Random thoughts for those who manage people
by Doug FleenerFive things to consider if you have retail employees who report to you.
1. Someone commented to me the other day that great employees attract great employees. Yes, they do. When you keep your hiring standards high and hire great people, the result will be a better in-store experience. That in-store experience results in more people wanting to become a part of the store. I’ve also found that high-performing employees often have a circle of friends who are high-performing individuals as well. As the holiday season rapidly approaches, look to your entire team to help recruit great employees.
2. Leaders see things for the way they really are, and not how they want them to be. This is certainly true when it comes to the staff. I know through the years that I’ve had employees who I really liked and enjoyed having on the team. But when I took a hard look at their work, they were falling short of expectations, sometimes even hurting the team. As much as I might have wished they could or would do better, nothing changed until I took action. We owe it to everyone who works on our team to be open and honest about what we believe are the employees strengths, weaknesses, and future opportunities.
3. One of the most important things you can do this holiday is to remove the stress and pressure from your team. It takes a lot of hard work to make a retail store a fun place to work in the holidays. With some good planning and a whole lot of caring on your part you can make the store a place people actually want to be. I guarantee that when you do that, you create a strategic competitive advantage that will result in higher sales and customer advocacy.
4. A manager told me that she posted in her back room a sign that reads “Let’s work on our ABS: Achieve, Believe, and Succeed.” I thought that was pretty fun.
5. I was thinking the other day that for most managers getting everything in place for the holidays is almost like taking on another part-time job. There is a huge amount of time and effort involved in planning, recruiting, hiring, training, and prepping the store for upcoming holiday crunch. For a manager to take on this “part-time” job he/she needs to let go and delegate more of the tasks he/she are currently doing to the assistant manager. Your company and team need you to be working on higher-level activities that will result in a higher payoff during December. So let me ask, what are you going to give up today?
Email doug@dynamicexperiencesgroup.com
Phone 781-861-7803
www.dynamicexperiencesgroup.com
Doug Fleener Doug Fleener is a veteran retailer with more than 25 years of hands-on experience with world-class retailers including Bose Corporation and The Sharper Image. Doug is now president and managing partner of Dynamic Experiences Group, a Lexington retail consulting firm. 
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