Some jewelers have learned the importance of a work/life balance for all. Many also realize that flexibility with workload, dress code, and scheduling is now essential to hiring and retaining staff. In many cases, they’ve cut back on days and hours open or moved to an appointment-only business model. They’ve learned that customers show up if the store is not open every day and that the business will survive if they delegate some responsibility. In contrast, others find the demands of a new breed of employees nearly impossible to accommodate.
The other oft-cited change of outlook is in lab-grown diamond sales. One jeweler expressed a common sentiment: “Five years ago, I was not selling them or on board. But as prices dropped and popularity grew, it became next to impossible to say, `I won’t sell them,’ because we’d be turning away too many young customers.”
Following are highlights from the 2024 INSTORE Big Survey, when we asked:
When it comes to running a jewelry store, what have you changed your mind about in the last five years?
It used to be easier to get a sharp college-age person who showed up on time and asked what they could do to help. They are still out there but harder to find. A lot of them simply don’t know how to interact and work with other people. We are training them, but it takes longer than seven or eight years ago. If we find a sharp person with whom we interact well, we are trying harder to keep them.
When hiring, look at core characteristics: intellect, courtesy, emotional intelligence, initiative and integrity. I have had to learn to ignore colored hair, tattoos and piercings. Those DO NOT MATTER. The caliber of the individual is what truly matters.
Old people will work 40 hours or more a week, but millennials and Gen Z want less than 34 hours a week, which is OK.
When working with employees, I’ve learned that some hills are not worth dying on and that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
It is not about keeping people long-term. Expect to hire for two to five years.
I put a much higher priority on my staff.
Advertisement
We no longer require ties, just a dress shirt.
Being too strict of schedule. People value more time off these days.
I have lost my passion for it, as it once was. It is three times as difficult to hire these days. I used to turn away applicants, but now I need to bribe or beg for them. What the hell did we do to break the job market?
Since COVID, employees have shown little respect for the job: late arrivals, long lunch hours, and arguing with me over store brand and philosophy.
I used to be open seven days a week; now I’m closed on Sundays and Mondays. It’s been amazing to have a life again!
After the pandemic we are much more flexible about closing for a few days, not opening evenings, and not worrying about whether customers will get upset.
I am not the center of the business; it can and should succeed without me being in the middle of everything.
I don’t want to retire. I just want to work when I want. I’m coming to work when I’m 95 in heels.
