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TWO DIFFERENT WAYS
OF HIRING EMPLOYEES |
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There's been a lot of discussion lately about the great labor
shortage. I own restaurants and retail stores, and I can attest that
hiring workers these days is indeed a challenge.
For example, we're opening a bunch of Holiday pop-up stores
in regional malls, and we've had to hire dozens of seasonal employees in
the last few weeks. Here is an actual conversation I overheard the other
day between one of our store managers and our hiring director.
Manager: We had an applicant today, but I think he might be a
stoner.
Hiring Director: How stoned was he?
Manager: Not too bad. He was coherent. Just a little spacey.
Hiring Director: Hire him.
True story. That's how bad it's become for retail and
restaurant employers. There are very, very few applicants. We have ads
everywhere. We offer incentives, referral fees to our current employees,
bonuses to stay through the season, and anything else we can think of.
Still, it's a monumental struggle.
When we do finally find someone, it's about 50-50 whether
they last a week. Either they find another job or they decide they're not
cut out for working. They just don't show up the next day.
I walked into one of our pop-ups the other day and introduced
myself to the sole employee in the store. He was a nice kid, very
friendly.
"How long have you been with us?" I casually asked.
"I started today!" he exclaimed with a big smile.
The manager had trained him for one hour in the morning and
then left him to fend for himself as she had pressing duties at another
store. He was doing fine, but I shuddered to think that we left him all
alone with virtually no training. But the manager had no choice.
References? We'll check them when we can, but as long
as they're a reformed mass murderer, they're good to go.
What really prompted this column, though, is the experience
my oldest daughter has been going through as she considers leaving her
current company and finding one more compatible. She's a Finance Director,
and applying for a job in her profession couldn't be more different. It's
the other end of the spectrum, and I'm a bit jealous.
I'm fascinated by what these companies put their applicants
through. Obviously, they're in a completely different situation and have
plenty of choices. A stoner wouldn't do too well.
It's basically a two to three month process from start to
finish. She had five interviews with one company, starting with the
recruiter, then the team she would manage, then the Chief Financial
Officer, then with the Chief Executive Officer, then with members of the
Board of Directors. She got down to the final two applicants, and didn't
get the job.
She's still waiting to hear on another application. For this
one she also had to do a PowerPoint presentation of an idea that could
improve the company's operations, AND complete a four hour performance
test. The presentation was included in one of the five interviews she's
had. She applied in August and still hasn't received an offer, but once
again she's down to the final two applicants.
She's spent countless hours interviewing, all while working
full-time at her present job. I've never seen anything like it, and it now
seems the norm for professional jobs. She's exasperated and exhausted.
These companies are vetting applicants until they're 99.9% certain they've
made the right choice.
Meanwhile, we're hiring anyone with a pulse. We would love to
have a choice, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. No
experience---no problem. No personality---no problem. No current
address---no problem. Come on down.
In all my years in business, I've never seen anything like
it. And I've never seen my daughter's situation, either. Somewhere in the
middle would be nice.
All of our long-term employees were hired in a proper
interview setting, and they are all wonderful. We had a chance to pick and
choose, and we picked right. Now we have to get lucky. Some will be great,
others not so great.
So when you're in a retail store or a restaurant and the
service is perhaps not up to your standards, have some compassion. You
can't open the doors without staff, so business owners are taking what
they can get these days. The only other option is to close the doors, and
that's never a good idea.
On the other hand, demand excellence from the professionals.
They've been vetted from head to toe, and there's no excuses. |
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