How To Find And Keep Great People

Green Bay, WI--Staffing is difficult for everyone. It’s difficult for all jewelers. We are starting to see more and more help wanted ads for the business itself and this problem is frustrating jewelers from all over the world.

And the solution is realizing that our incoming group of employees are candidates in their 20’s and 30’s. And they think very differently than their predecessors.

I live and grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, in the Midwest. It’s a very stable economy with the primary industry being paper companies. Growing up I was always told, “Hey, Jimmy, if you go get a good job at the mill, you’d be set for life! You would get good benefits and they would take care of you.”

Well, today in many parts of the world, it’s just not that way anymore. The result is a generation of people who don’t plan on being in one place for very long. And they know they will have to reinvent themselves maybe up to five times during their working years.

So given all of this, how to we find good people?

I was recently chatting with my good friend Bill Becker down at Becker’s in Iowa. And he told me, “We try to give our customers a unique experience. And we need to apply that exact same thinking to our team. If we start there, we’re on the right road.”

Now, chatting with Bill, here’s his formulas:

4. Avoid Hiring out of Desperation, which often results in “warm bodies” syndrome, which is no good for anyone.

5. Train Them with Ongoing Training. There’s nothing that’s more disappointing to a brand new person that to realize a few weeks in that, well, “This is it?” Training gives people the tools they need to constantly be growing and seeing a future with more income in your business.

2. Incentivize Your Current Team—Tell them to keep their radar up and offer something like a finder’s fee. And of course this is also a great exercise in Store Pride by having your team talking your store up.

3. When you do find a good person, hire them whether you need them or not. Good people will always pay for themselves and they’re always good for the whole team.

6. Hire for the Long Term—Treat new people like they are wanted, they’re needed, they’re amazing and that they are a great part of your team. The odds are that as their “needs tank” is filled with that kind of treatment that they’ll probably want to make a career out of it at your jewelry store.

7. Give Them Goals and Incentives—Allow them the challenge of going after a goal and the benefit of profiting when they reach it. And offer both Group Goals and Individual Goals. Magic things happen when the team comes together to achieve greatness.

8. Store Culture is Huge—We spend a lot of time with our employees, so let’s create an atmosphere that’s fun; that people want to be at. Crack open a bottle of wine one week or load everyone up in a limousine one week and take them to a casino or a concert. Create a family atmosphere. We often feel that millennials want their “why” fulfilled. This type of family culture will scratch that itch and fill that “why.”

Let’s face it. Giving people just a paycheck doesn’t cut it anymore. Chains and franchises perhaps may offer better benefits. But, they can’t provide the kind of culture or awesomeness embodied by your approach to running your jewelry store.

Create a culture of family and respect and accountability and you will have good people knocking down the door to come and work for you.