Step One to Building Your Bench - Always be Recruiting. 10 Ideas to Help You Find Your Next Retail

Posted on Sunday, April 29th, 2012 at 11:22am

In our consulting practice one of the things that we are consistently reminded of is the importance of all retailers – both big and small – to be building their talent pool. Store employees can leave for multiple reasons and you never know when retail employee turnover can strike. Therefore having a strong bench of trained retail employees is a critical function for any store owner, district manager, or retail chain.

Step one is to have a consistent and ongoing retail recruiting program. This will ensure that you always have a pipeline of applicants that will allow you to quickly fill vacancies and move people up in the organization. With that in mind, here are ten ideas to help you recruit retail employees.

1.Professional Social Media Sites. Social sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and others are great opportunities to network with other people who can refer potential employees. In many cases, you can post low cost ads or free postings in specific forums around your business sector.

2.High School, Tech School and College work programs. This is a great source for entry level positions. Tech schools in particular are highly rated on their ability to place students in employment. You might even build a relationship with a teacher or professor and give a guest lecture!

3.Employee Referrals. Reward your retail employees for generating applications. No one knows better about the type of individual who will succeed in your business than your current team members. Give them a reward for finding a great employee after the new team member has fulfilled a 90-day probationary period.

4.Your Customers. If you have regular customers, they are shopping at your store because they like you and your products! They are already excited about your business, so put them to work so that they can earn your employee discount!

5.Temporary Employment Agencies. Many people do not know that you can actually hire people from a temp agency. The fees to do this are relatively small and the benefit to you is that this employee is the responsibility of the agency until you decide to permanently hire.

6. Network with Fellow Retailers. It is likely that your shopping center has many different retailers. Grocery stores, shoe stores, health food retailers, electronics stores, and gift retailers all have different needs for employees. You might need a sales rep while the store next door needs a cashier. Begin sharing applicants and making referrals!

7. Leverage Your Website.Make it easy for potential applicants to apply with you. Always have your “help wanted” sign prominently posted on your company’s website. If you do email marketing to your base of customers you can even provide create a link to you website for interested applicants.

8.Take Part in Job Fairs. Community colleges, tech schools, 4-year colleges and other agencies want retailers to participate in their job fairs. Not only is this a great way to meet potential applicants, but you can also create referral networks with other employers in your market!

9. On Line Job Sites.Leveragethe multitude of free and paid job posting sites that are available on the internet. Many of these focus on the retail industry and/or your local market area.

10. Don’t Forget Free Messaging.Whether it is a sign in your store window, having a stack of applications on your counter, or having a recruiting message on your register tape, make sure that you are always taking advantage of every opportunity to get your recruiting message out there!

Do you want to improve the quality of your retail employees? Would you like to train retail managers on how to recruit, hire, and train new team members? Contact us for a free one-hour consultation and needs assessment!

David Goodwin is the Principal of the Retail Advocacy Group. As a 30 year veteran of the retail industry he has hired, trained, and performance managed thousands of retail sales representatives and retail managers. You can learn more about instructor-led, e-learning, and other training solutions for retailers at www.retailertrainingservices.com.