'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 Fairborn, Ohio.  This week Bates gives us a three-parter on store employees.  This is Part 2 (for Part 1, see 'I Think I Can Manage, Thank You -- It's Not What You Know, but Who You Know (and Hire), Part 1')

At Bookery Fantasy, hiring is the single most important task I perform.  Sifting through applications, calling to arrange interviews, playing '20 questions' with applicants, ranking the wanna-be's (and eliminating the never-ran's), and discussing the potential employees with the owner and assistant manager, can literally occupy weeks of my time.  But research alone doesn't always lead to hiring the 'right person for the job.'  Once, when I felt strongly about one candidate but the owner leaned toward another, we argued for over an hour before deciding it wasn't worth the stress to hire either one.  We trusted and respected each other's gut instinct enough to not compromise on a compromise (we later hired someone we both liked).

Many of our employees come from our customer base, and though we're friends with some of them before hiring begins, they still go through a rigorous screening and 'trickle down' review process before being brought on board.  I once called from Dayton to a New Orleans reference on a friend's application, just to verify what I thought I knew about him.  The person giving the reference practically gushed with his praises, and so I hired him, just as I had planned.  I later found out the reference was his sister, married with a different last name, working for the family business.  Fortunately, he worked out pretty well.  Another time, I called an ex-employer on a young man I had known since he was a child.  When I asked if he was eligible for rehire at his old place of employment, his former supervisor chuckled and curtly said 'No.'  He didn't get the job, even though I had known him for ten years.

Recruiting new employees has taken on a greater significance in recent years, as the Bookery has grown and our need for the best employees has increased with sales.  Our two most recent 'hired hands' were both hand-picked, known both for their skills at customer service and their work ethics.  Jessi came from a local cinema, where she was working 60 hours a week while going to school; John is a retired Air Force officer, who has sculpted mecha miniatures for Battletech-like games and once worked at a mall toy store.  Jessi had expressed interest in working at the store already and took little convincing, but John had to be wooed.  He had turned down my offer to work at the Bookery several years ago, when his daughters were still in grade school, but since both girls were in college now, John finally allowed me to twist his arm.  In both cases, I got exactly what I was looking for, and more.

Have we ever made mistakes when hiring?  Of course-where do you think all my theories come from?  Failed experiments.  One of the things I learned is that a good interview doesn't always mean anything, except that the applicant interviews well.  One guy, who came across on paper and in the interview as nearly perfect, turned out to be obsessive/compulsive, and would take two days to perform tasks it took other employees two hours to complete.  Another dude, who seemed energetic and enthusiastic during the hiring process, devolved into a lethargic and sullen human paperweight.  Then there was the spouse of one well-to-do customer who embezzled petty cash.  And the slug who sat reading comics during a roof leak that threatened not only thousands of dollars in merchandise but had saturated a computer, fax machine, and printer.  Or the fellow who dumped his spouse and abandoned his children to star in porn films.  Yes, we've hired our fair share of losers over the years, but after 20 years of trial and error, we're finally starting to get the hang of it.

Let's say you've already advertised that you're hiring.  If you're smart, you won't put out an ad in the newspaper, because you'll get tons of applications from people who don't understand your business in the least.  While I believe its better to hire based on work history and aptitude over hobby-specific knowledge and experience, hiring someone with no interest in your product lines is folly.  They must be able to communicate with your customers, and muster at least a semblance of familiarity with the merchandise.  Put flyers in your store, or a notice in your newsletter (either paper or e-mail) about the position, but don't waste your time and money advertising in the classifieds.  Ask your customers for referrals, or go out and recruit employees who impress you (our industry has many parallels to booksellers, video stores, toy stores, fast food restaurants, even some big box retailers and grocers).  Next, I'll review the interview process itself, and talk a little about what you can, can't, should, and shouldn't ask.