Staffing Solutions

Finding Employees in Today’s Job Market

By Natalie Hammer Noblitt

The challenge of finding good employees, particularly passionate salespeople, isn’t new, but today’s job market is downright dismal. But, according to retail experts Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, finding good employees isn’t an impossible task. Creating an effective hiring system and an authentically positive work culture can make the process go much smoother.

“With everyone trying to salvage sales and hold onto profit margins, it’s incredibly important to have the right people in your store making sales,” says Kizer. “When you find those ace sellers, you can’t afford to let them go.”

BEST HIRING PRACTICES

Don’t put off hiring until you have a vacancy. Rather, keep in contact with potential hires and seasonal employees so you can quickly move them into place if something changes with your or their current work situation, and offer a job application to anyone who comes into the store and shows interest. Keep your job postings up on local sites in case a person who’s a great fit wants to apply.

Be prepared to change what you’re offering new salespeople, as well. A strange disconnect is happening right now among job seekers and employers. Retailers can’t find good applicants, yet polls have job seekers saying they don’t see appealing employment options. Somehow the two groups aren’t finding each other — or can’t reach common ground. Try something different to attract more applicants, like describing your store’s culture in your ads.

“Don’t put off hiring until you have a vacancy. Rather, keep in contact with potential hires and seasonal employees so you can quickly move them into place if something changes with your or their current work situation.”

SATISFIED PEOPLE STAY LONGER

“Sometimes retailers are so pressed for help they hire quickly, choosing a person just because they seem excited to work,” says Kizer. “They throw the new person onto the sales floor without training. Soon the new team member gets confused and frustrated. It’s hard to do a job when you feel unsure.”

Some of the most important skills to teach new team members are how to greet customers and how to accept returns or exchanges gladly and politely. A buddy system is always a good idea for new hires. “A mentor can help reassure a new team member and also give gentle pointers as they encounter customers or set up displays,” says Kizer. “Giving someone feedback and providing suggestions on how they can make something even better will help boost confidence and advance the training process.”

Bender adds that hourly wages and bonuses alone won’t keep employees if they haven’t been trained, don’t feel respected or aren’t allowed to take breaks. People won’t stay if they are unhappy, bored or can’t get schedules that fit into their lives.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND GOOD PEOPLE?

“Start with your own people – both employees and loyal customers who know your store,” says Bender. Try offering referral bonuses to people who suggest job applicants. Usually, just $50 or $100 is enough to be a good incentive. Pay out half the bonus when the new hire starts and the balance after 90 days

“Your team members will refer great people because they will be the ones working with those new employees,” says Kizer. “Existing staff don’t want you to hire someone who will make their daily job harder.”

Team members who make referrals can also be great mentors. “If I’ve recommended someone to be hired in my workplace, I’m going to keep an eye on them and help them succeed,” says Bender.

Also consider holding a hiring day where applicants are invited to see the culture of your store, meet other team members and find out why it’s such a great place to work, says Kizer. A bonus to showing off your existing staff is getting applicants who want to join what they’ve built. “If you feel you are part of a family and are supported, it’s harder to leave just because someone else pays a little more.”

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Improve Your Sales in 2023

Conducting a display audit and reviewing your merchandising techniques

By Nickeisha Lewis

Have you given some thought to planning your 2023 retail displays? No matter how long you’ve been in business, what industry you’re in or if you’re opening your first shop, the tips laid out here will help you plan an amazing design and display strategy. From how to conduct a display audit to visual merchandising and stock organization, we’ll break it all down for you.

CONDUCT A DISPLAY AUDIT

Reflect and assess what worked and what didn’t work display wise in 2022. Review your sales reports to understand what products sold best and the displays they were associated with. It’s a good sign when you have higher sales for certain displays. Try to recall how you set up and planned the placement of those displays as they were the ones that worked best for your customers – rinse and repeat! If the display didn’t work well, assess what you could do differently.

BRING IN FRESH STOCK

Bring some new product lines into your store to drive foot traffic and excite your existing customers. Place these new products where they’ll be most visible (to the right of your entrance, window or feature table) and pair them with existing complementary items from your shop. Now all you have to do is promote these items on your social media feeds and newsletters and encourage customers to test and try them out.

BRUSH UP ON BEST PRACTICES

An important part of improving your retail displays is brushing up on visual merchandising best practices and looking at your store with a discerning eye. Maybe you can rearrange displays and overall store design to improve your presentation. For instance, do your displays feel overstocked and uninspired? Does your store need way-finding or instore signage so customers can navigate your shop with more ease? Another mission to embark on is updating your product placements to increase cross-selling opportunities, such as pairing candles with blankets or sweaters with pants. Doing this can encourage customers to buy more products and increase your sales.

Nickeisha Lewis is the founder of Nola Designs, a retail interior design firm based out of Kitchener, Ont. Nickeisha and her team focus on helping female-owned businesses take their retail stores to the next level. www.noladesigns.ca

What Store Owners Have to Say…

BETTER SERVICE FROM U.S. VENDORS

The length of time it takes to get approved by Canadian suppliers to access their websites compared to many US sites, which are almost instantaneous, is unreasonable. Sometimes we don’t even get a reply while other times it comes weeks later. In this day and age, with the technology that’s available, there should be no reason for any delay when a retailer is attempting to do business with any supplier. U.S. suppliers appear way more anxious to do business than most Canadian ones!

Bruce Hallquist,

Rustic and Refined, BC

DISILLUSIONED

I’m becoming very disillusioned and frustrated by wholesalers who sell to the general public. They’re not actually wholesalers. Why would I buy from someone who’s targeting my customers and quite often selling at warehouse prices? I understand that everyone has to think outside the box, but then don’t say you’re a wholesaler.

Kimby O’Brien,

The Flower Garden, ON

REP INTERACTIONS

As an independent rep, I’d love to get insight into how and how often retailers want to interact with their reps. I “think” I’m offering my services at a level, timing, method and cadence that retailers seek, but I’d like to know for sure.

Sherri Dyer,

Sales Representative, ON

HUNGRY FOR NEW

I was surprised to read the identical thoughts I’ve had regarding the gift shows in Toronto in the Fall 2022 issue of InStore. I tripled the size of my store during the pandemic, so I was hungry for new and interesting product when I went to the show in August. Then, when we’re finally able to attend gift shows again . . . why on earth would suppliers throw so many obstacles in the way? I bought almost nothing, and I left after a day and a half because it was just too time-and-energy consuming to run between shows and showrooms. I too have now opted to look outside the normal supplier stream. I’ve been treated better, given better terms, have area exclusivity actually maintained (critical in a small market) and have access to all kinds of smaller makers that are not on Amazon or even Etsy.

I still work with a few big suppliers, but truthfully, my first choice now is to search further or deeper into new marketplaces - and my customers are thrilled.

We’re already facing challenges in bricks-and-mortar retail. Our suppliers are wrong to add even more because there are increasingly creative alternatives for those shops willing to look. Thanks for opening this discussion,

Jann Stefoff,

Bibelot, ON

Drop us a line and help make the industry a more collaborative entity which respects the needs of the retail buyer! Email our editor, Erica Kirkland, at ekirkland@instoremagazine.ca to share your opinions in InStore, read by 12,000 industry leaders four times a year.