Train Your Staff for Other Employment

In the style of an investigative exposé, a recent New York Times piece describes what might be considered exploitation of employees by Apple Retail Stores:

• An employee who sold $250,000 worth of merchandise monthly was paid only $11.25 per hour. 
• There’s no real career track to allow a range of employees to move up and earn more. 
• Any staff member who misses four days of work in a three-month period, regardless of the reason for the absence, is at risk for termination. 
• The technicians at the Genius Bar are expected to spend no more than ten minutes resolving any problem with an Apple device. 

     Yet, there’s no shortage of job applicants at Apple Retail Stores, and the annual retention rate for the Genius Bar technicians is about 90%.
     Exploiting employees is wrong. However, to keep adequate profitability, small to midsize retail stores often find it necessary to pay employees less than the owners would like to pay, and they can offer employees no real career track. The way Apple does it provides hints for you: Train your staff to do well in future employment.

• People like to have “Apple” on their résumés because of the prestige associated with the company. Keep the reputation of your store sterling so that having worked for you gives employees a badge of honor to present to other employers of all sorts. 
• Apple sets firm employee standards. These standards are designed to make money for the company, which does take in more per square foot than any other U.S. retailer. But the standards also can teach prioritizing in a busy work climate. When you do this sort of thing, it cultivates marketable skills in your employees. 
• Apple coaches employees to meet the standards. In your store, don’t assume that one-time training is enough. Effective coaching includes refresher training and asking each employee to recommit to your standards. Maybe you think employees will object to all this, but the truth is that most employees are more comfortable at work when they know what’s expected of them. 
• The NYT article quoted Apple Retail Store employees as saying they felt their work contributed to a greater good, so they were willing to accept the downsides. I’d expect that sort of talk from workers in a nonprofit, but would I also hear it from the employees in your store if I asked why they enjoy working for you? 

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Train Staff About Dress Standards 
Train Staff to Implement Your Standards