The Lemons. Human Resources a key part of Fashion Retail

Don't let my previous post fool you. I haven't always hired the right people. I've hired some real lemons in my time.

Some you can tell almost right away, some wait till just after their probationary period and some turn on you when their environment changes. Things like theft and tardiness are obvious firing reasons.

I've had a few girls when confronted with minor correctable problems freak out. It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad. Instead of correcting their mistakes they make the situation worse by denying it or trying to blame the person who they think snitched on them. All they had to do was correct their mistake, instead of obsessing about getting caught. When this happens there's not much I can do but to let them go.

Probably the trait I can't handle most in employee is harmful gossiping.... oh gossiping about boyfriends or how something makes someone looks weird is fine. It's the harmful work gossip I can't handle. When I find it, I do my best to stamp it out. I never discipline staff on the basis of what another staff says. I always observe it first hand myself before something happens. I do usually give one warning. However, I will surely fire someone if they think they're indispensable. I value all my staff but let's face it everyone is replaceable.

There are rare times when I've been able to turn lemons into lemonade. Those staff have been in my experience some of the best staff I've had the pleasure to work with.

The Good. Human Resources a key part of Fashion Retail

The single most frustrating and satisfying part of retail is the human resources aspects of running a store. When you've got a good team and personnel with leadership qualities it's easy.

For the most part I've been fortunate at Tru to have some great staff. The core team we have at Tru has been together for well over 2 years and one of my best girls have been with us from the very beginning. I'd love to keep them all but time marches on and the girls lives are progressing as they finish up university or moving forward in their fashion careers. I'm very proud to say that one of my old assistants has now been promoted to be the Manager of Lacoste (a store over from Tru Drama) Congratulations D! The current assistant has a big moment in the future for herself and will be leaving us soon too. I hope she decides to go to Parsons or FIDM, at those fine institutions they'll elaborate on her already formidable merchandising skills.

So with my existing team getting older and moving on I've placed an ad for new hires. What's been surprising is the quality applicants we've had. I don't recall a time when I had 3 good applicants let alone the 7 great applicants out of the 50 plus girls that applied. I've come to realize that the girls who join us have come to work for us have a similar reasons. You're thinking money perhaps? Nope, we don't pay anymore than anyone else. One of the main reasons is fashion... the deep down honest to goodness desire for fashion in all it's forms.

I have friend in the mall that owns a few stores in Oakrdige mall. His attitude and pretty much all other retailers is to tell their employees NOTHING. He's been burned before since one of his employees opened up a competing store and stole his lines. Ouch! However, I think he's forgotten that a very very very long time ago I worked for him too! Yup I used to work in his Robson store for 4 weeks. I recall he didn't like the way I merchandised. It was all his way... which is fine but with no explanation of why. I wanted to learn but it wasn't going to happen there.

I spent my retail career at shops where I thought I could learn the trade. Where did I learn? I've worked at all sort of places, but the best places are boutiques. You certainly won't learn anything at the Gap or H&M. At chain stores you're not going to learn anything about fashion or retailing other than how to fold and watch for shoplifters. Those sorts of businesses are all about inventory and keeping it in stock.

What I personally offer is respect. That is of course that the staff member respects the other staff, customers, product and store. I respect that all my staff have goals beyond working at the store. If they're fashion goals then I will help them any way I can. It doesn't scare me when a staff member wants to open her own store or dreams of their own line. So if you want a high paying job work at Starbucks. Working with us will get you a start in fashion.

I won't just hire any Martian!

I got this comment from an anonymous poster. I thought the comments posed were worth writing about in an actual post:

Anonymous said...

Hi there, im a big fan of tru drama but sometimes i feel intimidating to shop there, because it possess an "asian only vibe." I Just think it would be nice to see a range of different race working instead of just chinese asian, because i dont always understand what they're saying .But i do understand that you prefer to recruit within family and friends.

A couple of years ago AE got sued for hirinf caucasian surfer like guys only, just giving you a heads up to avoid this.

February 3, 2008 10:04 PM

We certainly don't strive to have an "asian only vibe". However, I can see your point of view. We do our very best to have a diverse team and we've had visible non Asians working for us in the past. The mix of the store may be not as intimidating once I share some information with you.

It would be a dream if I could staff my store with family. I could pay them very little and work them like dogs! Alas, none of the staff are related to me. The store staff might have a very homogeneous look to them it but in reality the store is quite diverse. The countries currently represented are Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, China and Vietnam. We may all be Asians but that's like saying Italians are really the French... a comparison both would deny and despise.

