5 Tips For Upgrading Temporary Employee Training
This year, the need for seasonal positions is expected to be higher than usual. Companies everywhere are struggling to find permanent employees, let alone seasonal staff. However, when you hire seasonal employees, you want to ensure they provide the best customer experience possible. They need training, especially since they’re thrown into work at the busiest time of the year and expected to perform at similar levels as permanent staff.
At the same time, these seasonal workers are well aware that they’re only temporary, meaning they may not feel as though they’re part of the team. If you want your seasonal staff to perform their best, you need to start by enhancing their training, especially if it’s online.
Enhancing training for seasonal workers is worth it, and here are some tips to improve your online training.
1. Start The eLearning Early
Prepare your eLearning ahead of time, so it’s ready to go once you hire your seasonal workers. If you’re still putting it together by the start dates of your seasonal employees, they won’t be able to access the entire training sessions. Between the time you offer the position and your seasonal member starts, give them access to a few introductory videos and online tools so your new hire knows what to expect.
Additionally, don’t wait until the last minute to hire your temporary workers. As your to-do list gets long, it will be more challenging to remember sending out online training sessions to seasonal employees, leaving them clueless and unable to give their full efforts. Start your onboarding process through remote-friendly tools and collaborative learning resources [1] so your employees can get a jumpstart on their seasonal job from anywhere.
2. Keep The Sessions Short And Manageable
You also want to keep the online training sessions short [2] and manageable. Once the busy season kicks in, you want to have your seasonal employees ready to go, and they likely won’t have longer breaks to watch lengthy videos and complete sessions.
Make your online sessions short so your temporary employees can get a refresher during their shorter breaks or even watch shorter training videos to continue their learning. Your new employees have their focus on many things during this busy time of the year. Having shorter training sessions will help them retain information better and apply that to the job.
3. Make eLearning Accessible On Mobile Devices
Another great way to enhance training for seasonal workers is to make eLearning accessible on mobile devices. It’s not realistic for employees to bring in laptops or be expected to even have a laptop or desktop computer to watch videos and complete online sessions. Most people do have phones, though, so format your eLearning so it’s compatible with mobile devices.
More people generally prefer to access the internet via a smartphone rather than a computer. You can engage your temporary workers with training through mobile devices. That way, they can receive updates and notifications regarding their online training sessions.
4. Incentivize eLearning
When you incentivize learning for your seasonal employees, they’ll be more likely to complete the online training and work hard to be the most efficient and productive employees. These seasonal workers perform extremely hard during the busiest time of the year, and they deserve to be treated just like your permanent employees.
Each time they complete a session or move up a level in their training, offer a small raise or prize. Your seasonal employees will see that you care about their efforts and want to reward them just like everyone else. You can give them other perks, too, like free food or additional breaks, or opportunities to connect with other staff.
5. Offer Positive Reinforcement
Finally, offer positive reinforcement. A personalized message or small gesture of appreciation [3] can go a long way in your eLearning for seasonal employees. Creating a positive work experience and a positive online training experience can go a long way in bolstering productivity during the holiday season.
This is a prime season to encourage both your seasonal and permanent staff during their training for the holiday season. You can create an online leaderboard for training, where points can count toward a prize or a seasonal staff party. This can also allow other team members to encourage seasonal staff on what a great job they’re doing or provide them tips to improve through a messaging system.
Is It Worth It To Upgrade Seasonal Training?
It is 100% worth it to upgrade your seasonal online training. Temporary workers put in a lot of effort. Often, these are people who are trying to earn a bit of extra money for the holiday season or college students who are home for winter break. Improving the eLearning experience will improve their outlook on the job, leading to a better work environment for everyone involved.
References:
[1] The Benefits of Using Collaborative Learning to Onboard Employees
[3] Using Positive Reinforcement in Employee Motivation
