1. Plan permanent employees staffing holidays for the Christmas period well in advance. As obvious as it sounds this is not always done until the last minute, which can either result in having to refuse leave or have a mad dash around at the last minute to find replacement staff.

2. Consider over-booking temps or standby temps. This will account for all eventualities and provide back-up service if things do go wrong or people let you down.

3. Check availability. Never assume that people do or don’t want to work over the Christmas period. Young people, foreign workers and those without families may be less bothered about taking this time off.

4. Use it as an opportunity to find new staff. The Christmas period is a great opportunity to try out potential new employees. You can see if they fit into the culture of your business, to assess their work ethic and test their commitment to your business.

5. Define exactly where in your business a temporary employee can make the biggest impact and focus on that area.

6. Be prepared to pay overtime or a bonus to support staff. At this time of year everyone appreciates the opportunity to earn a little extra and the resulting goodwill can more than pay for it.

7. Ensure regular communication during the build up to the Christmas period. At this time of year communication is vital, particularly if you are using a recruitment-to-recruitment agency. By talking to them regularly they can be more flexible with your requirements.

8. Make everyone feel part of the team. When you are at the planning stage ensure that you don’t forget the numbers of temporary employees working in your business. Ensure that they are part of team briefings and receive praise in the same way as your permanent employees.

9. Keep a Christmas diary. This is a great way to capture all of your ideas and thoughts for making next year’s Christmas staffing issues easier. The Christmas period is so different to any other time and you are inevitably so busy that it is easy to forget the lessons that are learnt in a year from now.

10. Relax – in the sure knowledge that, because you have thought and planned for this time of year, your staffing needs are covered, your teams are motivated and you are about to have a very profitable Christmas.

Contributor: Nicky Milligan, Commercial Director, right4staff