Hire, Train and Maintain Good Employees

Many years ago, I owned a chain of specialty retail stores. The biggest problem was the ability or inability to hire good managers. Some managers were excellent at doing good work, but the stores never performed well. A few of my managers never looked like they were working hard, but they had stores that always showed good profits. The difference was that some of the managers hired, trained and maintained good employees and the other managers were afraid to hire someone with good skill sets and turn them loose because it might make them look bad. This last group of managers always looked like they were working hard, but they were doing all the work and the employees just watched and said ‘look at him go’. They were afraid to delegate and ended up doing all the work themselves and eventually would burnout. Never be afraid to hire people smarter and more skilled than you. An old saying goes, ‘A rising tide raises all ships’ and this is especially true with the good hires that make management look good.

After making the good hires, train them to do the jobs that are crucial to the health of your retail store. If they are good with technology, put them in charge of your POS software and other store systems. Those with the best personalities might be better served dealing with your clientele and handling your public relations. I had a friend once tell me, ‘It’s not the ones you fire that hurt you; it’s the ones you keep that hurt.’ Don’t be guilty of just holding status quo and allowing now-caring employees bring your business down, always look to up-grade and hire smarter people than you.