May 2019 Newsletter

Boost Your Staffing Savvy

The Keys to Running a Successful Pet Retail Business

As a pet industry retailer, you may be in the pet business, but you’re also in the people business. The employees you hire drive your sales and keep your customers satisfied. Happy employees are productive employees—that help increase profit. That’s why recruiting and retaining top talent is the key to running a successful store or retail service. By hiring employees who fit your company culture, motivating and empowering them and making them feel valuable, your business will thrive. If you’re struggling with high turnover, it might be time to look at your staffing tactics.

While the average employee exit will cost your business roughly 33 percent of their annual salary, here are some helpful tips to ensure your staffing practices improve your profitability.

Make Smart Hires

Hiring the right people begins with seeking out prospective job candidates who are passionate about your mission and products. Searching for candidates who share the same values, ethics and goals as your company will pay off in both the short and the long term. In fact, 91 percent of U.S. business managers believe that culture fit is more important than experience or skills.

Train to Retain

Professional development is an integral part of employee satisfaction. Staff members appreciate having a career path ahead of them—particularly if they’re in the early stage of their career. A recent study found that 93 percent of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their professional development and 86 percent of Millennials would keep a job that offered career training and advancement opportunities. By providing opportunities to learn new skills or build upon existing ones through special seminars or workshops, you’re showing your staff that you’re invested in their growth.

Reward and Recognize

Employees who don’t feel recognized for doing great work are almost two times more likely to be searching for a new job. Recognizing high-performing staff goes a long way toward retaining your best talent. Create an employee recognition program, offer occasional perks like free lunch or special social outings, acknowledge birthdays and work anniversaries and provide spontaneous praise to hardworking employees. Treating your employees as valued members of the team is a surefire way to keep morale—and productivity—high and earn your business a reputation as a desirable employer.

Encourage a Work-Life Balance

Finally, remember that while your employees are your staff at work, they’re people first—people with a life, a family and interests outside of work. Sixty-six percent of full-time employees say they don’t feel as though they have a work-life balance. While it’s important to establish professional parameters to keep staff engaged in the business and working efficiently, encouraging a work-life balance and showing staff that you care about their lives will lead to higher employee satisfaction and retention.

By following these four simple steps to creating a positive work environment, you will recruit and retain the right workers that will benefit your company in the long run.