As businesses rely on short-term workers to meet seasonal demands, ensuring clear and efficient communication becomes crucial.
According to a recent report conducted by the Harris Poll on behalf of Grammarly, 72% of business leaders credit effective communication with boosting their team’s productivity, while 52% of knowledge workers share the same sentiment.
Providing clear instructions, sharing crucial updates, and maintaining open lines of communication contribute to a positive work environment and can greatly impact the overall productivity and satisfaction of seasonal hires.
However, engaging these employees on the right communication channels requires a strategic approach that aligns with their preferences and needs.
This blog post will explore actionable strategies to engage seasonal hires on the right communication channels.
Assessing the Communication Needs of Seasonal Hires
Understanding the unique communication preferences of seasonal hires is key to fostering effective engagement and collaboration. All candidates bring their own communication style, and recognizing these differences allows businesses to tailor their approach accordingly.
Identifying their communication preferences and preferred channels further enhances the effectiveness of communication. Some prefer e-mail for formal updates, while others prefer text messages for quick and direct communication. Conducting surveys provides an opportunity to gather insights directly into their preferred methods of communication.
By actively seeking their input, businesses can gain valuable information that helps shape communication strategies to meet their needs better. Ultimately, assessing and adapting to the communication needs of seasonal hires leads to more meaningful and productive interactions throughout the hiring process.
Tips for Engaging Seasonal Hires on the Right Channels
By leveraging the appropriate channels, businesses can foster clear and efficient communication, leading to better engagement and productivity.
These tips will help you establish effective communication guidelines, use seasonal hires’ preferred channels, and create an environment that facilitates seamless and impactful interactions. Let’s dive in and discover how to optimize your communication strategies for seasonal hires.
1. Establish Communication Guidelines and Expectations
Clear guidelines and procedures enable businesses to maintain open lines of communication and create a positive experience for seasonal hires. Letting them know when they can expect to receive a follow-up, hiring decision, or next communication sets a framework for effective communication. To ensure a smooth and professional onboarding process, it’s essential to include these communication protocols in the résumé.
Effective communication procedures should be implemented on all channels to ensure consistency and seamless interactions. Whether e-mail, phone calls, or other communication platforms, establishing procedures helps avoid confusion and maintains professionalism throughout the onboarding process.
2. Don’t Disregard the Power of Personal Conversations
Emphasize the importance of personal conversations. While digital communication channels play a significant role in recruitment, don’t underestimate the power of face-to-face conversations and word of mouth. Meeting candidates for seasonal employment in person allows you to gauge their enthusiasm, professionalism, and cultural fit, which can be difficult to assess through other means.
Leveraging personal connections and word of mouth can save time in the hiring process by identifying potential candidates who have already been vetted and recommended by trusted sources.
3. Incorporate Text Messaging as a Communication Channel
Text messaging provides a direct and immediate way to communicate, making sharing essential details such as work schedules, shift changes, or urgent announcements easier.
When choosing a reliable messaging platform, consider reliability, ease of use, and scalability.
Look for platforms that offer features like message personalization, scheduling options, and the ability to manage opt-in lists. Obtaining consent from seasonal hires before adding them to the text messaging communication list is crucial. Building an opt-in list ensures the individuals receiving the messages have willingly agreed to receive them, which promotes engagement and reduces the risk of noncompliance with privacy regulations.
4. Keep Conversations Short and Action-Oriented
Engaging seasonal hires through short and action-oriented conversations is essential for effective communication and productivity.
Short and to-the-point messages help capture their attention and clarify instructions or requests. By avoiding unnecessary fluff and getting straight to the point, you can maximize the impact of your communication and keep them engaged.
Here are a few tips to help you keep conversations short and action-oriented when communicating with seasonal hires:
- Personalizing messages to make them relevant and engaging
Tailoring the content to the specific needs and interests of seasonal hires helps create a connection and makes them feel valued. Including their names, referencing their roles or tasks, and acknowledging their contributions can go a long way toward fostering engagement and commitment.
- Prioritizing channels that facilitate real-time communication and are easy to integrate with other ones
Platforms like instant messaging apps or collaborative project management tools allow quick and efficient exchanges. Integrating these channels with other systems, such as scheduling or task management tools, ensures seasonal hires receive important updates promptly and can easily access relevant information.
- Providing essential information, such as work schedules, shift changes, or updates
Providing essential information is vital to keep seasonal hires informed and engaged. This includes sharing work schedules, notifying them of shift changes, or informing them of important company updates. Regular communication about such details helps them stay organized, plan their work accordingly, and feel connected to the broader organization.
- Using a friendly and professional tone in text messages
Maintaining a friendly and professional tone in text messages is crucial. It involves using warm and approachable language while still being professional. This creates a positive tone that encourages open communication and fosters a sense of belonging in the workplace. Ultimately, it leads to higher engagement and job satisfaction for seasonal hires.
5. Don’t Rely Too Much on E-Mail
When engaging with seasonal hires, it’s important not to rely too heavily on e-mail. Why? Well, most seasonal hires simply don’t have the time to check their e-mails constantly. Unlike regular hiring processes, during which e-mail communication is commonly used, other channels are more effective for engaging seasonal hires.
Face-to-face interactions or virtual meetings can be more impactful in capturing their attention and fostering engagement. Additionally, leveraging channels like text messaging or phone calls provides a quicker and more direct means of communication, allowing immediate responses and ensuring important information isn’t lost in crowded e-mail inboxes.
6. Track Communication Success Metrics
To engage with seasonal hires effectively, tracking communication success metrics is essential. Monitoring metrics such as open and response rates provides insights into seasonal hires’ attention and engagement level. High open rates indicate messages are being viewed, while response rates reveal the effectiveness of communication in eliciting a response.
Engagement level metrics help assess how actively seasonal hires interact with communication channels. Tracking participation in discussions, meeting attendance, or task completion provides valuable insights into their engagement and involvement. Additionally, gathering feedback through surveys or direct conversations allows businesses to understand seasonal hires’ satisfaction, comprehension of information, and overall experience. Businesses can adjust communication strategies by tracking these metrics, ensuring effective engagement with seasonal hires.
7. Stay in Touch Even After the Season Ends
Staying in touch even after the season ends is essential to engage with seasonal hires. Companies should recognize that seasonal hires can always be rehired for future projects or positions. By doing so, companies can foster a sense of continuity and build a strong relationship with these individuals, increasing the likelihood they’ll be willing to return.
Continued communication can involve periodic updates about the company’s activities, new opportunities, or upcoming projects. By keeping seasonal hires informed, companies stay on their radar and demonstrate their value as potential employers. Staying connected with seasonal hires beyond the season helps build a pool of talented and engaged individuals who can contribute to the company’s success in the long term.
Conclusion
By following the strategies outlined in this blog post, HR representatives can create a communication framework that enhances engagement and productivity.
Establishing clear communication guidelines and expectations, using multiple channels, personalizing communication, and staying in touch even after the season ends are key practices for effective engagement. Additionally, incorporating face-to-face conversations, leveraging word-of-mouth recommendations, and tracking communication success metrics provide valuable insights and opportunities for improvement.
Effective communication is the foundation for building strong connections and achieving great results with seasonal hires.
Alexa Lemzy is Marketing and Communications Manager at TextMagic Ltd.