Offboarding a seasonal workforce
Offboarding a seasonal workforce effectively can significantly impact their willingness to return in the future, and the likelihood that they recommend your business as a place to work to friends and family. Many businesses that rely on seasonal workforces are often geographically isolated, in regional locations preferred for farming or processing.
Therefore the importance of nurturing the local workforce community is paramount to the success of the business. If you burn through a large portion of the community with a ‘use and abuse’ practice, you will likely need to attract new staff from further away, and/or internationally, attracting a much more expensive and complex staffing strategy.
By looking after those that live and work close to your business, you generate positive community sentiment, drive local development and reduce your staffing acquisition costs. The way you offboard your seasonal workforce has a huge impact on the overall attitude a staff member has of their experience working for your business. It’s their lasting impression.
Here are nine suggestions to maximise the chances of a smooth and positive offboarding experience:
1./Transparent Communication: Clearly communicate the end of the season, thanking them for their contributions. Give them plenty of time to prepare for the end of the work, and communicate this both individually to each staff member, but also in group settings like toolbox talks or team meetings. You may even like to provide some top level statistics from the season (ie, with your efforts we tinned 300 tonnes of tomatoes in 5 weeks) to communicate your appreciation for their work and also provide some context for the work they’ve been doing. Express interest in potentially rehiring and provide a tentative time frame or conditions for future opportunities.
2./ Exit Interviews: Conduct exit interviews to gather feedback on their experience, what they enjoyed, and areas for improvement. Use these insights to enhance the working environment for future engagements. These may need to be anonymous to get the best data, and keep it simple to encourage all staff to participate including CALD and neurodiverse employees. These can designed to be low maintenance, build a survey in google forms or jotform, and even use Zapier to drop the data collected straight into your spreadsheet or graph.
3./Provide References and Recommendations: Offer to be a reference or provide written recommendations based on their performance. You may also know of other businesses in your industry or location looking for staff that you could recommend. This demonstrates your investment in employee growth and your support for building strong regional workforces.
4./Offer Learning Opportunities: Suggest additional skill development or training that could be beneficial for their career growth. Sharing resources or workshops displays genuine interest in their advancement, and a desire to see them back at the company in the future, potentially in a higher skilled position.
5./ Keep Them Updated: Inform them of any relevant company news, developments or updates. You might do this via a seasonal newsletter sharing company achievements, new projects, successes and information on upcoming season timeframes and applications. Include a section acknowledging the contributions of previous seasonal workers. You may also choose to communicate this via closed social group or even by text message where appropriate, for those that would not engage with email. Keeping them in the loop maintains their interest and connection with your organisation.
6./ Rehire Priority Program: Establish a program that prioritises rehiring previous seasonal workers. Expressing a preference for familiar faces can incentivise them to return. Make sure employees are well aware of this program before they leave from their first employment term.
7./ Referral Program: Encourage previous workers to refer people they know who would be a good fit for your seasonal workforce needs. You will likely have natural attrition of seasonal workers, however if you can tap into their networks and leverage from their positive experience of your business, you may significantly reduce your staffing acquisition costs. You may even like to offer an incentive for a successful referral such as a gift card or local produce hamper. Again, make sure this program is well marketed to your staff whilst they are on site.
8./ Offer Flexible Arrangements: Consider offering flexible work arrangements for future seasons, accommodating their schedules or preferences if feasible, particularly for those staff that have valuable experience and will improve efficiency. Demonstrating flexibility increases the likelihood of their return.
9./ Create a thank you pack for departing seasonal workforce. You may like to include a letter of thanks from the CEO and the employees direct manager, a letter of recommendation, an overview of what was achieved for the company during the season, a small gift and even some personalised items such as a few photos of the team and them at work.
By implementing these practices, you not only create a positive offboarding experience but also nurture a relationship that encourages former seasonal workers to consider returning for future opportunities within your organisation, and to recommend you as a preferred employer in the region.
Looking to fine tune your offboarding process? These free and low cost digital resources available for download may help: