Like many of us this time of year, shopping for gifts for friends and family was a mandatory project. My first stop was a major chain electronics store that is closing just three months after it opened (it was not a good experience and will not be named here!). After getting a poor response from the person at the cash register, I left without even buying the one thing I intended to get – deciding the hassle wasn’t worth the savings and that I would rather give a few dollars more to someone else if necessary. I was willing to look elsewhere to get what I wanted.
But my second stop was at the local L.L. Bean store - armed with a list of items suggested by my parents and siblings – several of which were available at there. I went in to see what I could find. One item was a solar charger for cell phones. They had one model of the brand I was looking for but the price was different than I had been told. So Andy, the staff person in that department, went to a computer and checked the web site. Sure enough there was another model with different features at the price I expected. A little later in the visit we had picked up a PolarTek jacket for my dad. Checking with a sales person (Carl this time), we asked a question and got a cheery and well informed response.
And so I just had to ask, “What kind of training do people get when they come to work here?”
Carl proceeded to tell me the L.L. Bean philosophy of hiring and training people. They hire a few “old dogs” who are proven experts in the work – good with outdoor products and activities and with good recommendations and experiences from previous employers. These experts set the bar and are called on to preserve the quality of the work force and presentation in the stores.
The rest are then hired and Carl said, “We look for attitude first. If someone is intelligent I can teach them the technical stuff in a few weeks. But if they have a bad attitude there’s not much I can do about that before they can do some real damage. We can tell if someone can do the work in a few weeks but we can’t afford many mistakes, especially in attitudes. People can get outdoor equipment and clothing anywhere. All we have is high quality products and good customer service.”
When I asked more about the specific training he said that there are really two aspects to the training. The first is that everyone is connected in the department they will work with a mentor – someone who knows more and can help navigate situations with the new person.
The second is a three day orientation that is primarily an attitude adjustment time – highly relational and lots of interactive and group activities. He says these three days are “serious work and lots of fun – if that makes any sense!” I assured him that it made perfect sense to me – one of A.R.E.’s guiding principles is “working playfully.”
And so I got 4 things from my time at L.L. Bean:
- 1. Hire quality people but weigh attitude over expertise. You can train in technical skills more easily than you can adaptive and attitudinal ones.
- Connect new people with a mentor – someone who can help people discern and process the work and the things they are learning.
- When you bring someone on board spend the extra time to invest in a good training and orientation time with them. The temptation will be to have this time focus mostly on knowledge and technical things about the job. L.L. Bean has learned that it is just as important (maybe more!) to focus on their attitude and relationships.
- It is OK (i.e. - important!) to help people have some fun at work. If fun happens then it ripples good will through the whole system. If no one has any fun, by the time you get to the customers or clients, they may not only not have fun – they may not even have a positive experience!
Actually, I got one other thing, too. I got a positive experience. I found what I wanted in a way that made me enjoy being there. For me, shopping is work (and not all that much fun). But my experience meant that I enjoyed shopping there! Because they could work playfully, I could shop positively.
What are you doing to expand your work? The team at A.R.E. is growing - watch for announcements about new staff people in the coming weeks. And one of the first things we will be doing is bringing the new staff together to spend time getting to know about A.R.E. – but even more, to get to know each other.
And when you bring people on, are you investing the kind of time it takes to be sure they not only know the ropes but also have the attitude and relational skills to represent you well? Like L.L. Bean, almost all of us deal in things that people can get other places, too. They will choose us based on how high the quality of our work is and the nature of the relationships that we (and our staff) make with them. - Dave Daubert
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