Help Your Employees Succeed and Help Your Gift Basket Business
July 26th, 2009 at 03:46pm Lorie Obernauer
Maybe you’ve found the perfect person to hire! She has experience in a similar business and demonstrates all the skills that are required for the job. But how can you be sure that she’ll succeed in your business?
Even a person with experience needs to know your expectations and learn your procedures. When you hire someone new, take some time to teach them what they need to know to be successful. Be clear about your vision and mission for your business as well as the values you hold about handling customers and working cooperatively with other employees. Make sure that you’re very clear about your “rules”: what time they are expected to get to work, how long breaks and lunch should be, whether they can accept personal phone calls, etc. Then, be concise about how you want things done. If you have certain expectations for cleaning the work room, make sure they know it. If you have want specific information from all new customers, give them a list of questions to cover when they’re helping a customer.
Once a new employee knows what you expect, give her lots of feedback during her first weeks at work. Correct mistakes, but also point out when things have been done exactly as you want. Ask her questions: take advantage of her experience. And most importantly, model the behaviors you want. If you expect your customers to be treated with dignity and respect, then treat your employees in the same way.
Helping your employees be “the best they can be” will work well for them, for your customers and for your business!
Entry Filed under: Business Tips, Employee Training
4 Comments Add your own
1. Shirley George Frazier | July 27th, 2009 at 9:26 am
What you share, Lorie, is a terrific blueprint for hiring and keeping great staff members.
In addition, one of the best internal items that any of us can and must create is an operations manual.
It will instruct employees and anyone else who manages the business on our behalf and in our absence to follow a model that we’ve committed to paper
An operations manual is one of the best products you’ll ever create for your business’s longevity.
2. Lorie Obernauer | July 27th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Thanks for your comment Shirley. I learned that other people can’t read my mind!!
3. Sandra Rimmer | July 30th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Shirley you are everywhere. When do you find the time to sleep? I enjioy reading articles from both you and Lorie. Keep sharing your wisdom and your dedication to helping others. I will definetly take your advice when hiring additional helpers, May your blessing continue to flow.
4. Lorie Obernauer | July 31st, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Thank you for your comment Sandra.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed