As a follow up to a recent post about creating great interview questions during the hiring process, here are some great behavioral questions I encourage you to use for inspiration.

I’ve always been a proponent of behavioral interview questions because they allow to get a peek into how a candidate has conducted themselves in the past, rather than relying on what they say they would do in the future (or in a hypothetical situation). These five questions will help you find a candidate with the skills and traits you’re seeking.

1. Tell me about a difficult customer service situation you experienced. How did you handle it? What did you do right and/or wrong? How has that experienced changed how you deal with customers today?
2. How to you personally measure job satisfaction/success? How do you think this position will measure up?
3. Give an example of a difficult situation with a fellow employee and how you handled it.
4. We believe that creating and maintaining strong customer relationships are critical to making sales and growing our business. Can you give me an example of how you create strong customer relationships?
5. Tell me about the best boss you’ve ever worked for, what you learned from them and how you apply those lessons today.

If you have done your homework before the interview and created a thorough list of skills and traits you’re seeking, you can score each answer based on whether the candidate displayed those traits in how he or she handled previous situations.

Hiring quality employees is one of our greatest challenges as business owners and managers. Here are some tips to use in the interview process to weed out the losers and choose the winners.

Know precisely what you are looking for. When preparing for interviews. make sure you have your job description and skills list with you — and that you take it with you into the interview. Formulate questions ahead of time that will help you determine if your candidates have the skills and experience you need. Test certain skills (punctuality) with the interview itself. Set a time for the interview and make note of which candidates show up on time (or ideally a few minutes early).

Know how to ask questions. Create a comfortable, conversational atmosphere for your interviews. Candidates will likely be nervous, so start out with small talk to put them at ease. Plan to use open-ended interview questions, such as “tell me about a situation with an angry customer and how you dealt with it.” Avoid questions that only require a 'yes' or 'no' answer. If the applicant doesn't have specific experiences to draw from, you can ask them “tell me what you would do if…” and pose a situation.

Make note of the non-verbal interview. Of course you will listen carefully to the candidates’ answers to your questions, but make sure you are noting what candidates are telling you non-verbally. Important qualities, such as whether the candidate is presentable, genuine and possesses good communication skills are likely important to you. Other non-verbal cues like friendliness and a sense of humor are also good qualities to watch for.

Recently I've had a number of retailers post comments and email questions about interviewing and hiring tips, so I thought it would be helpful to cover this topic more frequently.

Please let me know what topics you would most like to hear about by posting a comment below or emailing me directly.

I wonder if you’ve noticed, as I have, that over recent years employees and businesses have become more comfortable with a dressed down environment. Balancing that trend with the belief that in business the clothes make the man or woman can create conflicts in the workplace, especially when it comes to whether or not to implement a dress code. We all want our businesses to be portrayed in the best light, while still allowing the self expression of our employees, so this is what I've found that works.

Dress code? Yes, but with flexibility. Consider what your purpose is in implementing a dress code. I like to think of a dress code as a guideline to steer employees to make the right decisions, rather than a list of "don't's." As a business owner I want my employees and my business to appear professional; however, I don’t want everyone to have to dress the same. Create a policy that is most appropriate for your employees and your business environment.

It depends. Having a dress code is important but based on the products you sell and industry you’re in, it could be very different from a formal corporate dress code. When creating a dress code, make sure it will make your employees and customers feel comfortable interacting with your business. As an extreme example, if your store sells skateboarding equipment, it would be silly and off-putting to customers if employees had to wear suits.

Be sensitive. As any business owner is aware when designing policies, you have to pay attention to any potential discrimination pitfalls, whether by gender, religious or race. To be safe, have your attorney review any policies you write. In general, if your policy places a greater burden on anyone based on gender, race or religion, it could be a problem.

How have you handled this issue with your business?

We've all been there. You meet, interview and then hire the person that you are absolutely sure will be your best salesperson ever. Then they turn out to be awful. So what makes a great salesperson? Are they born or made? I recently read a great article on this subject and thought I’d share my takeaways with you on how you can spot a successful salesperson.

Can they talk the talk? A successful salesperson will be immersed in their chosen industry and be able to talk the talk easily with customers and prospects. For example, they will know and easily use industry standard acronyms, such as POS or POP.

Are they adaptable? A successful salesperson will intuitively collect information, internalize, and adapt their approach based on past experience with customers. They will refine their pitch to the gender of their customer based on how they’ve observed men and women receive their sales pitch differently.

Do they understand politics? A wise man once said “wherever two or more are gathered, there is politics.” A successful salesperson will understand the human and personal nature of a purchase decision and be able to navigate within that environment intuitively.

