Fall is the most popular time for employees to make a job or career change, and this has become a trend that has continued for decades. In addition, many companies embrace a student workforce during the summer months to bolster their own staff shortages during this time. After all, students are a motivated and reliable employee base during the summer months, as they work to save for next year’s college or university tuition and other expenses for the school year.
But come mid-to-end of August, students begin to drift away from their summer jobs to enjoy the last few weeks of the warm weather before they have to turn their attention to moving into student accommodation and starting the new semester. Existing employees may be tempted to dip their toes into the job pool again, and entertain other job offers.
What’s your plan to manage this kind of employee turnover in time for the fall busy time that many companies experience?
TOP TIPS FOR MANAGING THE “STUDENT EXODUS”
- Identify the last scheduled work day for each student or summer employee.
- Reconfirm if any full-time staff will be needing time off between mid-August to mid-September.
- If you’ve worked with a staffing agency in the previous winter or spring, identify whether any preferred temporary/seasonal employees are still available to return for the fall.
- Build a plan with your staffing firm to determine how your available jobs stack up against your competitors in the eyes of preferred candidates in a tight market with the lowest jobless rate in 40 years.
- Identify your key employees who will be the best people to onboard new staff. They don’t have to be supervisors or team leads, but rather people who are passionate about their work, friendly, and approachable. These employees will make the best mentors or “buddies” to onboard new staff in a way that is welcoming, supportive, and modelling the behaviour you want to see adopted by new team members.
- Start bringing in new staff to train about 1 to 2 weeks before your students leave so that new employees can acclimate to your facility and job description, allowing them to build up momentum in quotas and KPI’s in a safe and deliberate way. This will help limit or even avoid injury incidents and botched customer orders during busy times.
Being prepared for this annual staff turnover will ensure your job site continues to run smoothly. Partnering with a reputable staffing agency can help you make the transition successfully.
ABL is a staffing agency specializing staffing temporary, seasonal, temp-to-hire, and direct hire positions.
