Forty new starters and a folder of forms
Wedding season starts in May. In March and April, you recruit students, returners and people looking for weekend work. Each one fills in a paper form at an open evening, or is emailed a Word document to print, sign and scan. Then they need to show documents for right to work checks, give bank details for payroll, choose uniform sizes, and complete whatever induction and training your procedures require before their first shift.
By May, some are fully set up. Some have given bank details but not documents. Some attended the training session but never returned their form. The staffing coordinator has a spreadsheet with colour coding that only they understand, and the first busy Saturday arrives with a handful of people who cannot be put on the rota yet.
Onboarding is a checklist nobody can see
Taking on a new casual worker is a series of small steps, each owned by a different person or needing something from the new starter. On paper, there is no single place that shows where each person is.
- Forms are paper or email attachments, so information is retyped into payroll.
- Document checks are done in person and the copies are filed separately.
- Uniform sizes are collected on a separate list and ordered in batches.
- Training and induction attendance is recorded on a sign-in sheet.
- Nobody can easily see who is ready to be offered shifts.
The new starters are keen, and they drift if nothing happens for weeks. The office is busy with the season's bookings at the same time.
Late starters and early leavers
Every person who is not ready by the start of the season is a shift you have to fill another way, often with agency staff. Some recruits lose interest while waiting and never work a shift at all, which wastes the recruitment effort.
There is also the risk of putting someone on a rota before a required step is complete, simply because the paperwork was not visible. How you handle checks is a matter for you and your advisers; the problem is not being able to see whether they were done.
A mobile onboarding flow with a checklist per person
- New recruits get a link to a mobile onboarding page, branded as your business.
- They enter personal details, emergency contact, bank details and uniform sizes once, and can upload documents where your process allows.
- Steps that must be done in person, such as document checks, are booked into a slot at an induction session and recorded by the staff member who does them.
- Training and induction your procedures require is recorded against each person, with dates.
- The office sees each recruit's checklist: done, waiting on them, waiting on you. Recruits get reminders about what they still need to do.
- When a person's checklist is complete, they become available in the shift system, and their details go to payroll without retyping.
| Step | Done by | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal and bank details | Recruit on phone | Staff record and payroll export |
| Right to work check | Your staff, in person or as your process allows | Recorded against the person |
| Uniform sizes | Recruit | Uniform order list |
| Induction and training | Your trainer | Staff record with dates |
| Ready for shifts | Automatic when complete | Shift offer system |
Which checks are required, and how, is set by you with your advisers. The flow records that each step your process requires has been done, and by whom.
A season that starts with a ready team
By the end of April, the coordinator can see exactly who is ready and chase the rest with a click. Uniform is ordered from a complete list. Payroll gets clean details. The first Saturday of the season is staffed from people who are set up, rather than a few of them plus agency cover.
Returning staff from last year only update what has changed, instead of filling in everything again. The whole process happens in the weeks before the season, when there is still time, instead of during the first busy month.
At the end of the season, you can also see who worked, how often and who did not return, which helps you plan next year's recruitment.
Does this describe your spring?
- New seasonal staff fill in paper or emailed forms.
- You track onboarding in a spreadsheet only one person understands.
- Some recruits are not ready by the first busy weekend.
- Bank details and personal information are retyped into payroll.
- Returning staff fill in everything again each year.