There comes a time when you know that you have to bring someone (or multiple someone’s) onto your team, cos let’s be honest, you can’t do this by yourself.
IN this episode, I’ll admit I’m not going down into the nitty gritty of hiring. I mean, hiring is the biggest module of the boutique academy – there are 6 videos and multiple worksheets that help you work out exactly who,, when and HOW to hire the exact right person for your retail business.
Today, I’m going to address the 6 things that I find retailers just completely overlook when it comes to hiring. And that leads to stress, overwhelm, and ultimately, hiring the person that’s available, rather than the right person.
So, just what are they?
Know what you want them to do
Sounds like a no-brainer right? But nearly every person that I’ve worked with, wants this mega star employee, that can sell, can do the website, can write great, SEO friendly product descriptions, can do bookwork, can merchandise like a mofo, can foster relationships, can whip up the graphics for posters and plan, organise and run events.
I’m sorry to say it, but that person doesn’t exist. Most people will have strengths in a few of those things, but generally speaking, someone who’s great at sales, probably isn’t going to be great at accounting.
So knowing exactly what you want this new person to do, is the perfect starting point for hiring.
Set up an auto responder
Once you’ve got the ad out there, set up and email address and auto responder.
You don’t want to have to worry about replying to every single person, and potentially overlooking the ultimate employee, just because you were so busy, replying to that email slipped through the cracks.
Which leads me to number 3.
Have an application closing date.
And stick to it. I’ve seen people who have left jobs open for 2 months, but never bothered to reply to the initial applicants. This is bad business practice, and sets the tone for a poor working relationship.
Know the start and finish dates, your application revision time, and make sure you convey these to applicants.
Know exactly when interviews are going to be held
And of course, when you know your dates and times, you’ll know exactly when you’re gong to hold interviews. Book that time out in your calendar BEFORE you even start revising applications. This will keep you accountable.
Have a process to cull in place that focusses on what you want them to do
Taking it in a great big circle, right back to point one, have a process to cull in place that focusses on what you want them to do
Once you have those people sorted, then you can use other criteria to continue to narrow down the search, such as how does their tone appear in their cover letter and what hours are they available.
These are 5 basic things that you should have in place, before you start the hiring process. And whilst they are no means an exhaustive list, if you put these 5 processes in place, you’ll be on your way to a much more productive hiring process.
If you’re interested in learning the complete process of how to find the exact right person that you need for your store, check out The Boutique Academy, where you’ll get access to my foolproof, step by step hiring system.
For this week, I’ve got a great download for you, that will help you work out just WHO you’re actually looking for,
