Creating a Dream Team in Your Center

What would your staff dream team look like? We want you to hold that vision as your goal, not the impossible dream. Many people’s dream job is to work with pets so the key is to create an opportunity in your business to make this dream come true for high performing team members. Building a dream team starts with the right hiring process which is our focus for the month.

We know that working with pets is hard work with a schedule that often impedes on typical family bonding time. In an effort to ensure employees understand these realities you often overlook the positive aspects of your jobs. As the economy improves and more jobs are available the competition to hire the best candidates intensify.To build your dream team you will need to hire smart and this month’s bonus item was created to help you do that. We have created a five-step interview process that is outlined in our bonus for the month: Hiring High Performers.

Before implementing this interview process you should spend some time assessing your work environment, schedules, job descriptions and staff development program. Let’s start with your work environment and schedule as we’ll discuss job descriptions and career ladders in a separate post later this month.

Flexibility is a required trait in a scarce labor market. To hire high performers you must be flexible and create a work environment that is attractive and competitive in your market (not just your pet center competitors, but all businesses that are hiring in your wage ranges).

Look at the perceived negatives of working in your business and think about changes you can make. Your goal is to still meet the needs of the business, but also make the position more appealing to high performing candidates.

Asking your current team members for input is your best resource and some topics for discussion include:

• What work shifts would you prefer on weekend days? (be sure to first communicate the business pet care needs and schedule that must be covered including staff numbers required for peak and off-peak seasons)
• How would you create a holiday scheduling system that is perceived as fair to all team members and provides everyone an opportunity to celebrate with family?
• What suggestions do you have to make our work environment more fun and engaging while still meeting our mission of providing quality pet care?

If you have this meeting it is very important that you be open and willing to make changes based on the feedback from your employees. During the session take a lot of notes, but do not criticize or shut down the flow of ideas. Also don’t make any commitments during the meeting. Be clear that your goal is to create a work environment that balances business needs of pet care and is a great place for employees to work.

Spend time later analyzing the list and incorporate as many ideas as you can. Plan a follow-up meeting to explain how you came to your decision on ideas to implement and why some of the suggestions could not be accommodated.

Now that you’ve converted the negatives of working in pet care to positives you use these as selling points. During your recruiting process talk about your flexible, fun work environment caring for loving family pets. Be sure to mention that you used employee input to create your work schedule procedures.

It is also important to expand your pool of candidates to increase odds of finding high performers. The easiest way to do this is to focus on hiring for soft skills and teaching the technical dog knowledge and pet care skills each position requires.

A formal staff training program is required for this approach to be effective and efficient. Of course we recommend our Knowing Dogs staff program as a resource, but you can create your own. See the education section of the Four E’s of Excellence for our recommended curriculum (the Four E’s PDF is your FREE gift for joining our membership).

Soft skills are also called core competencies and these should be defined for your business prior to implementing the 5-step interview process. For non-management positions you will focus on interpersonal & self-management competencies.

Building your dream team requires spending time honestly assessing your current work environment. Think from the perspective of your staff and create a job they enjoy. Create the foundation to hire high performers and your dream team will be a reality sooner than you thought.