Recruiting The Right Person For The Job – Yes It Is Important!

Hiring the right type of person to fill a role within your company could just be one of the most important business decisions you’ll make.  Employees can, and often do, make or break a business.  If you’re in the retail business for instance, your team members on the shop floor are your first line of contact with your customers.  And given that it’s those customers who bring in the money to keep your business running, it pays to make sure you have the right team members in the right positions.  Not everyone is cut out to work in retail.  Recognising this simple truth is a key factor in successful recruiting, regardless of the industry being recruited for.

Know Your Requirements And What You’re Looking For When Recruiting

A good retail team member needs to possess certain skill sets or they simply won’t be able to do the job satisfactorily.  An outgoing, friendly and pleasant personality for example is a big part of being a successful retail employee.  Someone who greets customers as they walk in the door to your establishment with a big smile and a warm greeting goes a long way towards establishing a favourable first impression of your business.  On the other hand, an employee who ignores customers, is grouchy, uncommunicative, unfriendly and unwilling to help will usually send customers back out the door as fast as they came in!

Another attribute a good retail employee should have is an aptitude for picking up product knowledge.  They should know, or be prepared to learn, about the products they’re selling.  Customers almost always expect sales staff to know at least the basics and will often ask for assistance or product information.  If your sales team can’t provide that information, your customer could well take their business elsewhere.

This is just one example of how important it is to ensure you have the right people doing the right jobs for you.  So how do you work out before you employ someone just what you’re looking for?

Job Analysis – Making Sure You Put A Round Peg In A Round Hole

The first step is undertaking a thorough job analysis with a view to putting together a detailed job description.  Make a list of the responsibilities involved in the position you’re hiring for.  To use the retail example above, if you’re hiring a senior team member, the person may be responsible for all the day end activities which includes shutting down the point of sale system, counting and reconciling the day’s takings, putting it in the safe, doing the banking and so on.  Therefore, you would expect some prior experience in these activities.  And as they’ll be handling money, you should also probably factor in a police clearance.  On top of that, they should also have a good sales track record with relevant experience of the retail industry.  On the other hand, if you’re just hiring a junior sales clerk, the person may not need to be anything more than a well-presented pleasant, outgoing personality who is willing to learn on the job.

Yes Virginia, Dusting Is Important But So Is Helping Customers

Therefore, knowing the requirements for the job at hand, and the duties the person will be required to do underpins successful recruiting.  You should also be able to clearly define the relative importance of those duties in terms of the overall position.  Your junior sales person for instance may be required to dust the shelves each morning.   However, their number one priority is attending to your customers.  What you don’t want them doing is ignoring customers because they ‘have to get the dusting done.’