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Eight Inventive Approaches to Holiday Staffing

The holiday season can make or break most retailers—mentally as well as financially. Merchants who are not staffed adequately to handle increased traffic and sales risk ruin.

For most, college students are the Holy Grail of extra holiday help, thanks to winter breaks that bring them home and unemployed. But even that predictable source requires recruiting and advance planning. Additionally, winter vacations often begin too late in the season to offer a complete solution to the short-term labor problem.

Innovative retailers scour community organizations, local businesses and their own customer base to uncover untapped employee pools. Spurred in part by a sluggish economy and increasing unemployment rates, they have turned up potential hires from stay-at-home moms to culinary students to anyone eager to make some extra holiday cash.

The following eight tactics, paired with some creative recruiting, can help you have a successful—and sane—fourth quarter.

1. Get the Word Out
The first step is similar to finding an apartment in Manhattan: Once you say you’re looking, you’ll find that everyone knows someone who knows someone and so on. To start accumulating leads, tell as many people as possible that you’re hiring. Ihsan Gurdal, owner of Massachusetts’ Formaggio Kitchen, relies on word-of-mouth recruiting at his two artisan cheese and specialty shops in Cambridge and Boston. He has come to know a lot of local politicians and courthouse employees who frequent the stores. “I’m always striking up conversations, Gurdal notes. “A friend at the State House just put me on to two state park rangers who’ll be coming in to work part-time making gift baskets.

J.C. Warman, owner of Slight Indulgence, a 20-year-old purveyor of specialty food and wine in Morgantown, W. Va., keeps a notebook year-round with people’s names who have either expressed an interest in working at the store or who he thinks may be a good fit. “I ask people I know as well as do some cold calls, he says. “It’s ongoing: In January I’ll start lining up ideas for next year.

Sue Bickseler-Taub of Holbrook Cottage, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., utilizes her store’s newsletter. She writes a “Have You Considered Working at the Cottage? inquiry, with the text appearing above the mailing label to get it noticed by regular shoppers.

Though a help-wanted staple, classifed ads leave many retailers cold. “They don’t work for us, notes Allyson Nelson, proprietor of Mad About Food in Vancouver, B.C. Mad About Food hires holiday workers at its warehouse, assembling and packing gift baskets, as well as at its specialty food shop, where it offers specialty items, prepared foods, a coffee and pastry bar, plus catering services.

Nelson believes word-of-mouth suggestions yield the best results. “A friend recommended one of our part-timers and another is my accountant’s daughter. They’re both very good and showed an interest in working here, she says. Nelson has found behind-the-scenes employees, such as dishwashers, through her chef’s connections.

2. Start Early—and Young
Recruiting early is wise—and not just early meaning pre-holiday rush. Student help needn’t be limited to the college-aged. “I get them the minute they’re legal, jokes Gurdal, who draws younger employees from local high schools and prep schools. These workers usually stay on throughout high school as well as college, providing reliable, trained help for several years to come.

“The rapport we build is the key, says Phil Filva, store manager at Market Basket in Franklin Lakes, N.J. The specialty food emporium offers gourmet items, catering, gift baskets and mail order and brings in 30 to 40 extra employees for support on the front and back ends. “We don’t really recruit. Kids start out as seniors in high school and come back for December breaks. As workers get older or graduate, they recommend younger kids or brothers and sisters.

3. Seek Untapped Resources
Restaurants—with line cooks and prep cooks who are often free in the mornings—can be an under-utilized source for help. Culinary schools, too, can provide a well-trained employee base. Gurdal has worked out agreements with many of the 200 local eateries that he supplies, as well as students seeking practical experience. “They’re serious workers; food is going to be their life and they are able to work more complicated parts of the store, he notes.

“We’re enriching their pantry by having cooks work in our cheese department or learn more about olive oils or condiments. In return, we’re getting professional help. When customers come in to plan a dinner or party, they are able to discuss food with them, continues Gurdal. He has also found that area chefs are open to shared employment. “I’ve had restaurants ask if someone who is doing their cheese plates can work a few mornings a week, he adds.

Atlanta’s Star Provisions, a chef-owned specialty shop, benefits from its own restaurant staff at adjacent Bacchanalia and nearby Floataway Café. “We can utilize those labor pools, rearranging shifts or pulling kitchen employees to work at the retail cheese department, says General Manager Michael O’Connor.

When dealing with a staff other than your own, it’s essential to be upfront. Gurdal cautions, “If someone applies, I’ll check with the owner or tell the applicant to clear it first. It’s about your name and finding help isn’t worth getting a reputation as a poacher.

