitale, chief marketing officer at iCIMS, a human resources software firm based in Matawan, New Jersey. Providing contingent workers with a favorable experience can lead to positive word-of-mouth, she says. Seasonal employees who had a good experience with your company can also serve as informal recruiters in future hiring seasons. You Cultivate Loyal Customers If a seasonal employee feels she has been treated as just another number during her time with you, she may do more than simply apply somewhere else next season she may reject your brand entirely. Our seasonal associates are also our customers, so we want to make sure they have a positive experience and want to continue to shop with us, says Trista Mulvey, recruiting projects coordinator at Bon-Ton Stores Inc., headquartered in York, Pennsylvania. You Build a Strong Candidate Pool Because offboarding seasonal employees shows them theyre valued, they will keep you in mind for the next season, Vitale says. A seasonal employee could turn into a repeat seasonal staff member or even a full-time employee down the line, she says. By preserving your relationship with each employee, you are increasing your chances of finding best-fit talent when you need to fill a permanent position. While offboarding seasonal employees takes some effort, setting up a system to standardize it makes things easier, LaMere says. This leads to efficiencies and treats everyone with respect in a fair and equal manner. LaMere recommends investing in software that can help the exit interview process, such as a survey, as well as a database to keep in touch with former employees. Mulvey says Bon-Ton completes exit interviews with seasonal hires and also sends electronic exit surveys to get feedback from seasonal employees. We want to ensure their time with us was positive. We also want to thank them, so they understand how much their time with us was valued and helped with a successful season. Engage with former employees after they leave, even if it was just a temporary position, Vitale says. Provide them with occasional updates on your company, keep them in your pool of talent and notify them with employment opportunities.