Retail Rock Star Blog

Holiday! Celebrate...Unless You Work In Retail

Today is Labor Day, for most people a holiday from work.  But in retail, it’s a big day for sales and many retail employees are working.  If your store is open on holidays, it's your opportunity to make a great impression not only on your shoppers, but your employees as well. 

No one likes to walk into a store that has unhappy sales associates, and too often that's how they look if they're working on a holiday.  Each holiday comes but once a year, so here are some ways to make them more palatable for your staff:

1.  Start out by asking for volunteers to work on an upcoming holiday. If people are working voluntarily, they're less likely to be upset about it and let it show to customers. If you can afford it, offer a little extra money for a holiday shift to sweeten the pot and encourage volunteers. 

2.  If you have to assign people to work, do it fairly.  The same people shouldn’t have to work every holiday.  Explain your holiday scheduling strategy.  Being an owner has its privileges, but your employees will appreciate it if you as the owner take your turn on holidays as well. 

3. Do something special for your staff to recognize their contribution while the rest of their family and friends are off having fun.  Buy them lunch, or let them pick out something from the store to take home that day with a dollar value of your choosing.  

4. If you’re not working with them, call the store and let them know you appreciate that they’re working that day.

5.  If it's feasible and you're so inclined, call them and tell them to close up an hour early.  Even an hour of unexpected free time feels special. 

6.  Allow employees to skip normal closing procedures (except for money handling.)  Let the next morning's crew do the straightening and vacuuming the day after a holiday. 

Most people that work in retail understand that working some holidays comes with the territory.  When you manage the holiday schedule fairly and show special appreciation for their contribution on these days, your staff will be happier and your customers will notice it. 

Be The Director: Write Job Descriptions, Policies and Procedures

If you're a retail store owner, you probably started your career working for someone else before you took the plunge into businesses ownership.  That means you were probably exposed to a structured environment that included policies and procedures.  That's why I'm absolutely stunned when I ask shop owners if they have job descriptions, policies and procedures for their store and 99%  look at me like I'm some sort of lunatic.  "We're too small for that," I'm told, or "I left my job and started my own business to get away from that!"

Well if that's you're thinking, then get those notions out of your head right now.  Even if you're about to hire your first and only employee, you should have a job description and policies and procedures.  You need to take yourself seriously as a business owner if you expect others to do the same.  You've spent a lot of money and taken on a lot of risk to get to this point -- much more than in any job you've ever had -- so treat it that way.  Your employees will respect you for it and you will be rewarded with a smooth running operation.

Your job descriptions should cover the duties and responsibilities your employees will be expected to perform, the level of decision making authority they will have, the skills they will need and the typical range of hours they will work.  You can get a retail sales job description from the internet and modify it to your needs.  A job description is important because there may be much more that you want your employee to do than just assist customers. For example, many retail salespeople I talk to say they didn't know they would be expected to check in and price merchandise, steam apparel, set up window displays or vacuum and take out garbage.  Having a clear job description will help you avoid the "This isn't my job" or "I didn't know I'd have to do that" discussion later on.

Your operations policies and procedures don't have to be long and complicated.  Maybe they'll just be a page or two -- but they will set the expectations you have for your employees and will help in avoiding misunderstandings in the future. If performance problems do occur, they will be easier to address because your expectations were spelled out in advance.  A few of the policies I put in writing included:

1. Procedure to call in absent/late

2. Dress code

3. Personal telephone calls & Cell phone usage

4. Procedure for switching work shifts with other employees

5. How vacation requests should be submitted and how they would be handled by me

I took new employees out for breakfast or lunch before they started and I would tell them how the business began and how important it was to me.  Then I would verbally go over the job description in detail as well as the policies and procedures, and give them an opportunity to ask questions or raise concerns.  At the end I gave them a  copy of each to keep.  They always appreciated the clear direction and opportunity to spend some time with their new employer.  It set the tone for them to feel involved and take their job seriously. (Prior to putting anything in writing I would advise you to have your attorney take a look at it to be sure you are not violating any employment laws.)

Spending a little time up front to put your expectations in writing will show your employees that you are serious about your business and will help you avoid problems later.  Even if your staff is very small, your leadership and direction is needed right from the beginning to build a strong and healthy business with people that understand and support you.