"Staff Development" Covers Employment Application to Exit Interview

Chuck and Dee Robinson of Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, were the presenters of the American Booksellers Association's program on "Staff Development" at the Day of Education at Hotel ABA on Thursday, May 31. During the well-attended session, which was repeated, the Robinsons outlined the basics of hiring, training, and motivating staff, including job application forms, interview questions, low-cost staff incentives, and more.

Describing Village Books' general approach towards staff management, Chuck Robinson cited a quote from Danny Wegman, the CEO of Wegmans: "We have always believed that in order to be a great place to shop, we must first be a great place to work." Towards that goal, Chuck outlined the "Cycle of Success," which includes employee competence and satisfaction in its several-step path to profitability.

Chuck stressed making the right choices from the beginning, or "getting the right people on the bus" -- a concept outlined in Jim Collins' Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't (HarperCollins). He emphasized strategizing from the outset by creating an application form that goes beyond asking for recent work history and a list of schools attended.

Dee Robinson noted that Village Books' form is three pages long and requires detailed handwritten responses. It weeds out those not really interested in working there, and divulges an applicant's spelling ability. "You can't look up a title," she said, "if you can't spell it."

The Robinsons conduct the job interview as a team. A typical question is, How do you know if you've done a good job? "The wrong answer is, When the boss tells me," said Dee. She explained, "I want to assess if they're internally motivated rather than externally." Other interview questions address employee honesty and managing customer and co-worker difficulties.

The Robinsons noted that booksellers looking to hire new employees should consider store customers, former chain store staff members, and students at nearby universities.

Two weeks after hiring someone new, the Robinsons said, they sit down with the person for an overall clarification session. After three months the probation period is over, and both employer and employee get a "no harm, no foul" chance to evaluate if it's a good fit for everyone. Chuck advised booksellers to let someone go if it isn't working by three months.

Regarding employee priorities, the Robinsons cited Fortune's list of the "Top Five Companies to Work For in 2007": Google, Gentech, The Container Store, Wegmans, and Whole Foods. After noting that each of these companies had higher than average compensation packages, Chuck Robinson acknowledged that bookselling wasn't known for its fat paychecks, but he was quick to add that there are many ways to compensate, including offering a flexible schedule, which may be time-consuming to create, but is certainly appreciated by staff.

Other compensations include gift cards, either for in-store use or for use at other local businesses, as bonuses or incentives. Chuck said he swaps Village Books' cards for those of other stores to minimize cash outlay. Being sent to trade shows and/or ABA's Winter Institute is another valued perk, said Chuck, noting (and quoting from a recent fortune cookie) "education is not as expensive as ignorance."

A quick recap of other tips offered to booksellers were: conduct staff surveys, evaluate employees' goals within the store, offer time to read trade publications, consider hosting parties as an incentive for goals met, and conduct exit interviews.

Following the session, Kerry Slattery of Los Angeles' Skylight Books said that Chuck and Dee Robinson hit issues vital to bookstore owners and managers. "Everyone's always looking for opportunities to empower employees, and they had good ideas about that.... I liked the gift card trade idea, or even offering something in-store. That's really important." --Karen Schechner