'I Think I Can Manage, Thank You' is a weekly column by retailer Steven Bates, manager of Bookery Fantasy, a million dollar retail operation in
If you've been reading this column from the beginning, like my Mom, you've seen me complain about the complexities of the hiring process and how it can go horribly awry, piss and moan about competition from an ex-employee, and brag about how good my store looks after a major renovation. I've tried to be informative, intelligent, and inspiring, while simultaneously being wistful, witty, and wise (only you and my editor know for certain if I've been successful, but my Mom has liked them so far).
Over the course of the next few weeks and months, you'll read a lot of columns about how I think the industry should be run; what publishers, distributors, and retailers can do to improve the bottom line; and my vision of the way things ought to be. But a lot of those solutions boil down essentially to the same answer. So I turn now to the subject at the heart of my personal philosophy, the thing I feel most strongly about as a small business manager.
Hire the best.
Sounds simple enough, right? Business is good, you're expanding, you have a position to fill, so you call up an old buddy or a friend of a friend, and bada-bing-bada-boom, problem solved, right? If only it were that easy. In the first place, hiring someone during a growth phase can be problematic, especially if you're not sure of the direction your business is heading. Will you need someone (or many someones) with more technical skills to keep up with productivity, or a 'people person' to facilitate customer service? Both? Or should potential employees be jacks- & jills-of-all-trades, capable of performing multiple tasks?
Secondly, hiring your best friend (or your girlfriend's cousin's nephew's pal) usually doesn't work-and you'll be lucky if they do. This is not to say that friends shouldn't work together (they shouldn't), or that they can't be productive (they can't), just that in many cases (every one I've ever witnessed) the friendship interferes with the working relationship (not to mention destroying a friendship), and the business suffers (sometimes irrevocably). Often, the very qualities that make a person fun to have as a friend make them horrible co-workers and subordinates. They may be great Dungeon Masters, but will they take direction from you? And will their bottomless well of comic book trivia knowledge translate into anything other than smug indifference to customers with sincere questions?
Hiring quickly just to have a 'warm body' in place behind a counter or desk is worse than not hiring anyone at all. Unless you're extremely lucky, picking the first person who applies or the first one who interviews well, without a detailed check of their references and employment history (and even more thorough background checks for criminal records are advised), will lead to disaster. Sometimes the problem is a little one, a mere annoyance, but other times it can be a black hole, dragging the business down, draining valuable time and resources with it. Ultimately, the 'warm body' becomes an albatross around your neck, and getting rid of them puts you back to square one on hiring.
A business is only as good as the employees who run it, which is why I'll hold up Bookery Fantasy to the biggest and best hobby shops in the country. No, make that 'in the world.' There's Chuck, my Assistant Manager, who keeps the place together with his organization and productivity; Sam, who can remember more about a customer's want list than they can; Adam, a bundle of creative energy and maniacal laughter; Jon, the pit bull with the heart of gold; Jessi, the queen of customer service with a smile; John, the elder statesmen and workaholic; Lanny and Rich, the 'mole men' of the basement; and Andy, the 'Hobbit' with the awesome set of tools. Without these people, Bookery Fantasy would not be what it is today--a multi-store, million dollar business, with a solid reputation in the community and a loyal customer base.
That's why you hire the best.
So who do you hire? Are there any good employees out there? How do you find, hire, and keep them? What's the secret? How do the successful business operators do it? In subsequent columns I'll discuss exactly that and give some insights into Bookery Fantasy's hiring procedures.
