Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM MAY 2022 62 D oesn't it seem odd nowadays that help-wanted signs have become so commonplace? Every restaurant, and most retail businesses, are looking. We put up advertisements and scan resumes to find people to fill open positions, but the formerly fertile waters are now barren. If we receive one or two resumes a week, that's a lot – and so the search continues. When restaurants are hanging signs cautioning patrons against poor behavior and acknowledging that the staff "showed up," what is an owner to do? Yes, we need people to run our businesses, and yes, we want quality individuals. But how? Everyone is scrambling to get the best, most qualified individual for the job. But are we? Or are we just panic-hiring? When two people apply for the job and only one shows for the interview, what do you do – hire by default? The choices are limited, so we move forward and hire the one who showed. He was clean and passed the proper screens, so congratulations, Jack, you have the job. Wait – what? This can't be right. Are we really going to hire this person simply because he showed up? The answer is yes, for a lot of businesses, because they have no choice. The person who made it to the interview is the golden child, the responsible person who didn't stand us up today. We are truly blessed. But can we really do this? Can we risk the reputation and professionalism of our company on the dire need for a warm body? That can't be right. We have options, don't we? Let's think about it for a moment. Studies show that one-third of all new employees will quit within the first three months. Panic- hiring could increase the chances. The idea of being short-staffed is a bad thing, and in some situations even a "going out of business" kind of serious. So let's look at the result of panic hiring. You decide to hire "Jack." He showed up and passed the screens. Score!! But is Jack going to be an asset? True, that's the question and the gamble that owners/managers take when hiring anyone. But are we lowering our standards to meet the current conditions? Would we hire just about anyone, simply to have the position filled? What does that do for us? One thing it does is make hiring easier, sort of. If we're relaxing our standards to meet the need, there's no real need to examine prior work history, right? After all, that could make us rethink the candidate, and we need Jack. No need to ask about goals or pay requirements, he's here, goal met. Meanwhile, we're being forced by other industries to raise our pay rates to attract Jack, so pay cannot stand in the way. Experience? You already know the answer to that question, and it too is not a problem. So what do we want? Oh, that's right… someone to show up for the interview. Done! Now we have an employee, so we can exhale and begin the process of training. By taking the filter off the hiring process, we're left with an employee who isn't suited for the position – as we realize after three weeks of training and retraining. We persevere – we give him a few more weeks because we want this to work, and we don't want to start the process all over again. But it's not going to work. We know this, we see it. We just spent six weeks failing to get Jack up to speed. But we've invested so much time and no one else showed up. He still has to go, and it's not his fault. Desperation made the decision to hire him, and now we're left to deal with the outcome. What did you really gain? Not what you intended. It's your time, money, and knowledge, so spend it well. Panic hiring disregards the process and leaves your company vulnerable to bad choices. Consider the cost of those choices before you hire the one who showed. THE ONE THAT SHOWED UP S E R V I C E D E P A R T M E N T Renee Galioto is co-owner of Island Appliance Repair in Wilmington, NC. Renee and her husband Patrick have ten technicians covering three counties and have served this coastal community for more than twenty-five years. RO

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