Helpers Hired For The Holidays May Take Advantage of You

I wonder if Santa Clause conducts background checks on his newly hired elves? I’ve been contemplating the chaos that would take place in Santa’s workshop if he just hired any old elf to work for him. Does Santa ever get into a time crunch right around June and bring in seasonal hires to help meet timelines to get all of the toys made? Imagine the pilferage that would ensue if Santa’s Helpers haven’t been properly screened for criminal activity before being brought on board. Defective dolls might be delivered to darling little girls who deserve better. No firetrucks for a little fella because a fiendish elf stole it.  I have no idea what might happen at the North Pole but what I do know is that retailers DO get in a crunch for adding seasonal staff and that CAN lead to criminal activity and chaos.

     There are times when employers hire staff for their busiest times of the year but they rush into it as if they had no idea it was coming. Poor strategic planning can lead to a hurry up and hire mentality. This leads to a myriad of issues:

• Managers are no longer as selective as they would be if they were hiring at any other time of the year. Interviews are shortened and unless something glaring stands out on an application it is submitted to Human Resources with a request to hire.
• The focus is on getting a candidate into “the system”. They can be included in orientation and trained in time to fill the holes in the schedule. This is prime time when other concerns fall by the wayside.
• People are hired who may not truly have the competency to do the job they are hired for. Forget potential theft issues, these workers through no fault of their own may just not be good at their job. A new cashier may not know how to count back change. They may not understand when a short-change artist is trying to con them. They may not get enough training to understand the importance of looking at everything that comes through the lane. Each of these issues causes significant cash and or merchandise shortage to the store.
• Pre-employment screening may not be done. Background information that might have uncovered a checkered past is never discovered because there wasn’t enough time to conduct a check and get the training started. Was a convicted felon just hired? Perhaps it was just a simple petty larceny charge on their record. It could be a conviction for assault was not reported on the application and the employer won’t know because there was no pre-employment screening.
• Hiring on the fly may result in bringing in someone who has been fired for poor performance or insubordination and that attitude may carry into the new workplace.

The list can go on but the bottom line is that not making staffing plans for the busy season can impact more than you might think.

What is the solution? You have to get the store staffed and you will be competing against every other retailer for limited resources. Plan a stepped process for adding new team members to your store.

• First, make a commitment that EVERY new hire will undergo a pre-employment screening NO EXCEPTIONS! Loss Prevention Systems Inc. can conduct thorough background checks that will minimize your chances of bringing in a poor candidate.
• Determine how many new employees you need and add at least 5 to 10 to that number to account for attrition.
• Establish where you will post your job ads and what date you will begin interviews. Build a realistic timetable that includes the length of interviews, length of time for conducting the background check and length of time to complete hiring paperwork and orientations and training.
• Set a Firm “Do Not Hire After This Date” date. Make it firm and don’t allow other managers to make exceptions.
• Allow at least one full week from the time the last person is expected to be hired and processed to get properly trained. Failing to do so sets the new employee up for failure.

Start early enough to make your plan achievable. Starting too early and making a hiring offer then making people wait to start working will cause those new workers to quit. They are working for a paycheck. Starting too late and you will struggle to find people let alone people you want to have working for you.

     Santa may not have staffing issues, his team works all year long. You have real personnel concerns and have to hire more for the holidays. Plan ahead and make sure you are taking advantage of available workers don’t allow workers to take advantage of you.