Throughout the year, you may need to use seasonal employees—spring break, for example, or summer tourist season. To ensure the best service for your customers, make sure that temporary workers feel like part of the team. Gwen Moran, writing in Entrepreneur, points out a few ways to get them on board quickly:

    • Be clear and succinct about your expectations. They don’t need an entire employee handbook. Instead, give them brief instructions on what they need to know, what you expect—and value—in employees, and whom they should talk to when they need to solve a problem.
    • Everybody works together. Don’t differentiate between your permanent employees and the seasonal ones. Use permanent employees, instead, as mentors or guides for the newbies.
    • Permanent can be a great motivator. If there’s a possibility that a seasonal job could become a full-time one, let the employee know.

“Hire employees that you will treat fairly and whom you enjoy working with. If you want your associates to take care of your customers, start by taking care of your associates.”—BJ Bueno, founder of The Cult Branding Company, in Retail’s BIG Blog, from the National Retail Federation.