In the final two week stretch leading up to Christmas (13 days left! I can't believe it!), it's easy to get overloaded with demanding customers and re-stocking shelves.

Think about holding a quick five minute staff meeting every day over the next two weeks to encourage and challenge your staff.

Some topics you may want to cover:

1. Customer service… customer service should be the TOTAL focus during the final countdown.
2. Up-sell… Remember to up-sell every customer. Christmas time is great for this, because EVERYONE needs stocking stuffers.
3. Greet… say hello to every customer, even during the busy hours.
4. Theft prevention… keep an eye on the merchandise. Remind your employees what to do if theft is suspected.
5. Visual merchandising… re-stock as much as possible throughout the day and keep the displays looking fresh, even if inventory gets low.

Just keep on selling. Every dollar counts.

I had a comment on the previous staffing post and since my response is long (and it's a universal question), I'm posting my response up here.

The question was: "I am ready to interview my first manager on Monday, and need 10 good questions to ask."

Most employers like to ask behavioral interview questions. Questions like these tap into your job candidate's previous behavior and performance, rather than questions that focus on what the interviewee might do in the future. Most companies have adopted a behavioral interviewing strategy because people's past performance tends to be the best indicators for their future performance.

Also, an important part of our interviewing strategy is not just developing the right questions to ask, but also creating a list of adjectives that describes the traits you're looking for in the position (some of your interview questions should tap into making sure you're hiring the right person for the right position). For example, if I was hiring a store manager, these are some of the traits I'd be looking for: honesty/integrity, ability to manage people/leadership skills, creativity, strong communication skills, confidence, resourcefulness and organizational skills.

Here are 12 behavioral/trait-based interview questions for you to ask your candidate, and a few things to keep in mind as you listen to the anwers:

Question 1: What would motivate you to optimal performance?
Answer: Not only should you be looking for the candidate to be motivated by money (especially if you're offering a bonus program which I highly suggest), but also get a sense that the candidate really loves managing people and making customers happy.

Question 2: Can you tell me about a time at work when you faced a difficult situation and how you worked to resolve it?
Answer: You're looking for an answer that ensures your candidate is resourceful and/or can handle a tough situation.

Question 3: How would you measure the success of this position?
Answer: You're looking for an answer that focuses on hitting the (sales) goals for the store while doing a great job managing the team. From my perspective, a great store manager is not only goal-oriented, but also loves working on a team.

Question 4: Can you tell me about a time that you handled a tough customer situation, what happened and how did you resolve it?
Answer: You're looking to make sure that the candidate has strong customer service skills.

Question 5: Have you ever had to use your creativity/resourcefulness to solve a problem, what was the situation and how did you resolve it?
Answer: Again, this question addresses resourcefulness and creativity. A variety of answers are acceptable as long as the candidate is referring to past examples instead of what they would do in the future.

Question 6: What would you do if you suspected that an employee was stealing?
Answer: You're looking for the manager to come to you, or investigate the situation. This question taps into their integrity and ethics.

Question 7: Are you the type of person for whom things never seem to fall through the cracks?
Answer: The candidate shows a strong sense of ownership and organization and gives specific examples.

Question 8: How do you feel about making a tough decision?
Anwer: The candidate indicates that they are very comfortable and provides a specific example of doing so in the past. This question may also tap into their leadership skills as well.

Question 9: What principles guide your conduct?
Answer: Candidate stresses honesty, integrity, and truthfulness.

Question 10: What role do you believe relationships play in making a sale?
Annswer: Indicates relationships are very important to making a sale and in creating repeat customers.

Question 11: What do you use to develop a quick rapport with customers? Do you use any special techniques?
Answer: Identifies specific techniques for developing a rapport/connecting with customers.

Question 12: How important is it for you to develop a strong rapport with your employees? Why is that?
Answer: Emphasizes the importance creating a relationship with staff so they are happy and feel motivated to perform.

Good luck. Interviews are always challenging for everyone involved. I'd love to hear about the results.

I get asked frequently if I have any suggestions for hiring new employees, and in particular, sales people. Because not only do you need a sales person who is energetic and motivated, but they also must have impeccable people skills AND get along with the team you already have in place.

