SIXTY PERCENT OF working Americans today say they’ve left a job or considered leaving a job because they didn’t like their direct supervisor (according to a survey from human resource consulting firm Randstad US). So, while business is good right now, from what I’ve seen, the biggest problem for jewelers and all relational selling businesses is PEOPLE. We either don’t have enough of them, or we can’t keep the ones we’ve got.
It would behoove you as owners and managers to take a good hard look at your business model — and more importantly, your management style — and ask yourself, “Am I the problem?” Or “Could I do better at managing my team?”
In his book Creating Magic, Lee Cockerell, vice-president and manager of many Disney properties, uses the acronym RAVE: Respect, Appreciate and Value Everyone. One example he used was early in his life, he was a grease boy at a large hotel that had a burger joint inside. He was treated like dirt, but HE knew in his heart that if he didn’t collect the grease, burgers could not be made. No burgers, no customers. No customers, no restaurant. What a great attitude about the importance of every job and every position in our companies.
How do you show your team that you respect, appreciate and value them? And I wonder, if we had the opportunity to find out the REAL reason some good people have left our stores, what would that be?
Make it your goal this year to have a RAVE attitude toward your team and do whatever you can: Attend a seminar, buy a book, listen to a book, anything you can do to grow as a leader. Determine that you are going to be a better leader and grow a beautiful store culture so that people will not want to leave and people will be knocking down your door to work for you.
Just do a little self-analysis right now and ask yourself: What do I need to change in my personality or management style to create a RAVE environment at my store? Go after it! You’ll be a better person for it and the ROI will pour over in so many ways.
Advertisement
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."
