Extra hands are always needed in retail stores to help throughout the holiday season, and businesses are wasting no time in bringing on temporary employees to deal with the rush of customers. These staff members are valuable for answering shoppers' questions and processing transactions quickly.

The Motley Fool reports that according to a recent study by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, retailers throughout the country added 465,000 seasonal employees during the month of November. This represents a 20 percent increase from the same time last year. It is also the largest number of new temporary workers ever put on retail payrolls for the month. Analysts forecast that the hiring boosts will continue in December, which could result in a record season when it comes to employment gains, the source states.

To best prepare temporary staff members for the flood of customers during the holidays, retailers will want to use a few strategies to get these workers up to speed, writes 1to1 Media. The source suggests that businesses ensure that new hires are interested in selling products and helping shoppers. Additionally, having existing employees show seasonal personnel the ropes will make them feel included.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, December 19th, 2012 at 7:08 am .