Are they hungry? For a salesperson to be successful they need to have a healthy measure of hunger that compels them to close sales. A successful salesperson will appreciate being fairly compensated for their efforts. Successful salespeople are rarely the sort that will say “I’d do this job even if I wasn’t getting paid.”

The National Retail Federation recently released a report that said a whopping 97% of retailers surveyed utilize background screenings during the application, hiring and employment process. Hiring this year’s holiday staff will likely result in a large influx of applicants and conducting background checks is one way to whittle down candidates.

Here are a few tips to help you use background checks effectively and avoid getting into legal trouble. As always, I recommend seeking professional legal advice for your specific questions.

Credit reports… Checking an applicant’s credit report is one of the most common background checks by employers. Be sure you are getting express written consent from potential employees to check their credit. If you use anything in the credit report as a reason not to hire, you must provide the applicant with a copy of the report and let them know they have the right to challenge the information.

Criminal records… Whether or not you can check an applicant’s criminal record varies by state, so make sure to look up the law in your state or consult your attorney.

Medical records… From what I’ve read, there’s much mis-information and confusion over whether employers can access a candidate’s medical records. According to the SBA.gov website, you can only request medical records based on whether the applicant will be able to perform specific job duties. Also, laws regarding employers access to medical records vary by state, so on this one I’d highly recommend seeking legal counsel.

Worker’s Compensation records… Much of the information on worker’s compensation claims is a matter of public record and thus you do not need consent to access it. However, if you decide not to hire based on this information you must document that and be able to show the applicant’s injury would prevent them from performing their job duties.

Also, mention to applicants that they are entitled to a free copy of their background screening report. They can contact a screening firm such as ChoicePoint, one of the largest firms, at 866-312-8075 to get a free copy of their file (if one exists for them).

As managers we all know we’re supposed to conduct performance reviews, but often preparing for and conducting them seems no more desirable than filing our taxes. So why do performance reviews at all? Because it's an ideal time to speak to each staff member one-on-one, further your businesses goals and most importantly, motivate your employees to perform at to their full potential. Motivated, happy employees will translate directly to a bigger bottom line for your store.

With that being said, here are the top five reasons to stay on top of those performance reviews:

Motivates employees to keep growing. Taking time to sit down and speak with employees about their performance specifically not only helps them feel valued but if done properly can motivate them to work harder and build more loyalty. As the song says, “accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative” to create a constructive atmosphere where you and your employee work together to grow their career and thus your business.

Helps create a paper trail. It’s important and professional to keep documentation of employees’ performance, pay increases, promotions and also when employees do not get raises and promotions. Hopefully you never need to defend your actions in a legal dispute, but if you do you’ll be very happy you have everything documented.

Develops employees into ideal staff. By having regular performance reviews you have the chance to help employees stay on track with the goals you have created together and reiterate your expectations. By making your expectations explicit you can reduce misbehavior and develop employees into the ideal staff you’ve always dreamt of.

Great time to get feedback. A constructive performance review should be a two-way conversation — and an opportunity for you to hear how you and your business are doing from the perspective of the staff. Be prepared with questions and keep an open mind to the answers you receive. Avoid being defensive, just listen and take time to consider any criticisms your employees have.

Ideal way to further business goals. Getting as many as possible in your organization on board with your annual business goals will make those goals just that much easier to achieve. Take time during an evaluation to share your goals and how you plan to achieve them. Ask for ideas. You may be surprised at the brilliant ones people offer.

Having employee contests is a great way to motivate and invigorate your employees, especially during the slower summer months. Here a few ideas.

Use contests to recognize outside-of-work talents your staff may have. For example, Safelite AutoGlass hosts an employee photo contest each year and produces a calendar to be given out to customers from winning photos. You could host a similar contest and decorate your store with the winning photos.

Host a customer scavenger hunt. Create a game that benefits both customers and employees. For example, a customer service call center had a customer scavenger hunt where employees had to ask questions and collect customers’ information to win the game. Create a matrix with 10 items or pieces of information (“A customer born and raised here” or “A customer that graduated from Harvard”) employees have to collect from customers and the first employee to find all the right customers wins.

Use your creativity. Help make tough tasks more fun by creating games around them. Create games around your business’s least popular tasks (inventory day!). Employees love friendly competition, so find ways to throw a little competition into boring, less desirable store tasks.

While reading up on employee motivation recently, I ran across some interesting suggestions based on new research. I thought I’d share some of the top tips to help you put a renewed spring in your employees step.

