Seasonal surges can be great for revenue and rough on operations. Whether you run a storefront heading into the holidays, a warehouse preparing for peak shipments, or a clinic planning for summer volume, temporary workers help you meet demand without over-staffing year-round.
If you’ve been in business for a couple of years, you likely have a feel for how many seasonal workers you will need to hire to counteract the seasonal surge. The real difference between seasonal recruitment that goes off without a hitch and frantic onboarding that feels like it’s too little, too late often comes down to having systems in place.
When your seasonal hiring, training, and offboarding steps are defined, documented, and easy to follow, your HR team can scale new and temporary hires quickly, protect quality, and keep long-term employees out of firefighting mode.
No Systems, No Problem
You do not need an enormous manual and a massive pile of documentation to set up repeatable processes for your team to use. Here are five basic steps to follow when documenting systems and building your standard operating procedures for seasonal work.
1. Capture the work in real-time by asking each person who performs the task to show you how they do it.
This can be done by recording short videos (using screen capture or a smartphone), snapping photos of setups, and writing down the steps required to get from A to B safely and correctly. Be sure to keep up with hand-offs and transitions to ensure the process you are documenting is complete and usable.
2. Create quick-run checklists.
Once you have the entire process down, determine which tasks can be turned into checklists that operators can follow quickly and efficiently.
For Example, “Post the seasonal job listing” checklist could include:
- Verify application inbox is working,
- Finalize title, pay range, and description,
- Publish to LinkedIn job board,
- Publish to temp agency job board,
- Publish to website job board,
- Share to social,
- Email internal referral list.
3. Test the steps
Now that you have documented the process and built basic checklists, run through the steps with the person who is responsible for completing the task. If they do something that is not in the process or checklist, find out what it is and add it.
Once the process has been perfected and run through flawlessly, it’s ready to be used.
4. Store the process and associated checklist in an accessible location.
Utilize a tool like SweetProcess, a shared drive, or an internal system to ensure your team can access the necessary information whenever needed.
5. Ensure the team knows about the available processes and checklists - and they use them
The team should know that you’ve been building processes, since they were involved in the documentation and testing. However, ensure they are aware that the processes and checklists are finalized and must be used. Inform managers and team leads - and make sure those team members use the processes, too. When employees see their leads using tools that make their jobs easier, they are more likely to use those tools themselves.
Don’t Pause Your Hiring to Document Systems
If you are hiring right now, don’t pause to build a perfect playbook first. Capture what you are doing while you do it, so that you can reuse it throughout this hiring season and during the next seasonal rush.
When documenting processes, prioritize the steps you will repeat many times this season. Many businesses are hiring several people for the same role, such as assembler, packer, floor associate, checkout, intake coordinator, or delivery driver. Prioritize the roles you will be hiring on repeat as you build your initial systems.
Most businesses will want to document these systems first:
1. Job listing workflow
Including:
- How to draft the posting (template, required sections, compensation range, dates).
- A checklist of where to publish (job boards, social, local schools, referral channels).
- How applications are received (applicant tracking system, online form, email, walk-ins).
2. Application evaluation
- Screening criteria and must-have qualifications.
- Screening tools (skills checks, short questionnaires).
- Set response times to avoid losing candidates.
3. Interview
- Interview format (phone screen, video, on-site).
- Standardized questions by role.
- Scoring rubric and decision rules.
- Standardized drug or other medical tests.
4. Acceptance and onboarding
- Offer template, start-date scheduler, paperwork packet.
- Tax and payroll setup, ID badges, systems access that can easily be shut off at the end of employment.
- First-day agenda and who greets new hires.
- Scorecard system to keep seasonal employees on track during the duration of their employment.
5. Specialized training
- Role-specific modules, on-the-job checklists, safety steps.
- Shadowing plan and practice scenarios.
- Proficiency checks with pass criteria.
- Handy checklists for employee use.
6. Offboarding at end of season
- Return of badges/equipment and final timecard.
- Exit survey and rehire eligibility rules.
- Add to “talent bench” for next season and set re-contact date.
- IT notification to ensure all access has been removed.
A Note on Employment Transition
Some seasonal employees may turn out to be a perfect fit for your business culture. In fact, it may be difficult to lose them at the end of the season. So, what do you do to a) determine if you should offer these gems a full-time position and b) find out if your company has capacity to take on this new hire?
The first step is relatively simple. Keep a scorecard that includes:
- Reliability: Do they have a reliable attendance record? Does their team feel comfortable relying on them?
- Learning velocity: Are they a fast learner? Do they rapidly hit productivity targets?
- Quality: Keep an eye on error rate and safety adherence metrics.
- Team fit: Make sure they are strong communicators, are coachable, and take initiative.
- Customer impact: Do customers love them?
- Flexibility: Do they have skills that would allow them to cross-train and backfill another necessary role?
- Values alignment: Ensure they follow procedures, provide peer support, and work well with their team. Candidates who meet or exceed thresholds in four or more areas should be flagged for potential full-time employment. While you are working with and flagging candidates, you will need to keep a scorecard of your business to determine if full-time employment is within the scope of your business. Be sure to include:
- Financial health: Examine metrics to determine if your company can pay another full-time employee in the coming year.
- Market evaluation: Are there any predicted or predetermined market fluctuations upcoming? Would you be able to retain this new hire through the predicted changes? Do they have a skill that might help your business pivot if needed?
- Upcoming roles for which you will be hiring: Could you promote an existing employee and bring on the seasonal employee to backfill the role?
- Business analysis: Do you have talent gaps that need to be filled? What are your 2026 goals, and do you feel confident the business will hit those numbers?
- Finally, be pragmatic: Determine if this employee adds monetary value to your business. If you just really enjoy working with them, but they won’t add value before the next busy season, it will be more practical for you to keep their information, ensure they wrap their contract on good terms, and try to rehire them during the next seasonal rush.
When you build a repeatable and clearly defined system for hiring seasonal employees, you can focus on growth during your busiest season, rather than playing catch-up. This gives you the time and space to consider full-time employment for your best seasonal hires. It gives you time to consider what permanent growth looks like for your business. It also provides mental space for scaling and goal setting as we enter the new year.
At Business Success Consulting Group, we know that on-the-fly documentation can be a challenge. But it can also be one of the most rewarding actions you and your team can do. If you are ready to get started but don’t want to tackle documentation alone, get in touch. Our team of process experts is ready to help make this the most organized season yet!
