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Top tips for settling in new staff

Business26-Jul-2022

This month, BridalBuyer.com expert Jo Stott discusses the recruitment process, and highlights the best ways to encourage and engage your team.

The human side of leadership – everyone has heard every complaint in the book about bosses… and we know that bad bosses are the number one reason people leave their jobs. So make the time to develop yourself!

What should I consider when I hire and what are the basic guidelines?

I was a HR manager for many years and know that recruitment can be a minefield. The person who you need to open your store isn’t necessarily the person who will ultimately grow your business after a 5-year stint: these people may look very different, and you need to have an unbiased mindset to understand the necessity of ‘the right people doing the right job at the right time’.
A. Be objective – what is your unbiased goal? Consider what does the job description look like? What is the person specification? What type of quality person do you want to work in your store with you and or, your team?
B. Be optimistic – be confident and enthused by this exercise. Where do I find the people I need? How will my advert attract them? Does my advert have a call to action?
C. Be oriented towards growth. Be focused on the future expansion and development – or not! Strategically ensure you look for the person who is working the right number of hours to grow or sustain your business. Ultimately ensure you find the best person for the job ensuring an effective business.
D. Manager mindset - mindset matters. Effective problem solvers have strong decision-making skills and, equally important, the positive mindset to consistently apply those skills. These people are motivated to engage problems. They bring commitment, focus, tolerance, and resourcefulness to their decision-making process. Ensure you are being a conscious manager by learning.

Tips to consider for recruitment:

• What type of candidate do you need? Think about where you will find this person? A saturday person of 4/5 hours can be found studying a fashion degree or college course in textiles for example, whereby a staff member dealing in strategy marketing and sales, or management can be found within a recruitment agency (I used Simplified Recruitment in London) .
• Hiring sites to consider - Monster, Total Jobs, Jobsite, Indeed, LinkedIn, College Recruiter, Uni Grad Boards, the list is endless…
• A staff wanted advert that works - sell your business, sell the role, define the skills of desirable and essentials, create job specifications and personality specifications. To hire the right person, you need to tell people who you want and what you want otherwise you will be inundated with the wrong people applying for your job, who are not qualified in the field. State clearly what credentials you need so you can attract the right people!

Timeline philosophy to the basics of recruitment:

Planning closing dates, start dates, holidays, wages / create the advertisement / create the job description and person spec/ screening of applications/ first interview (look for people who will improve the culture and show consistency between the first impression and their true self, so probe, dig and differentiate) / second interview/ contractual needs agreed/ induction and onboarding/ training/ coaching/ working/ growth/ development of you as a manager and your new staff member!

Try to follow guidelines on recruitment – there is a process which needs to be followed and practiced. Then concentrate on who is right for; your brand/ future strategies/ you/ your team and your clients. Firstly, create a job description and person specification of what this person looks like, their desirable and essential skill set to work with you. When it comes to recruitment it is crucial you get it right from the get-go. One critical factor to consider is will this person fit with your culture. I ask you, have you created a company culture and if so what type of training do you offer which builds your company culture of excellence?

What support should boutiques provide staff?

Before we begin to provide support and training to staff, we need to be able to define what your company culture and values look like… If you have not done this already, ask yourself:
a) Why does your company do what it does?
b) What do you believe? (What are your core values)
c) Where do you want to go with the company, i.e., what is your vision for your business?
d) And then celebrate and reinforce your core values in every way!

In my view, a cohesive induction process which lasts for a substantial period is key to ensuring a new employ is effortlessly immersed into a current team of people. Once this is successful you can then begin to introduce more transitional training sessions, staff meetings, monthly reviews and meetings, weekly reviews and meetings, weekly one to ones, coaching and annual training staff development reviews. Set expectations early and lay the groundwork so all sessions become key, ensuring your new and existing staff members feel appreciated, heard and empowered, which ultimately leads to staff harmony within in a work force, which ultimately leads to higher conversion rates.

What did you do to ensure your team were motivated and encouraged?

Honestly, due to my HR experience I found it easy to have an unbiased mindset and skillset when it came to my team… I knew, and they knew there was a job to do and who was doing what, when. Following processes and procedures is key to ensuring your store runs productively and successfully with strategic growth. What is very difficult to be trained is having a leader mindset (see below for the seven key manager mindsets) which simply help people to trust you. Trust is a two-way street and you and your team must be in harmony.

I loved my dream team and trained and coached most of them for ten years. Please remember your super stars also need as much attention as newer team members. To keep a star bright they must shine from within and for that to happen, your star team members must feel understood, listened to, and rewarded. My go to is the two traits I hope I carry with me every day in my life and while running my two current businesses: total honesty and integrity, and making change a part of our every day.

According to The Retail Doc, retail managers should have these seven key leadership skills:
1. The ability to make difficult decisions.
2. The ability to get everyone on board, even if they disagree with it. (Emotional intelligence)
3. The ability to give feedback on a regular basis.
4. The ability to listen.
5. The ability to communicate clearly and with focus. (Expectations set)
6. The ability to gain and hold the trust of others.
7. The ability to stay positive.

What 5 tips would you give to boutique owners when settling in new staff?

• Switch on your unbiased hiring mindset.
• Ensure you understand your company culture and allow this to be spoken daily, within the store vocabulary and in documents such as contracts and handbooks.
• Engage with frequent team sessions, monthly, weekly, together and one to ones.
• Understand the skill gap you have which you can train and develop to grow certain team members (it’s a school day every day to me)
• Be the compassionate, incredible leader you are born to be! Always seeing the best in your team because you have given them the best start of understanding you and your expectations of your business.