Making it easier to find and keep your Christmas casuals

If you have a small store or retail outlet, you may need some extra staff over Christmas. It can be hard to find the right staff, particularly at the same time of year that many other businesses are hiring. Here are some tips to get great casual staff. 

Ask the customers

At the same time of year that you are looking for staff, some of your customers may also be looking for some extra cash. Be sure to put notices on the website and social media channels of your business as well as in the physical store. Your customers will often be the most enthusiastic ambassadors of your brand, which should translate into a great salesperson. 

Ask your staff

Often one of the best ways to find staff can be to ask the existing staff if they know anyone who is looking for work. They will often give a very honest assessment of anyone that they will be working with, as they don't want to end up picking up the slack for an employee who wouldn't be a good fit. They may have ex-co-workers or friend and family that they know are looking for work. 

Use a recruitment agency

Recruitment agencies are often busy doing the hiring for large retail chains for their Christmas casuals, so you can often snag a pre-interviewed candidate that didn't make it to the final round of another hiring process or who may have just missed some other cut-off dates. These staff members are a great source of prevetted candidates which you can still interview to check if they'd be a good fit for your own store. 

Create an attractive work environment

As a small business, you often can't offer the same financial rewards as big chains can offer, but you can do certain things to make the workplace more pleasant, such as letting staff help to pick music, allowing people to go home early, giving discounts on stock and offering flexibility on rosters. These small adjustments can help to ensure that your staff don't leave your shop if they get a better offer from another local retail outlet. 

If you are a small business looking to attract and maintain casual staff for the Christmas period, it's a good idea to search in a range of directions. So use all of the resources at your disposal, including your loyal customers, staff and local recruitment agencies.

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