The Best Talent Planning Strategy for Retail’s Peak Seasons

The difference between “fully staffed” and ”fully prepared”

Here’s a scenario that will be familiar to every retail leader: Peak season is fast approaching, the schedules are filled, seasonal employees have been hired, and, on paper at least, the store looks ready as customer traffic begins to pick up.

Then a seasoned associate calls out on a Saturday 12-9 shift. A new hire needs more coaching than expected to meet performance expectations. Customer traffic unexpectantly spikes at exactly the wrong (or your weakest-staffed) time. A supervisor who performed well during slower periods struggles to lead under pressure.

Suddenly, being fully staffed doesn’t feel quite the same as being fully prepared. 

The big takeaway: Effective peak season talent planning is about more than simply filling open positions.

While people often think of the winter holiday season as the typical retail rush, depending on your specific niche, your peak season may hit at another time of the year. No matter when it arrives, the time to plan, assess, and prepare for it is well before you’re in the thick of it.

Shift from Staffing Planning to Talent Planning

Because peak season has a way of revealing and amplifying both the strengths and the gaps that were already there, preparing for the rush should start with a talent plan, not just a staffing plan.

Before the pressure kicks in, take stock of the talent you already have to not only anticipate your holiday hiring needs but also make sure you have the right capabilities, leadership, and bench strength in place. This shift from a staffing to a talent planning focus may help you discover that some of the best people to address your needs are already right under your nose. Investing in their growth and development will deliver immediate returns and keep on paying off long after the peak season has ended in the form of more skilled, engaged, and loyal store associates and leaders.

So before automatically looking outside the organization for additional people, take a fresh look at the talent you currently have inside it and how that aligns with the capabilities your stores will need most during peak season:

• Where are you strong?
• Where are you vulnerable?
• Who is ready to step up and take on more responsibility?
• What retail-ready development can you provide now that will make a difference when the pace accelerates?

How to Assess Your Talent for Retail’s Peak Seasons

Headcount tells you how many people you have. Talent readiness tells you whether they can deliver when it matters. Challenge your field and store leaders to focus on three areas:

1. Hire: Where are the true staffing gaps? Are we hiring for more than availability? How can we be more strategic about the process?
2. Assess: Who on the current team is ready for more responsibility, and where are the capability gaps?
3. Develop: What skills need to be strengthened now so people are confident and capable when volume increases?

These last two areas underscore the fact that the best Q4 “hire” may already be on your team. And that means now is the time to be looking internally for signs of talent potential and growth opportunities that could align with your needs, before you search for someone on the outside to fill the gaps.

Here are some questions for building out a more strategic talent plan:

• Who is ready for a stretch assignment?
• Who could step into additional leadership responsibility?
• Who has potential but needs coaching?
• Who could mentor and support seasonal employees?
• Where are you overly dependent on one strong performer?
• Who knows your customers, standards, and culture well enough to help others succeed?

A simple mantra to follow: Don’t just staff the season; strengthen the team!

This isn’t to say you’ll necessarily be able to avoid seasonal hiring altogether. During peak times, most retailers will need additional people to meet the increased traffic and business demands. But this gives you a more targeted, efficient, and affective way to approach peak season staffing by assessing first, developing intentionally, and then hiring strategically to fill the gaps.

Put another way: Don’t think of recognizing and developing the talent you already have as something that’s separate from your seasonal workforce planning. In fact, it’s one of the most important elements of it.

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RETAIL SEASONAL TALENT READINESS AUDIT

Before the rush arrives, ask your leaders these four questions.

Do we have enough people?

• Consider your seasonal goals and budgets for forecasting high traffic and peak days and times.
• Can you complete the quarterly and holiday schedules with your current staff?
• Where are the gaps so you can target your hiring to your specific needs?
• How is your scheduling aligning with your payroll allocation?
• Do you anticipate turnover in the coming quarter?

Do we have the right people in the right roles?

Assess current talent rather than simply counting heads.

• Who excels at service? Who sells well?
• Who remains composed under pressure?
• Who can coach others on the team?
• Who is ready to step up and take on more?

Are your leaders ready to lead the season?

A store can be fully staffed and still be poorly prepared if its leaders aren't equipped to set expectations, coach in real time, delegate, give feedback, and keep people motivated during stressful periods.

What must we strengthen before the volume arrives?

Don't wait until you’re in the thick of it to discover the gaps. Refresh selling/service expectations, develop emerging leaders, reinforce coaching skills, and address performance issues before the beginning of peak season.

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Shift Your Talent Perspective for Success in Retail’s Peak Seasons—And All Year Round

You may need more people for the peak seasons. But instead of focusing solely on how many people you need to hire, take a closer look at the people you already have. Assess their strengths, identify the gaps, develop the potential, strengthen your leaders, and then hire strategically to complete the team.

You’ve got this! Here’s to a productive and successful holiday season!