JimmyCast

Podcast: How to Find Good People and Avoid Employee Nightmares

And, by the way, why can’t millennials fill out job applications?

Published

7 years ago

January 25, 2019

Jimmy DeGroot

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HIRING. IT’S ONE of the most important things you do. Hiring the right person can lift your store into the stratosphere; hiring the wrong one can drag you into Dante’s 7th circle of hell.

Finding and hiring people who can become high-quality employees is the topic under discussion in the third episode of INSTORE’s new podcast series, JimmyCast, from jewelry-store trainer Jimmy DeGroot, along with co-host Doug Meadows of David Douglas Diamonds in Marietta, GA.

Some of the topics covered in the podcast:

Why people today can’t fill out job applications
Why restaurant servers are often great candidates to attract into the jewelry business.
Doug shares how he has found some of his employees. These include Craigslist, spreading the word amongst friends, hiring a family member (who didn’t have a choice); and several from Facebook. Doug has even used divine intervention, praying for a good employee to arrive at a critical moment. (Guess what? It worked.)
How Jimmy took a coffee-shop barista and turned her into a half-million-a-year seller.
One question Doug used to weed out applicants for available jewelry sales positions: “If we had two positions available — one in the backroom, working with inventory, and one out on the floor, working with customers, which would you prefer?” He was surprised to see that numerous people who, we want to remind you, were applying for a sales position, said that they would far prefer the back-room job. “You don’t even call those back,” says Doug.
When it’s appropriate to use a headhunter.
Why it’s almost always smart to hire a good candidate even if you’re not looking for someone new.
Is it smart — or not — to hire your good customers?

Honoring a Legacy: How Smith & Son Jewelers Exceeded Every Goal With Wilkerson

When Andrew Smith decided to close the Springfield, Massachusetts location of Smith & Son Jewelers, the decision came down to family. His father was retiring after 72 years in the business, and Andrew wanted to spend more time with his children and soon-to-arrive grandchildren. For this fourth-generation jeweler whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1918, closing the 107-year-old Springfield location required the right partner. Smith chose Wilkerson, and the experience exceeded expectations from start to finish. "Everything they told me was 100% true," Smith says. "The ease and use of all their tools was wonderful." The consultants' knowledge and expertise proved invaluable. Smith and his father set their own financial goal, but Wilkerson proposed three more ambitious targets. "We thought we would never make it," Smith explains. "We were dead wrong. We hit our first goal, second goal and third goal. It was amazing." Smith's recommendation is emphatic: "I would never be able to do what they did by myself."