Help them see the impact of their job on others Employees will work harder and smarter if they are directly connected to the impact they have on others. For example, a study showed that lifeguards that were told stories from people whose lives were saved by lifeguards were much more effective and motivated at work. As a retailer, make sure your employees are plugged in to the vision for your store that gets you out of bed each morning. Connect them with your passion. The next time one of your loyal customers visits the store, invite your customer to share what it is they love so much about their shopping experience, then share it with your employees at the next staff meeting.

Create environment where employees can connect personally with customers Recent studies show that when employees meet customers face-to-face and hear a personal story, they are more motivated to work harder for that customer. Train employees to personally engage customers during every visit. This will help your customers have a more welcoming visit, and they will spend more time and more money in your store. All of this will increase the motivation of your employees.

Sweat the small stuff Make sure you create an environment in your business that pays attention to the small stuff. What may be small to you may go a long way in motivating your employees to work harder and smarter. For example, I recently read about an hotelier that learned it could motivate housekeepers by making sure they had newer model, working vacuums. Imagine that! Encourage employees to share with you those small things that will help them do a better job and motivate them to be their best.

Recently I read an article about a study on customer trust commissioned by Pitney Bowes Business Insight. Not surprisingly, the study reported that fostering customer trust leads to greater loyalty, one of the hallmarks of a successful retail business.

So, how do we foster greater trust among our customers? Here are some examples cited in the study:

Front-line employees
The study found that front-line employees are the most-considered factor among customers in whether they can trust your business. Hiring great people is critical to your business success and training those great people is just as important. Teach your people how to give customers a memorable, trustworthy experience when they visit your store.

Transparency
Increasing transparency in your policies and procedures is another way the study found to increase customer trust. Make sure your return policies, price adjustment policies and procedures for how customer complaints are handled are clear, explicit and well-communicated. Also, teach your employees to be transparent and honest with customers. When they don’t know something, teach them to say “I don’t know, but I will find out for you.”

Effective communications
How you communicate with customers also affects whether they trust you or not. Examine all the ways your business communicates with the customers and prospective and make sure that each communication opportunity reflects clarity, competence, and honesty.

Past experiences
Customers’ past experience with your business is also one of the top factors in whether they trust you or not, says the study. Thus, it’s imperative that each time your customer interacts with your business – from something simple like calling and ask your hours of operation to a more sensitive situation like solving a customer complaint – if it’s done in a competent, transparent, respectful and honest manner you will earn not only the trust, but also the loyalty of your customers.

Employee motivation is a very popular topic on my blog. After all, a highly motivated team is one the key ingredients to phenomenal customer service and subsequently, increased sales. To complement an upcoming free HR webinar we are hosting next week (see speaker and participation details below), I thought I’d offer a few HR tips of my own: 

Try some one-on-one face time
Good employees will ideally possess a healthy amount of self-motivation, so if their excitement seems to be lacking take the time to speak with them to see if you can determine why. Perhaps it’s due to feeling that they lack proper training, valuable feedback or are losing their sense of purpose within your organization. Most people have the genuine desire to succeed so if you take an interest in learning why they seem less motivated and address the issue, your efforts alone are likely to go a long way in increasing their enthusiasm and effectiveness at work.

Offer to give your people a purpose
Do you know how your employees would finish the statement “I work here because…"? If not, perhaps now is the time to ask. Spend time getting to the root of the purpose your organization plays in the lives of your employees. Then you will know how to motivate them. For example, if an employee glibly replies, “I work here because I need the paycheck,” then you’ll know that he or she is motivated by financial rewards. If another replies “I work here because I want to learn more about retailing” you can reward and motivate that person with further education to support them in learning and furthering their career. Remember that at the end of the day we all want to feel that what we’re doing with our days has some meaning, so help your employees achieve meaning with their job and you will have succeeded in motivating them.

Recognition goes a long way
Employees love to know that you, as their manager, see and appreciate their accomplishments. Recognition of their accomplishments doesn’t necessarily mean passing out expensive bonuses all the time, perhaps just a simple gift, as well as recognizing them among their peers by posting their name and photo in the break room or in your company e-newsletter.

Remember that the best managers avoid micro-management and focus on clearly defined outcomes rather than nit-picking and second-guessing employees. Also, do what you can to build relationships with your employees and keep fun in the workplace, all which costs little-to-nothing, but goes far in keeping great people motivated.

Next week we are offering a free webinar on Essential Human Resources Management Tips. This important webinar is being taught by the VP of Human Resources for American Kiosk Management, a giant in our industry. As HR Director for AKM, she oversees more than 1600 employees. We’d love to have you join us for this important seminar so you can avoid some of the most common mistakes in managing your team. Register today… it's free!