4. Reach Out
Local sources—parents, school faculty or advisors, businesses, religious institutions, or city-funded and private organizations—can all provide numerous opportunities. Post signs or chat with other parents at school or sporting events. Slight Indulgence’s Warman works with area churches for recommendations of those who may be in need of extra money. He has also turned to local programs such as Pace Tech, which helps learning-challenged young adults find employment in the community. “They enjoy continual tasks like stocking shelves, he notes. “They do really well and it helps them feel good about themselves.

Bickseler-Taub of Holbrook Cottage finds annual help from an ESL (English as a Second Language) class that she tutors, offering students full-time work putting together gift baskets and assisting with shipping. “They do a great job and are very happy for the opportunity, she says. “In fact, a number of our current year-round staff members have started through this holiday program.

Working with area chapters of clubs can also open doors. Star Provisions plans to ask a local Girl Scout troop to help with gift wrapping and will donate proceeds to their organization, says O’Connor.

Tying itself in with the community has indirectly helped Diane’s Gourmet Luxuries and Catering secure temporary help. The retailer, which has been located in Little Rock, Ark., since 1969 offering specialty items, prepared foods, cheeses and gift baskets, posts Help Wanted fliers on its community bulletin board behind the cash register, an area that also displays photos of customers’ children and grandchildren. “We’ll put up a sign saying, ‘Is Your Child Looking for a Job?’ and it gets a good response, says Owner Diane Knight. “The board is one of those homey, old-fashioned touches we do, similar to house accounts, that connects us with our neighbors.

5. Run with an Older Crowd
What do you do when your store is in the college town that’s been all but deserted for winter break? Warman faces this dilemma every year, when nearby West Virginia University empties. Rather than staffing with students, he takes the opposite route. He says, “I’ve had great success with senior citizens. They’re dependable, polite, have a good work ethic and are happy to earn extra money to buy gifts for their grandchildren.

Warman taps local senior centers and other community groups and hires on a contract-labor basis. For some, it’s an anticipated social opportunity. “A lot of people love it and return every year. They meet people while earning some money, he continues. “I have two delivery people who use the earnings to go on a golf trip after the holidays.

Warman, who doubles his regular staff for the holidays with 10 to 14 full- and part-timers, uses temporary help for deliveries, packing and shipping, answering phones and cleaning. “I fill in areas that require minimal training since it’s such a busy time. Then it doesn’t pull my trained staff away from other jobs.

6. Ask Mom
With flexible hours, New Jersey’s Monterey Gourmet, a purveyor of caviar, charcuterie, wine and gourmet pantry items as well as catering and gift baskets, finds it is ideal for mothers of school-aged children who are looking for part-time work. “We have shifts all day, explains Owner W. Arthur Garcia, who operates two locations in Bernardsville and Chester. “They can come in for half a day or a couple of hours, which works out well if they have children in school from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. or so.

Monterey Gourmet nearly quadruples its staff during the holidays, from five to about 20 full- and part-timers, particularly to keep up with a booming gift basket business. The temporary help fills in with production as well as on the sales floor.

Garcia finds that mothers have had the ultimate training for the harried pace of holiday sales. “Anyone who can run a home with children knows how to juggle several things at once, helping one person while another asks you a question, he notes. “It’s exactly what you need at the holidays.

7. Call on Family
Don’t they say the holidays are all about being with family? In the past, Star Provisions has brought in the owner’s mother to wrap gifts. And, during particularly busy times, Gurdal of Formaggio Kitchen has not hesitated to fly in his own college-aged children from California—or to send for his wife’s parents in Florida. “My father-in-law used to be a policeman, so he’s great with directions and handles a lot of the drop-offs in the area. He’s my backbone around the holidays, he explains.

8. Don’t Settle for Mediocrity
One final piece of advice on which retailers agreed—don’t panic and settle for anybody who’s available. It’s essential to interview potential candidates and see if they are a fit. While you may be desperate to fill in the schedule, the last thing you need at your busiest time is people you have to look out for.

Diane’s, for example, needs most of its holiday help for deliveries. “We view this as an extraordinarily important job, explains Knight. “For many customers, the delivery person may be the only staff member they encounter. For those few minutes, they are Diane’s. If the gift basket is nice and the food is good, but that person isn’t professional or polite, you can lose it all.

Gurdal agrees, “Holiday help needs to be capable and sharp. They are dealing with customers. They represent you.

Denise Purcell is managing editor of Specialty Food Magazine.