Even I can only communicate with one other staff in my own store in my native language! Both of my past assistants share only one language with me. I can't speak either Mandarin or Korean so English was it. Our store policy is to speak English at all times unless the customer needs help in a language one of our girls speak. I'd like to think most of the girls follow the policy.

I hire on the basis of ability and attitude, race has never been an issue. The applications the store gets a majority are Asians. The ratio of non Asian resumes is probably 1 out 20. I believe that's got something to do with the neighborhood we're in. So the choices I have are pretty narrow. We also have low turnover, I think we have 1/3 the normal industry rate. Combine all that with the the limited amount of actual hours available for new staff... well it's pretty tough for anyone to crack the team.

I would love to have a more diverse team at Tru Drama. However, I will hire the best candidate regardless of their background. I'd hire a Martian if I thought he/she/it had the right stuff! Right now I've got an opening for a full or near full time staff. So send your resumes to jobs@trudrama.com.

The Best Assistants

Yesterday, was the last day for my assistant D. She's moving on to enrich her fashion career. I think this is a good move and I fully support her in this. She's been with me for 3 years. Like my previous assistant Karen, she came over from the Kris + Cris Shoes store when we opened Tru Drama. I've had 2 assistants since my second store and both of them have been invaluable.

The assistant position isn't the same as a store assistant manager. Although at times they've been both. They're really a rare blend of "can do" attitude, brains, maturity and of course fashion ability. My first assistant Karen has moved to Toronto to work in finance. In my last visit to Toronto we had gotten together for drinks and lunch. I'm glad to say she's on the path to mega bucks even though her career is sucking her soul dry. She misses fashion!

D is embarking on a similar one I had made at her age. Trying to make it in fashion. She's got all the right tools to be successful. I hope she finds herself in the right companies that will recognize and nurture her star talents. I'm certain one day I'm going to be talking to a young fresh faced assistant about D, "Yeah I knew her when..."

My assistants are my in-store confidantes, travel mates and fashion buyers. The first time me and D attended our first Vegas show was a great experience. We came back home with our bags packed to the brim with free giveaways from suppliers. Not much can beat free things! The very best times have been sharing meals with them. I've had the pleasure of introducing two "must haves" in LA to them. Homemade Tiramisu at Al Gelato on Robertson and Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori in Torrance. The "O" faces we would make while eating would be near pornographic.

It's been an honour to share fashion and food with these two great girls!

I'll work you hard but you'll look good doing it

Want to get a job at Tru Drama? Most applicants fail to get very far because of problems with their resumé or on their interview. So here's a quick guide to help you get further.

On your resumé:

• When emailing your resumé, please send it in a text or Microsoft Word format (please not the Vista version). Why send a file that isn't in a format everyone can read or is in the world's most common word processor format?
  
• State the hours and days you're available to work in a week.
  
• Take the extra step to find out who you need to address your resumé to, that's a positive!

At the interview:

• Be pleasant and have a professional manner when you hand in your resumé or when you show up for the interview. All the girls write down notes for me or my assistant. Because they may be your coworkers, consider them to be your first part of the interview process. The notes help me decide who we get to interview. Some of the more interesting notes on resumés from staff have been: sloppily dressed, smells weird, was sleepwalking and the always popular rude.
• Be punctual. If you're late, I can pretty much guarantee you're not getting the job. Someone who can't come to an interview on time is unlikely to show up to work on time. So show up 10 minutes early.
• Understand what company you're trying to work for. You're at this website, use it to understand our clothing brands and what we're trying to achieve for the customer.

This above information applies to us but really applies to any situation where you want a job.

Our annual Christmas dinner is always a blast.
Last year it was at Watermark at Kits beach.

Most of the girls have been with us for a while so job spots are always hard to come by. However, we're always open to exceptional individuals joining us. So besides great coworkers there are some fringe benefits that not many other stores can offer:

• Snacks galore! We all love to eat, so don't get it in your mind that we starve ourselves, far from it! Snack wise, I have my favourites, but my girls have introduced me to a world class spread of snacks and candies. Some really weird yet delicious stuff. Want some menthol preserved plum? Come on over!
  
• You'll never be the last one to get your hands on that Dereon hoodie! Unlike other places we have an extremely generous employee discount program.
  
• Be a buyer! Over time if you show some ability and scheduling issues aside, I often go with one of the girls from the store to markets or trade shows. So cramped economy flights, long hours, (if we can't avoid it) mediocre food and insincere clothing reps... yup it's glamorous!

Although experience is important, I value enthusiasm, hard work and a bit of brains even more. If I haven't scared you off, apply at the store or e-mail your resumé to us.