Careful! They're Cuffing the Newbies!

This is the second of two articles on Cuffing Season. The first article looks at it from the viewpoint of personal relationships.

The similarities between person involvement in Cuffing Season and Seasonal Hiring are inescapable.

• Happens in the fourth quarter of the year.
• May be driven by unhappiness and stress.
• Hormone changes due to decreased exposure to the light and outdoors.
• May settle for less than the best and make an impulsive decision. Then you stick with them through the end of the year, because the wrong person is somewhat better than no person.
• It can be hard to break off the connection once you make the cuffing connection.

How to Tell if YOU are Being Cuffed as a New Hire

The name is recent, but retail businesses have been creating short-term mutually beneficial relationships for years as they expand their staff with seasonal employees.

1. Job postings call out the facts of the arrangement with ‘position is parttime and may flex to fulltime and overtime as meets the needs of the business.’ If a person applies for a job with that description they should know exactly who calls the shots in the relationship.
2. Training, if done, is described as ‘Quick Start’ or ‘Essentials’ ; this may not be a long-term gig so payroll isn’t used for education beyond the daily duties of the employee.
3. Paperwork presence and details are slight: posted schedules are displayed only through the end of January, no one asks about their birthday, allergies, or soft drink preferences.
4. The name badge for the new folks reads ‘Trainee’ or ‘Sales’ instead of their given name. Might as well read ‘Thing One’ and ‘Thing Two’ for what that’s worth.

Even with these tell tale clues some employees may not realize that they’ve been cuffed instead of hired. They are dreaming of a long career but management is waiting until they can get back to regular hours.

Want to Trade Those Temporary Cuffs Into a Permanent Position?

It may be that you’ve recognized yourself in this article: you thought you’d found the real thing and now realized that your employer sees it as temporary. If you want it badly enough, and are willing to put in the effort, you may just change their minds through these five steps from FlexJobs:

1.) Don’t forget the basics. Like any relationship, a business relationship progresses best when the basics are in place.

• Be on time.
• Dress the part.
• Ask good questions and listen to the answers.
• Be reliable and follow through on your commitments/assignments.

2.) Tell them your intentions. If you want to stay past the end of seasonal/cuffing season don’t take it for granted that anyone knows it. State it when appropriate, clearly and confidently. Then let your actions reinforce the message.

3.) Learn as much about your partner/job as you can. Learn more than the ‘Essentials’; it will increase your own confidence and let you shine as the go-to when a more experienced person is needed for the situation. Find out the KPM (Key Performance Metrics) for which the team is working and know your part in achieving the goals.

4.) Be flexible. If your life allows, volunteer to cover shifts when the schedule develops holes. Behave like you are already part of the team you want to join.

5.) Make a connection. Did you know that almost 20% of guests at a wedding have a romantic relationship with another guest after the event? Sure, a person doesn’t attend a wedding to match with the bride or groom, but it’s a good place to network with people that have a common interest. Is you are a seasonal cuffing employee make connections with the existing employees. learn their names. Ask about the pets. learn their dog’s names.

Uncuff on Good Terms!

Ideally both cuffing season and seasonal employment are based on mutual understanding and clear expectations.

Both parties understand the need for the relationship, both begin it understanding the abbreviated lifespan on which it is established, and there are no hard feelings once it has run its course.

The Do’s and Don’t of Breaking up Seasonal Cuffing Employment

DO: remain positive throughout every shift and task. No Quick Quitting for you!

DO: Ask for a recommendation once notice of your last day is given. (Pro Tip: have a business card with a QR code linking to your LinkedIn profile so you can add it to your online presence.)

DO: Offer to stay longer and/or fill in as a temporary/contingent employee. Do this cheerfully, and be clear that you are available as long as your schedule is open.

DO: take the time to reflect on the knowledge, skills, and abilities you’ve acquired, update your resume and LinkedIn profile.

DON’T: be cringey! Stiff upper lip, don’t get blubbery and emotional! People will avoid you because it makes them uncomfortable.

DON’T: bash them on social media or verbally. if it’s time to move on, move on with a clean reputation, not dripping with poisonous words. That attitude doesn’t excite new employers!

DON’T: stop following company standards, not even on your last day. You wear the name tag, you cash the paycheck? You follow the standards.

Summary of these two articles.

• Cuffing Season relationships have undeniable similarities to Seasonal Hiring.
• Be aware if your job (or any relationship) is intended to be short-lived.
• Make temporary personal and business relationships mutually beneficial, and better prepare you for your next personal or business step along your journey.
• There are steps you can follow to increase the chances you will remain employed after seasonal hiring season.
• Uncuffing from a seasonal position OR a personal relationship has specific Do’s and Don’ts.

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Is Cuffing Season new to you? Leave a comment and let me know.

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