Some of us don’t really think of summer as a low-productivity time. But in most fields and industries, it really is.

Take the example of a nurse’s station that suddenly experiences big gaps in the schedule, where it might be hard to keep two people on desk instead of one. Or think about the rush for the ask-off book in an office where everybody wants the same vacation days in July or August.

In fact, most managers and supervisors are well aware of the “summer slump”. They know that it’s really hard to keep staff levels and productivity levels up as people start to enjoy annual trips away with their families, or spend some of their hard-earned money on luxurious getaways.

Stressed-Out People

In some companies, where there’s not a good plan in place, scheduling problems turn into unmitigated stress.

In these types of companies, everyone can feel overwhelmed at precisely the time that they should be feeling good — in the seasons when their time is better spent celebrating with family. Around the winter holidays, they’re stressed because there’s too much work and too much demand, and not enough hands to help out. In the summer, they’re stressed because they’re losing people off of the roster and there’s nobody to replace them, and vital parts of core operations are getting understaffed.

This really isn’t the way to go. There are several reasons for this, but probably the most important one is that you are undercutting morale and over-working people. Summer shouldn’t be a war between people to decide who’s got seniority and who can afford to make a bid for their desired days off. It should be a time when management facilitates those vacations people have been waiting for all year.

The Use of Temporary Labor

In most cases, you don’t need technicians or highly trained high-level people to come in and maintain things over the summer. You just need some temporary help. That’s why dealing with the summer schedule is one of the best reasons to go to a third party staffing service and get temporary employees in-house.

Smart managers work out a way where a skeleton staff can direct temporary employees on how the company does things throughout the year, so that more of the long time or full-time staff members can be off at any given week during the summer. Temporary employees can really fill this need in an efficient way – they may not be familiar with the specifics of that particular office, but they can have the right skills and training to really contribute when it’s time for someone else to fill in the gaps for a while.

Talk to Full Steam Staffing about real, actionable plans for temporary help at your business. We offer top-tier staffing services in the Ontario, California area, but we also have a track record on being able to consult with business and figure out what’s going to work best. Let us help to turn your summer nightmares into a sunny reality.

About Full Steam Staffing

Full Steam Staffing is a full-service staffing agency focused on providing clerical and light industrial staffing solutions to manufacturers, distribution centers and other organizations that need qualified, reliable workers. If you are currently looking to hire and grow your workforce, contact our team of skilled recruiters today!