Finding and keeping employees in retail is difficult. What types of things do you offer to retain good employees? (insurance, spiffs, vacation time, bonus, other benefits?)

-- Kids Today, 4/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

Ali Wing, giggle, New York

You get what you pay for in retail. If you want to get and keep the best, you have to pay for it. Payment today requires benefits for good employees and benefits include insurance and paid vacation. And, especially for our key leads, we tie incentives to results (both bonuses and overall company results). We have performance-based incentives for all roles as well as option opportunities for key leads.

Absolutely know that hiring and retaining a motivated, talented staff is my daily challenge. I feel fortunate everyday for the teams we have.

Jami Myers, Jami B'z, Scottsdale, Ariz.

I have one full-time and three part-time employees. My biggest asset to them, I think, is flexibility. My office manager/accounts payable person (someone I worked with at Breuners for nine years) brings her little girl into the store one day a week. Juggling everyone else's issues, travel plans, etc. has been enough to give me a few more unwanted grey hairs. The beauty of a small business!

Michael Schaul, Lone Star Baby & Kids, Frisco, Texas

Finding and keeping good employees is one of the biggest challenges retailers face. Good, honest and dependable employees are hard to find and when you do, you don't want to let them go. We have 45 employees today, many who have been with us for a number of years. To keep the best, we have a pay for performance compensation system that includes sales commissions, spiffs, annual bonuses and team cash awards for reaching stretch sales goals. We also offer health benefits, vacation and holiday pay, and we have a profit sharing plan where all employees of a certain tenure automatically participate.

However, besides compensation and benefits, most good employees want to be challenged and attain higher levels of responsibility. For this to take place, we try to move people into different disciplines dependent upon their desires and skill levels. We also have an annual Performance Appraisal Process where employees are given critical feedback to improve performance and where goals and objectives are set for the ensuing year. There is no magic bullet. You must treat your staff like you would like to be treated, with fair competitive compensation, with appreciation and respect.

Karen Scott, One Step Ahead, Lake Bluff, Ill.

My business isn't retail in the conventional sense, [One Step Ahead/Leaps and Bounds is a catalog/Internet retailer] but it is equally difficult to find and retain employees in sales and service. Some of the programs we offer are medical and dental, 401(k), annual bonus, tuition reimbursement, generous employee discounts (cost +10%), flexible work schedules, semi annual company lunches, birthday and anniversary recognition, monetary awards for employment milestones (5/10/15 years etc), and 'way to go dough,' which is currency for extra time off that is awarded for exemplary performance.

Phil Wrzesinski, Toy House and Baby Too, Jackson, Mich.

Finding and retaining good people is difficult. I believe it starts in how you treat your employees. Our core values as a business (friendliness, helpfulness, education and fun) are the same values we search for in our staff and promote in their jobs. If they aren't having fun at work, they won't come back.

The biggest benefit we offer is a friendly work environment with continued training, not just on store skills and product knowledge, but also life skills. Plus, we are very flexible and accommodating with schedules. We tell them that the priorities are family, education, and work (in that order) and schedule them according to their needs.

We currently have a staff of 18 with an average of more than 10 years experience each. We attribute that to treating people with respect, treating them as human beings, understanding that they have a life outside of work and giving them the tools to be successful both on the job and everywhere.

Ali Wing giggle

Jami Myers Jami B'z

Michael Schaul Lone Star Baby & Kids

Karen Scott One Step Ahead/Leaps and Bounds