How logistics and retail businesses can stay in touch with and re-hire great flexible staff
The digital staffing agency Coople has prepared tips on how retail and logistics businesses can tackle staffing challenges by using flexible staffing – for example making a note of workers who have impressed them and inviting them back when needed.
Challenges include labour shortages, with the logistics industry, particularly, experiencing a shortfall of staff across warehousing and supply chain roles. According to The British Retail Consortium, the UK’s retail sector has a vacancy rate of 4.1%, the highest since 2013. On top of the existing strain, the holiday season brings a need for additional temporary support across both sectors.
Businesses must also tackle unplanned absences, with UK workers on average taking 5.8 days of sick leave a year. Additionally, onboarding new staff can be expensive and time-consuming – and when companies hire temporary staff over the holidays, they may have to repeat this process many times to get all their holiday cover staff up to speed.
Flexible staffing can help fill the gap when businesses are understaffed or facing a particularly busy period.
Rufus Hood, Country Manager UK at Coople, commented: “My advice for businesses who are facing staffing challenges is that HR teams and managers get to know the temporary staff who they work with and keep track of the top performers. Flexible staff who are already trained, familiar with the environment and the team, and who you know are reliable are exactly the people that businesses should bring back in to help during busy periods."
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