A Guide on Best Practices for Employers Utilizing On-Demand Hospitality Staffing
Hiring in the hospitality industry has always been challenging. Traditional employment models are too cut and dry for our industry, which is why many employers have begun to see the value of on-demand hospitality work.
Supplementing full-time roles with freelance workers provides flexibility to combat high turnover and unpredictable seasonality typical to our industry.
However, for many, the concept is still nerve-wracking.
How can you ensure that whoever picks up your shifts will do a good job and be able to hit the ground running?
As a hospitality employment site covering everything from full-time employment to on-demand shift needs—Poached has answers.
We’re here to help you get your shift together so that you can ensure anyone you book is set up for success.
5 Steps to Getting Your Shift Together
1. Be Descriptive in Your Shift Post
Your shift description is the first thing a gig worker sees before applying to book your shift. The more detailed you get about the requirements and responsibilities of the role you need help with, the easier it is for the gig worker to know if they’ll be able to do the job.
Start by giving a quick overview of your work environment, team atmosphere, and anything you think would be valuable for someone working at your business to know.
Then, describe the role you’re looking to fill, what is expected of someone working this role, and any other requirements or qualifications needed to succeed in the shift.
2. Review Your Booked Workers
If you’re utilizing Poached Shifts, we let you know via email once your shift is booked. Be sure to log into your Poached Dashboard and check them out!
You can view their profile, review their work history, and see previous ratings from other employers they’ve booked Shifts with.
If you’re not confident they have the skills to do the job, you can decline their booking to reopen your Shift for someone else.
It’s also helpful to post your Shift as soon as possible so you have time for this process before the start of the shift.
3. Create a Shift Process
Creating a formal shift process you and your team can follow is a good idea if you want more control and consistency between on-demand shifts.
Think of it like creating an opening and closing checklist—a process provides something to reference so your team can better understand expectations and ensure success.
Begin by outlining a welcome procedure. A good starting place is to designate someone to greet the gig worker upon arrival, make introductions and provide a workspace tour.
Whoever is greeting the worker should point out where to find essential items like your safety plan or kits and who to speak with if they have questions or concerns.
Next, set the worker up for their shift. You could pair them up with another team member to have them shadow for a bit or just set them up wherever they should be and explain their tasks for that shift.
Be sure to document any end-of-shift expectations too.
Working somewhere unfamiliar is nerve-wracking for gig workers, too—having a process in place will help everyone feel more comfortable and better ensure a job well done.
4. Be Responsive To Invoicing
When you book Shifts through Poached Shifts, we notify you through email when an invoice is ready to be viewed in your Poached Dashboard.
To ensure workers get paid quickly, we give employers 24 hours upon receipt of the invoice to pay it manually. Otherwise, we close the invoice and charge the card on file.
If you want to use a promo code, review the worker’s submitted hours, add a tip, or rate the worker—be attentive and responsive to your invoice notification.
Knowing how it works and what to expect will help you have a good experience using our services and avoid unnecessary confusion or issues.
5. Build a Roster
Employers can build a Shift Roster with Poached Shifts, allowing them to double down and ensure success when filling in for on-demand work.
You can invite and book previous workers you trust and add new people by browsing the profiles and ratings of our network of workers nearby.
You can also limit your Shifts to only being booked by rostered workers or preference your rostered workers—increasing how quickly you can fill your Shifts.
So if you’re ready to get your shift together and see if on-demand hospitality work can be that lifesaver you need in your hiring process—check out Poached!
Poached is the only hospitality employment site where you can access over 1 million registered hospitality professionals with an average of 8 years of experience or full-time employment and on-demand staffing needs.