Something that's been on my mind recently: shop policies and procedures. I just read an earlier thread on the subject of getting employees to clean the shop here. This discussion quickly turned to hiring the right people and getting rid of bad hires as well as having documented cleaning lists and store policies (on cell and internet usage, ect.). While I sympathize with business owners on using systems to get employees to accomplish your goals, I also feel that these lists and policies are often used as a stop-gap in lieu of good hiring practices.
A few books still on my palate are "Good to Great", "Built to Last", "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", and a few leadership seminars by Andy Stanley and Dave Ramsey. Now, I haven't read every leadership book in existence but I've read a few and none of them have ever said: "Wait to start the hiring process until you need a new person, settle for somebody who doesn't immediately annoy you, compensate for the bad hire by writing a huge rule book that plays to the lowest standard of behavior, and keep that person on until they quit out of frustration." As a matter of fact, most of them say avoid doing these things at all costs; even if you have to work 12 hours a day for two months. I don't think any of us set out to create this kind of work environment but through poor projection/poor hiring processes we end up doing just that.
My philosophy is currently to have as few rules/regs as possible, hire people that don't need many rules, and address special circumstances with customers or the shop on a case-by-case basis. But I know that my way isn't the only or even the best way, so my curiosity is this: what is your (or your store's) philosophy on hiring and policies/procedures, and/or have you found yourself slipping into bad hires and playing to the lowest standard?
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