What our members are saying about Recruiting & Retention
On Wednesday, November 2, a handful of IndiePet’s retail members joined virtually for the association’s second IndieChat group discussion. The topic Recruitment and Retention of Retail Staff was moderated by Jamie Damato Migdal, founder and CEO of FetchFind. Jamie’s expertise in building staffs for four successful national pet service companies and FetchFind’s education platform for retail pet stores made Jamie the perfect person to lead the discussion.
The Chat kicked off with discussion about the changes in the pet industry including fragmentation of the channel and consolidation of retailers and suppliers; hyper-growth of the pet industry overall which has contributed to product shortages and other supply line challenges (topic of our upcoming IndieChat in January) – perhaps set into motion by the pandemic but exacerbated by strong demand; and the particular challenges faced by smaller retailers who may have started their businesses out of a love for pets, but who may have little or outdated operational experience. These changes and higher demands made of staff during the pandemic have contributed to burned out staff and short-tempered customers.
To face the challenges of the post-pandemic “angry customer”, extensive training in pet and product knowledge – a hallmark of most independent pet retailers – is not enough. Training in soft (people) skills is necessary. However, expectations of both customers and staff are changing. Once employees felt fulfilled knowing they were helping pets and their owners, now they are succumbing to compassion burnout and suffering from the physical nature of the work. Once customers were interested in conversations about their pet and food options. Now they want to get in and out with as little interaction as possible, according to one retailer.
Turnover continues to plague our retailers. Compassion burnout and physicality challenges were among the top reasons given for leaving pet retail. So, the question of how to find and keep good employees is somewhat different today than it was even a few years ago.
Many in the group use or have used typical job boards when seeking new staff. Others have taken a more proactive approach. One retailer stated that he specifically searched for candidates on LinkedIn and Indeed and invited them to apply rather posting a position and waiting for applicants. He felt he had better than average success with his approach.
Hiring for culture and attitude and training in necessary skills seems to be an approach that is gaining traction in the pet business and pre-hiring assessment tools can be an effective way to learn whether a candidate has what it takes to succeed in a given position. As one participant noted, It doesn’t matter if you love animals, if you can’t communicate well with people, you won’t do well in this kind of work.
When discussion moved to how to keep people once they’re hired, everyone agreed that a solid onboarding program was key to setting up new employees for success. Jamie noted that retention actually begins during the recruiting process and continues during onboarding, which should include a strong component of company culture, not just the technicalities of the job. Opportunities for training, and growth in responsibilities can keep employees engaged and growing with the business.
Recruiting and onboarding are time consuming activities. Smaller retailers may find that of all the hats they must wear, this particular hat is not always the most comfortable. When asked how IndiePet could help, members suggested that a library of job descriptions – something that can take a long time to craft –that could be downloaded and customized and an employee handbook template would be of the greatest help. We invite members who are interested in sharing job descriptions, onboarding processes that work for them, and other tips for finding and keeping their employees to reach out to us here at IndiePet. We hope to have a basic library of employment related templates and examples for our members to use by early next year.
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The group came away from the IndieChat with a few new ideas from each other and Jamie. If you are struggling with recruiting and retaining tools, reach out to IndiePet and we can connect you to members and partners who can help.
Our next IndieChat is scheduled for Wednesday, January 4th at 3:00pm EST and will discuss Supply Line issues and how to address them. Space is limited. Register here.
