Make the Season Bright with Good Holiday Workers and Business VoIP

On the one hand, the holidays are a boon for business. Increased sales make it the hottest season of the year. But on the other hand, it can be a staffing nightmare as the increased volume demands more workers and more infrastructure to support those workers and the surge in business.

Nearly 70 percent of hiring managers will be adding hourly workers this holiday season, according to a recent survey by Snagajob. What’s more, businesses will be adding almost 30 percent more seasonal employees this year than last.

Making the season an unqualified success and not a nightmare filled with increased sales requires hiring the right employees and ensuring that your business can scale with the increased demand.

Cloud communications provider Nextiva offers five tips for getting the right seasonal employees.

First, businesses need to realize that social networks are a good way to draw seasonal workers.

“Use photos or videos to give a feel for what it’s like to work at your business and make it look fun and exciting,” noted the blog. “Of course, you should also check in with your contacts on social networks such as LinkedIn to see if they have any suggestions for people seeking seasonal work.”

Temp agencies can be another way to bring in the best candidates, as can using virtual customer service agents through sites such as oDesk and SimplyHired.

Working with schools is a fourth way that businesses can bring on seasonal workers easily, as there are a lot of good high school and college students struggling now to find jobs since the economy has meant that many older workers have had to settle for jobs that used to be reserved for the young.

But it also is important to think outside of the box. Many stay-at-home mothers are looking for extra money during the holidays, for instance.

“Depending on your seasonal hiring needs, these types of candidates could be perfect for you,” noted the Nextiva blog. “Tap into local PTAs, tap lots or other organizations that attract stay-at-home moms (you can find lots of them on Facebook) to let people know you’re hiring. Contact senior centers to see if you can post job listings on their boards or otherwise spread the word.”

It also is important to have the right infrastructure in place to support these new workers.

One area that is overlooked when it comes to preparing for the holiday season is the phone system. Does your business have enough lines to handle the additional calls? Is there the ability to easily expand and contract the number of telephone extensions to accommodate the season? Can the phone system handle work-from-home hires who could be quite competent but unable to come into the workplace?

Businesses will want to consider business VoIP when it comes to seasonal hires, because with VoIP businesses can add or remove lines easily as demand necessitates. Further, VoIP enables an integrated business phone system that accommodates workers operating from many different locations. Be it home or the office, business VoIP enables the office phone system to reach these workers.

Make this holiday season bright. Be prepared through good hires and the right infrastructure.

Edited by Alisen Downey