Footwear Insight

Here, you can still be in the retail world and have a life. My people will determine if we succeed or fail, and the flexibility and life balance we offer — allows us to have people that stick around and that want to be here." Be Opportunistic Finding a promising new employee can be like lighting striking — it's rare and it happens on its own timeline. So one piece of advice cropped up again and again: If you find someone great, hire them — even if you don't neces- sarily have a hole to fill (yet). "We say we're always hiring," says Lanne Stauffer, who owns Market Street Shoes with her husband Ryan. "We hired two people this morning. I'd rather hold onto someone amazing [than risk losing them]. It definitely takes a little time, but we have really great retention." Offer Long-Term Opportunities Naperville Running Co.'s Brady says he never intended to make selling shoes a career — but that owner Kris Hartner's belief in giving employees ways to grow has kept him in the role. Brady started as a part-time college student, and started working as a manager in a newly opened store after he gradu- ated and considered whether or not to pursue his planned career path of teaching/coaching. And at that point, he says, Hartner sat down with him and a few other key employees to discuss their big-picture plans — which has evolved into a multi-year plan designed to give them equity and eventual ownership stakes in the store. Build a Place People *Want* to Work Ultimately, the store culture is a shop's biggest asset, and the thing they have the most control over. Alan Miklofsky, president, Alan's Shoes, Tucson, AZ, has multiple employees in his stores who have been with him twenty-five (or more!) years. He says the culture has to be paramount. " W e ' r e s h o e d o g s h e r e , " h e says. "You can't be the extremes. You can't have the most merchan- dise, the lowest prices, you can't always pay the most. You've got to build reasons for people to stay that aren't based on economics — that's true for customers as well as employees." What does that look like? It might be a different for each store, but respect, partnership and mutual trust go a long way, owners say. "We really believe in taking care of [employees], in every way we can," Breton says. "Everything is a high five, a positive attitude. It's friendly, smiley, happy. We praise them in public and at meetings; any coun- seling is done one-on-one. That's what we foster, even though we are a good-size chain. We walk that walk in all our stores." "We used to say we have to hold people accountable. Now it's making sure they're successful," Luck says. Whether that means giving them training they'll be able to use in future employment or finding new positions for them within the stores, giving staff places to do well is critical, he said. "Especially with Generation Z — they want to be suc- cessful. So if you can help them be successful, that resonates really well with them. That's what they want, what we want, what the customer wants." At the end of the day, this is where brick-and-mortar independents have an advantage, Sajdak says. "Our biggest problem is people retiring from us," he says. "We're a family-owned business, and people become part of our work family." Sajdak says the store ownership tries to shows appreciation often, whether it's through hosting a picnic for employees and their families, or making breakfast for morning meet- ings. "People want to know they're doing a good job, and you have to create an environment where people want to stay. It's an investment. We're mixing it up, we're here, we're talking to our people. As locally owned stores, we should be really good at that." l Finding a promising new employee can be like lighting striking — it's rare and it happens on its own timeline. CROWD SOURCE 24 • Footwear Insight ~ September/October 2019 footwearinsight.com Alan's Shoes

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