In today's economy, seasonal workers can be found in audit offices as well as the shop floor and in the ski resort. As companies strive to have the exact amount of people on board to fulfil fluctuating business demand, finding optimal seasonal workers has become a priority for many employers.

By Helen Beckett

KPMG: Of farmers and accountants

Seasonal challenge
“Our busy season runs October til March. There is a heavy need for staff during that time. We need to beef up our range of skills right across the business from auditing, tax and advisory practice services to HR sales and marketing.
We are responding both to our business drivers and also to the way that increasing numbers of people want to work. We recruited a farmer who was also a qualified accountant. He came to work for us during the winter, which is a quiet time during the farm calendar. The job supplied him with a level of income during the tough time for farmers.”

Online impact
“We took the paper-based system away and started from scratch, rather than automating an existing system. With online, you can get back to a candidate within 24 hours. This speedy and responsive communication creates a good impression too.
The percentage of seasonal workers is still quite small, under 5%, but seasonal work is growing. It's a work-life balance and as an option, it's more visible. People might like to work full time, and go off travelling, or spend time caring for children or donate time working for a charitable organisation.”

Outcomes
“When we introduced the online selection process it cut time to hire by 40% and costs by 22%. Taking the paper out of the process reduces time. It's possible to screen candidates online using psychometric tests therefore cutting out unnecessary interviews.”
Keith Dugdale, HR director

Legoland: Making the recruitment ride faster

Seasonal challenge
“Legoland employs 150 permanent staff and up to 700 extra during seasonal peaks. Roles recruited for include ride operators, retail assistants, food and beverage staff, cleaning crew, administration, guest services and a variety of other customer-facing roles.
The location of Windsor presents a particular problem for us. Windsor Castle and Thorpe Park are nearby and unemployment in Windsor is at an all-time low. Competition for good seasonal workers is fierce.”

Online impact
“Previously all applications were made and sorted on paper. The online campaign still begins with an ad in the local paper but advertises a url, where candidates go to complete an application form. An online psychometric test is part of the process and this enables candidates with a poor match to deselect himself or herself at any time. We're looking for people who can live our values and help promote our brand.”

“All managers have a password to the candidate pool so can fit in sifting and selection and other tasks. The beauty is that they do not rely on someone from HR being present. The system is a little like a flow chart and there are twelve different stages, including rejection for different reasons, whether through lack of skills or availability. Candidates receive an emailed acknowledgement of their applications and a rejection, if necessary. Candidates too can log on and see where they are within the selection.”

Outcomes
“The paper-based route took between two and four weeks to select new recruits. Online has cut this by half. With 75% of applicants choosing to apply online, this has brought big savings. Legoland has reduced recruitment headcount by half over two years.
The quality of hires has improved too. This has been remarked upon by guests in the park and measured by managers in their initial appraisal ratings. The overall calibre is better. Customer satisfaction is up in the park.”

“The older age group still prefers paper based recruitment methods. To ensure we keep a balanced age group of staff we're thinking of creating public access points to the online process, such as in public libraries.”
Jess Wright, human resources specialist

Woolworths: Seasonal workers with a smile

Seasonal challenge
“There's a huge surge in requirement for seasonal workers at Christmas. Over the 2004/2005 period we hired 12,000 extras in a range of roles including 'meeting and greeting', sales advisers, shelf stackers and night shift people.
The Christmas season was an opportunity for us to pilot a new approach to recruitment, headlined by our 'hire with a smile' campaign. Previously we recruited against a job profile and skill set. Now, the objective is to hire people who have the desire and ability to engage with the customer on the front line. We've redesigned the recruitment process to be driven by personality.”

Online impact
“nline is a key enabler of the 'hire with a smile' approach. Woolworths is poised to take the entire recruitment process online, covering application, interview scheduling, personality profiling and all candidate communication. However the first step, piloted in its Christmas season recruitment campaign, was to advertise and post applications forms online. This substantially increased applications.”

Outcomes
“The feedback on the Christmas temps has been outstanding. Staff who came via the online avenue and were recruited in the new mould showed a real behavioural difference. 91% of Woolworths' quality inspections, carried out on a mystery shop basis, were successful.
Online has had a direct impact too on the amount of direct recruitment that Woolworths is able to fulfil. Prior to the campaign, we did 45% of our recruitment in-house, now that has risen to 75%.”
Martin Smith, resourcing manager