The best food in the world won’t keep a restaurant going if you don’t have the right people. Joleen Flory, president & CEO of the Elliott Leadership Institute, shared tips for finding, hiring and keeping the people you need. She also gave ideas on the best ways to get rid of the people you don’t need at one of the many recruitment and retention educational sessions at the NRA show.
Hire from a position of strength. It’s hard to hold out for the perfect person when you’re desperate for a warm body to plug a staffing gap. Flory recommends staffing at 105 percent. That will give you a cushion if someone leaves suddenly or you get a quick uptick in business after an advertising campaign or a great review.
Beware the perils of understaffing. Flory warned of the vicious cycle that kicks in when you don’t have enough – or the right – staff: Customers get poor service and complain; the remaining staff has to scramble to keep up; staff faces burnout; morale plummets; and more people quit. Yikes!
Understand how adults learn. You’re not hiring kindergarteners (or if you are, you’re going to have serious problems with labor regulators). Don’t treat your staff like 5-year-olds. Adults want relevant information: what do you need me to do, and how do you want me to do it. “Give them a goal and the ability to achieve that goal, to check it off the list,” Flory said.
Just the facts. If you’re not getting what you need from a staff member, they need to understand exactly what they’re doing wrong, and how to correct it. That means you’ve got to come to them with facts, not emotions. Example: “You’ve been more than 20 minutes late for your shift five times in the last two weeks.” Not: “You drive me crazy with your crappy attitude! You suck!”
Lay out the facts of the case, come up for solutions to problems, and let employees know what will happen if things don’t change. Follow through if you don’t get the results you need.
Comments