Tag: career

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Onboarding New Hires

New hires

Congratulations, you have a new employee! Now it’s time to onboard them so they feel a part of the team. Read on for the four things to keep in mind to ensure you both are on a path to succeed.

Responsibilities

Employees should know the duties that fit their job description. Set clear expectations and help new hires understand what those expectations look like. This can be completing a piece of a project, meeting sales quotas, and more.

Every time you have a discussion about employee expectations, be sure to follow up with an email. It’s okay to check with your employee to gauge their understanding of the expectations you’ve outlined.

Acceptance

There’s nothing worse than being new to a team and having to introduce yourself. To make your new hire feel accepted, introduce them early on their first day during a team round up.

Another great method is to pair the new hire with a mentor. The mentor shouldn’t be someone in a management position, but rather a peer. This will go a long way in saving you time answering questions about the day-to-day.

Training New Hires

Thorough training sets your employees up to succeed. Invest the time required to ensure the new hire is an expert in their position. Slow down or speed up as needed, but be sure to provide feedback as early as possible. Let your new hire know if they’re exceeding expectations and encourage them to provide feedback also.

Career

You have a vision of the company, and your new hire has a vision of their career. Set up your new hire on a path to succeed and not only will they buy into your vision but they’ll fit into the company’s culture in no time.

Inspiration for this post came from “Create a Winning Team” by Melisa Morrison published in the August 2022 issue of American Quilt Retailer. Morrison is the Director for Human Resources at the Latex Construction Company and is a former quilt shop owner.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you. And don’t forget, you can always purchase single issues if you prefer that instead.

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The Creative Balance

If only someone had the answer to the age old question; how do I make a career as an artist? The harsh reality is—you can’t.

Owning your own quilt shop is about the closest thing to monetizing a creative endeavor as you can get, and I’m sure we all count that blessing when we take time to appreciate the things we have.

But some days it’s really hard to appreciate! Being a small business owner is a lot of work, and there are both mundane and difficult tasks that need to be done in order to keep the business going.

The next time you have ten minutes to spare, watch this video with advice from Elizabeth Gilbert where she outlines the difference between hobbies, jobs, careers, and vocations.

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Gilbert outlines that out of those four words, the only thing you have to have is a job. And doesn’t that stink! But at the end of the day, everyone has one, regardless of if you were born into gentry or not. Don’t view your job as something that you have to love, because you don’t. That’s where hobbies come in. A hobby is something you like to do. But hobbies are also something you don’t have to love, just things you enjoy.

Now a career is a job that you need to love. If you’re in a career and you don’t love it, I’m sure it’s terrible. A career is a job you’re willing to put more time and effort into because you truly believe in the cause. It is more than just a transaction where you put in work in order to get money to survive in the materialistic world.

The thing that lets you contribute to the artistic world—the world we all so badly want to be more involved in—is a vocation. A vocation is the thing you were born to do. Although it takes a lot of self-discipline to remain true to your vocation (especially if you have a job), our vocation is the thing that provides the most meaning and fulfillment into our lives, and others.

If you find yourself confusing what each of these words are to bring to your life, go back to the video. Hopefully it will bring you as much peace of mind and clarification the second time around.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.