So far my top two strategies have been:

Employee Referral Program… Your top employees can be a tremendous asset in recommending new hires. They know firsthand if the person would fit on the team and if they possess the skills necessary to be a top sales person (what I call a "power seller"). You might want to consider implementing a bonus/reward program for employees who are able to help you find new people. Once the new hire has been signed (or has been there 90 days), the employee who recommended them gets a gift card or perhaps a couple extra paid days off.

Let Your Customers Know You're Hiring… Sometimes customers make the best new employees because they're interested in (maybe even passionate about) what you're selling. I've heard stories about customers who have been loyal shoppers for 10+ years at a store and were quite excited about the opportunity to work at their favorite shopping destination. To attract customers to apply for a position, create professional signage touting some of the benefits of working for your company, such as flexible hours, great pay and the attractive store discount, or consider promoting the opening in a store newsletter, on your website, or through an email blast.

Since I strongly believe that your customers can make the best employees, I wanted to post that we have an opening in our ad sales department for a full-time national account manager. I encourage motivated and ambitious candidates to email a resume to: hr@specialtyretail.com. If it's not you we're looking for, feel free to pass this information along if you know someone who'd be perfect for us!

Patricia is out sick, possibly all week, so she called in a friend to guest blog. Today's post is from Poornima Apte, Editor of GIFT SHOP magazine.

I tuned in to NPR recently to listen to a fascinating discussion about life in the workplace with Gen Y—20 somethings—the babies of the baby boomers.

The article (it ran in Fortune magazine) that inspired the program states,

"They're ambitious, they're demanding and they question everything, so if there isn't a good reason for that long commute or late night, don't expect them to do it. When it comes to loyalty, the companies they work for are last on their list - behind their families, their friends, their communities, their co-workers and, of course, themselves.

But there are a whole lot of them. And as the baby-boomers begin to retire, triggering a ballyhooed worker shortage, businesses are realizing that they may have no choice but to accommodate these curious Gen Y creatures."

Are you a boomer yourself? Or even a Gen Xer? Do you know what it takes to keep your talented Gen Y employees loyal? What happens when the rules of the workplace get rewritten with every generation?

As a retailer, you know the key to thrive in the business is to change with the changing demands of your staff. What are you doing in your store to keep your multi-tasking, furiously ambitious Gen Yer engaged and happy?

—Poornima Apte
GIFT SHOP Magazine

I know everyone who interviews has a particular question that's their favorite… maybe it's simple, or maybe it's detailed, but whatever it is, you always ask it.

Before interviewing anyone, I make a list of the traits that I need the potential employee to have (i.e., positive attitude, strong communication skills, good with people, good at problem solving, etc.), and from that list I develop the questions to tap into the skill set that I'm looking for.

Ed Ryan (hey, I learned a great deal from his seminar!) says that rather than asking a potential employee how they might handle a situation in the future, you should ask about how they've dealt with past situations.

Why? Because research shows that past performance is an excellent indicator of future performance.

For example, to find out how your prospective employee might handle a difficult customer you could say, "Can you tell me about a time when you had to handle a difficult customer or colleague? What was the situation, and how did you resolve it?"

By asking that question you can assess how the candidate will deal with a difficult customer in the future, and get an understanding of what they might do to resolve the problem.

What's your favorite interview question?

A couple of years ago I took a seminar that discussed hiring and retaining good employees. It really opened my eyes, and now that I'm in the process of searching for a new employee, I've been reviewing what I learned.

The biggest lesson… when you hire mediocre employees, you get mediocre results. So hire fantastic employees and you'll get fantastic results. Pretty basic, but somehow it was never part of my mindset.

Prior to the seminar I used to dread interviewing people, and spent very little time with them before making the decision to bring them on board. I used to think that the interview process was taking valuable time away from everything else I had on my plate, but I learned that the more time you spend with someone in advance, the more likely you are to see if they'll be a good fit.

The instructor, Ed Ryan, suggested spending anywhere from five to eight hours on the interview process. You might even consider having a potential employee work with you for a day (basically a working interview). This will give you a great opportunity to get a feel for their ability, work ethic, customer service, etc. He also suggested interviewing at least three to five employees to make sure you're choosing the "best of the best."

If you don't find the right person keep going until you do… don't settle.

What are your secrets for hiring the best employees?