Article

5 tips to finding, keeping great employees

Retail Customer Experience Executive Summit attendees learned what topics to discuss with future hires.

August 8, 2012

Hiring and retaining good employees has always been a major challenge for retailers, but those who learn how to create a culture that understands and cares about its employees will attract and keep the best workers, Chris Paradysz, founder of Paradysz and PM Digital, said during his session Tuesday at the Retail Customer Experience Executive Summit in Chicago.

It's true that employees care a great deal about salary, but there are many other things that drive them, as well, Paradysz said. For this reason, a business owner should have a list of these items to discuss with potential employees before making a hire. If an employer is not on the same page with his employee, turnover is inevitable.

Paradysz outlined several interview topics of concern to prospective employees. Although some may seem trivial, they can often be the very thing that stands between a good employee staying or quitting:

Work space: Is it clean? Is it friendly? Is it a cube? Can I work from home? Is it loud? Is it close to my home?

Career advancement: Will my boss care about my vision for my future? Are there ways I can move up? How long will it take?

Communication: Are my boss and co-workers honest? Is the company an open book, or do they hide things? What is communicated when people are fired or quit?

Job perks: Who covers my cost for drinks when I travel? Who keeps my mileage points — me or the company? Who pays for my phone? How much vacation time do I get?

Job title and perception: Employees want to feel that what they are doing is special. Paradysz said that most people don't talk about their day-to-day duties with their friends. Instead, they talk about their work on special projects, or about something they got to do that no one else did.

"All these little things do matter," Paradysz said. "Being cared about by the company, personally, matters. Salary, of course it's important, but it's not the most important part of it. Getting inside of what really makes someone tick is hard work, but it's worth it."

Read more about employee training.