Winter 2021 - 73

RETAILER OPERATIONS
have seasonal and other temporary employees who help with
special events throughout the year who were available to assist
if we needed additional help. We have also asked current parttime
employees to assist by working more hours than they are
typically scheduled. "
Jill Santopietro Panall, owner of 21Oak HR Consulting,
said she has worked with a number of retail clients since the
pandemic began who have struggled greatly with hiring and
retaining employees during COVID times.
" Employees in retail tend to be on the lower end of the pay
scale and often don't have Cadillac health plans (or plans at all)
so they are justifiably and disproportionately afraid of getting
sick compared to office workers with strong health insurance
and limited exposure to the public, " she said.
The key to attracting workers, she noted, is making safety
practices strong, non-negotiable and not performative-only.
" Store owners and managers should make an outsized effort
towards safety, creating strong and clearly communicated
policies, providing an adequate supply of PPE and cleaning
equipment, creating safer store spaces, and most importantly,
truly enforce the mask policies of their state or their company, "
Santopietro Panall said. " If you are a private company, you can
make your own rules about how clients to the store behave as
long as they are not discriminatory in nature but allowing clients
to not wear masks puts employees at risk and shows a disregard
for their health and safety and that of other clients. "
It's tough to balance a retailer's need to continue being
profitable, but it's necessary to enforce this or you could lose
your workers or find even more serious issues.
" Retailers face a risk of employee resignations, bad reviews
from other customers who are uncomfortable with maskless
people, potential spread of illness, and even a potential of a
workers' compensation claim for an employee who does fall ill
after being subjected to an unsafe workplace, " she said.
Tips for Getting Workers
To help retailers the National Retail Federation is posting all job
opportunities for free on its site (www.nrf.com/resources/), helping
to match employees with companies that need them.
An out-of-the-box idea, Hess noted, is for small stores to share
employees with other small retailers. " Another possibility would be
to reach out to other businesses that have had to close their doors,
or lay off employees, and ask them to share your hiring needs with
their former employees, " he said.
Throughout the pandemic, many small retailers have conducted
virtual interviews to hire staff and have relied on social media
to find candidates. Hess noted that gift stores can also share job
openings through emails and social media messaging; it is a great
way to attract people and spread the news quickly. Another option
is to post to nearby college sites to find workers who may be home
due to the pandemic.
Another possibility would be to reach out
to other businesses that have had to close
their doors, or lay off employees, and ask
them to share your hiring needs with their
former employees,.
- Darrin Hess, human resource manager,
P. Graham Dunn.
The key
takeaway - digitize
recruitment,
forge
online
connections, leverage virtual meetings, and maintain a conversation
with promising talents for future placement.
Beware the Stopgap Employee
In today's current economic climate, there has been an increase
in job seekers applying for positions that could make gift shop
owners recruiting new staff feeling overwhelmed by the number of
job applications.
It's important that the one doing the hiring vets the potential
employee properly and figures out if they are just seeking any job,
and will leave if something better comes along, or if they will be
reliable and stay with your business.
Simon Royston, founder and managing director of The
Recruitment Lab, noted a store owner should start by creating a
profile of the candidate they wish to recruit, understanding the
level of experience you want, what key duties they likely will be
undertaking, how many hours a week you want them to work and
how flexible you would let the job be.
" You want someone who is committed to the role and I would
expect you may see a large number of applications that you may
feel are over-qualified or you have a number of applications that
look amazing but are not really committed, " he said. " Hiring
someone who is overqualified for a role is actually very different
to hiring someone not committed to the role. You can successfully
engage overqualified candidates, but it takes some consideration
to get it right. "
Onboarding Issues
David Garcia, CEO of ScoutLogic, a pre-employment background
check company, noted the pandemic is bringing extra challenges to
the onboarding process as well.
" For example, with background checks, many courts are
closed or have reduced hours, creating delays in returning proper
background information, " he said. " You will want to make sure you
have adequate time for all of your compliance-related onboarding
tasks before you hire someone during COVID. "
With COVID cases climbing, it's quite possible that hiring issues
will last deep into 2021, so it's important that shop owners continue
talking with their staff and preparing for next steps if someone
decides to leave.
Learn more about our Gift Shop®
Plus contributors on page 10.
GIFTSHOPMAG.COM 73
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Winter 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Winter 2021
