Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Jeweler brings Midwest to the Southwest
    Tara Fine Jewelry: Atlanta’s not-so-secret, best-kept secret
    Finding the Big Ones; Zambian Trophies for the Ages
    The Golden Girls of Gemstones
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Hard Rock Summit event info
    Hardrock Summit to return to Denver in September 2023
    ASJRA brooch
    Iconic Jewelry Firms is theme of ASJRA’s 18th annual Conference
    DMIA members meet-and-greet and hear updates from GIA, NDC
    diamonds on plant
    How to drive more sales and referrals through social media
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles
    Jewelry Marketing Survival Guide
    The Story Behind the Stone: Out of the Blue
    What’s Hot Now!: Latest Designer Trends 2023
    A Winning Strategy: How SEO and buying intent can skyrocket your sales
    business people shaking hands
    Networking for small business owners
    Is the customer always right?
    Successful Custom: A Clean Disaster
    Brad Huisken
    A quick note about technology
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Jeweler brings Midwest to the Southwest
    Tara Fine Jewelry: Atlanta’s not-so-secret, best-kept secret
    Finding the Big Ones; Zambian Trophies for the Ages
    The Golden Girls of Gemstones
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Hard Rock Summit event info
    Hardrock Summit to return to Denver in September 2023
    ASJRA brooch
    Iconic Jewelry Firms is theme of ASJRA’s 18th annual Conference
    DMIA members meet-and-greet and hear updates from GIA, NDC
    diamonds on plant
    How to drive more sales and referrals through social media
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles
    Jewelry Marketing Survival Guide
    The Story Behind the Stone: Out of the Blue
    What’s Hot Now!: Latest Designer Trends 2023
    A Winning Strategy: How SEO and buying intent can skyrocket your sales
    business people shaking hands
    Networking for small business owners
    Is the customer always right?
    Successful Custom: A Clean Disaster
    Brad Huisken
    A quick note about technology
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
No Result
View All Result
Home Columnists

Staffing – How to not put a square peg into a round hole

David Brown by David Brown
April 3, 2012
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Staff, along with inventory, represents one of the largest headaches of running any retail business. It seems to be that you’re forever trying to get staff to perform, stop arguing, start working, or even just to turn up! Show me a store owner without any staff issues and I’ll show you a store owner without staff!

Yet the difference between a store with good performing staff and one without can be light years. There is such a thing as an effective team, and when you get it right it can be one of the most satisfying parts of being self employed. Not only is the camaraderie uplifting, but the level of sales can be vastly improved.

Part of the secret is in choosing the right staff in the first place. As investors often say, the money is made when you buy, not when you sell, and the same truth applies for staffing. Getting the right people, with the right attitude, in the right job can make all the difference.

Yet, so often we see store owners who spend little or no time on the hiring process, choosing staff rapidly with little investigation and minimal questioning. We then spend considerably longer dealing with the repercussions of not taking the time during the initial recruitment process.

1. When hiring, use the tools available. There are so many resources available to help with recruiting these days that can stack the odds in your favor. For minimal cost, these resources can provide you with a profile of your potential staff members and their ability to meet the requirements of the task they are being asked to do.

At the Edge Retail Academy we have a profiling system that can assess your staff, both potential and existing, to determine their appropriate strengths and skills. Contact carol@edgeretailacademy.com for how this can assist you with your business.

2. Put the right person in the right position. Even staff with a great attitude and an abundance of talent can’t do everything. We’ve all seen the efficient administrative person who looks like a duck out of water when selling. Likewise, the talented seller who leaves a trail of unfinished paperwork and incomplete order forms as they move onto the next big sale. These staff can be real assets provided they are groomed for the job that suits them. The end result of getting it wrong can be missed opportunities, increased workload and unhappy staff.

3. Hire Slowly. Don’t make a hasty decision because you’re heading on holiday, or you haven’t got next month’s roster covered. I know of one store who insisted on interviewing their final potential candidates four separate times in four separate environments. It can be easy for someone to make a great first impression in one half hour interview, but the cracks will start to show by the time they’ve sat down with you a 3rd or 4th time. They begin to relax and some truths may start to come out.

4. Train. A large percentage of failed recruitments can come down to the employer. Training by osmosis doesn’t work! You need to prepare an appropriate job description, set up a system for managing ongoing performance, and make sure the staff member is trained to deal with the job that they are being asked to do.

5. Deal with the weeds. No one enjoys firing, but the cost, both emotionally and financially for all staff concerned, can be greater if you don’t take action immediately. Do all you can to help the person in the position, but if you realize eventually it doesn’t suit them (and chances are they will too), then it will do everyone a favor to bring the matter to a close. As a friend of mine used to say, “Sometimes you just have to free them up to pursue other opportunities.” Always be aware of employment legislation when making these decisions and seek advice from appropriate parties when doing so.

David Brown is President of the Edge Retail Academy, an organization devoted to the ongoing measurement and growth of jewelry store performance and profitability. For further information about the Academy’s management mentoring and industry benchmarking reports contact Carol Druan at carol@edgeretailacademy.com or call 877-569-8657.

David Brown

David Brown

David Brown is the President of The Edge Retail Academy (sister company of The Edge), a jewelry business consulting company that provides expert advisory services to help with all facets of your business including improved financials, healthier inventory, sales growth, staff performance, retirement/succession planning - all custom-tailored to your store’s needs. By utilizing the power of The Edge, we analyze Key Performance Indicators that point to current challenges and future opportunities. Edge Pulse is the ideal add-on to better understand critical sales data and industry market trends to improve profitability. It benchmarks your store against 1200+ other Edge Users and ensures you stay on top of industry stats. 877-569-8657, ext. 001, Inquiries@EdgeRetailAcademy.com or www.EdgeRetailAcademy.com.

Related Posts

The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles

March 20, 2023

Jewelry Marketing Survival Guide

March 15, 2023

The Story Behind the Stone: Out of the Blue

March 15, 2023

What’s Hot Now!: Latest Designer Trends 2023

March 13, 2023

Latest News

Industry Events

Hardrock Summit to return to Denver in September 2023

March 22, 2023
Industry Events

Iconic Jewelry Firms is theme of ASJRA’s 18th annual Conference

March 22, 2023
Industry Events

DMIA members meet-and-greet and hear updates from GIA, NDC

March 22, 2023

Other News

How to drive more sales and referrals through social media

The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles

Mystery shopping results reveal opportunity for proactive consumer natural diamond education

Jewelers of America announces 2023 GEM Awards winners

ASA partners with BrankoGems Academy to offer testing loose and mounted diamonds and gems training

KIL N.Y.C. introduces the Cranium Ring

Southern Jewelry News

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.

Additional Information

  • About
  • 2023 Jewelry Trade Shows & Events
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
  • Newsletter Signup

Get Social with Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured Articles
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Sponsored Content
  • Latest News
    • What’s New
    • Industry Events
    • Tradeshow News
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Furry Friends
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.