"It is important to keep the lines of communication open and listen respectfully to your employees.  They could have insights into things you may find useful.  Let them know that what they have to say is important."

In a recent survey of 250 top business executives, their biggest common problem, coming in at 70%, was finding the right person, a person who shares your goals and meets your search criteria - delivering on things such as, improved customer services and increased sales - you have found a serious asset who will make managing your business that much easier.

So let's look at the first step: finding an employee who shares your goals and has the same standards as you.  There are three key things to making a good choice about a potential employee - interviews, references and practical skills. Let's take them one at a time.

The Interview

This may be the single most important step. An interview is where you are able to ask the questions that give you an impression of the prospective employee, and it also tells the prospective employee about you. Make sure the interview is in a quiet and pleasant setting, and have a list of questions appropriate to the position you are interviewing for ready to go. Follow a pattern, ask a question, and let the person think his/her answer though.  Is the answer concise?  Does the prospective employee ramble? Remember, your first impression of the prospective employee will mirror that of your customers.  Make sure you ask questions that will give you insight into the prospective employee's thinking.  Encourage the employee to ask questions as well.  They need to gauge you as possible employer. Take notes, mark down things such as how they are dressed.  How did they do with the pressure of the interview? Did they ask insightful questions?  Remember the purpose of the interview is to see if the employee will fit into your business model.

References

If the interview went well, now we go on to the next step, checking references.  Some prospects may come to you with letters of recommendation.  Call the author of these letters and ask questions related to the letter.  With other references, contact them and ask open-ended questions, things like "What can you tell me about John? I understand that John worked for you for (fill in the blank) years". The reaction of the people used as references gives you insight into the quality of the employee.

Practical Skills

The next step is practical skills, and with a pet stylist this is especially important. A pet stylist needs to have breed knowledge. Give him/her hypothetical situations relating to grooming problems and see how he/she handles them. Now give the person several different dogs, different breeds, different clips, and different temperaments and watch. The person must have a time frame to work in and complete the task well and in a timely manner.  After all this, ask yourself, "Is this the groom that I want my clients to see?"

Now that the hard part is done let's get to the even harder part, keeping that good employee. Remember, managing is an art, not a science, and it is something at which you have to constantly work. When an employee is asked what is more important about where they work, usually the surprising answer is the environment not the pay. Also high on the list is recognition for their good work. Keeping that good employee is essential to your bottom line. Remember, it costs both time and money to train that new employee.

It's important to keep the lines of communication open and listen respectfully to your employees. They could have insights into things you may find useful. Let them know that what they have to say is important.  On the other hand, reinforce your goals and let them know where they stand. Communication, after all, is a two-way street.

This is true not only with employees, but with your clients as well.  Your groomers should talk to the clients, finding out what the clients like and dislike, and you should stand back and listen, allowing the employee to interact with the client but ensuring they stay within the boundaries of their jobs.  Encourage them to come to you with solutions to problems, yet offer solutions to their problems as well.

You also want to ensure that you maintain a clean and professional working environment. This helps reduce stress, and everyone knows what to expect from day to day. It is also important from a safety standpoint as well; making sure everything is in its place reduces workplace accidents and has the added benefit of making it easy for everyone to find things.

Last but not least, make sure you praise in public and chastise in private.  One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a manager is to discipline an employee in front of others. It does sever things: It reduces your respect in the eyes of other employees, it belittles the employee being disciplined, and if you do that to one employee it makes the others wonder what you will do to them. Praise, however, is something you should always try to do in front of others. It lets the employee know you appreciate him/her, and it makes the other employees want to work hard so they can also receive the praise.  In the end, praising in public lets all know you appreciate the employee's hard work and dedication to pleasing your clientele.

Finding that good employee is never easy, and keeping them is even harder. Reducing turnover in your business improves the bottom line. The consistency of employees keeps the clients happy because they know them by name and can relate to them. Consistency is comforting to the client and to their pets.

Source: Pet Services Journal March/April 2009-03-30 By Grace Woodford