Perceptive HR Technology

My 16 year old daughter just got a job at the neighborhood ice cream store, Izzy’s. It was a great teaching moment between us when I tried to explain how using your network to find a job was (by far) the best approach.  She’d applied at various places when I asked her where her friends were working and she mentioned Izzy’s (which we’d been frequenting for years anyway).  After several minutes of ‘Dad, that won’t work,’ she agreed to try.  Low and behold, she had the job a few days later.

That, though, isn’t the point of this post.  It’s the way Izzy’s handled the process that impressed me. 

Bonus Point #1: Every applicant had to write a couple of paragraphs about themself and why they wanted to work at Izzy’s.  A much better way to separate the serious from the casual without the 100+ question interview she was forced to complete at Caribou Coffee (no criticism of our friends at Unicru that provides those services to Caribou).

Bonus Point #2:  During the interview, they were bluntly honest:  a few folks don’t succeed here, and we will tell you after your third shift if you still have a job.  Perhaps scary for a kid getting their first job, but very clear.  Perform or there will be consequences.

Bonus Point #3:  The way to get a pay raise?  Improve your skills.  Successfully complete a series of training courses, and your hourly rate goes up by $1.  Don’t want to earn another dollar an hour?  No problem — just don’t expect any raises as the calendar turns.  Pay for performance at its best.

Bonus Point #4:  Before my daughter could even fill out new hire paperwork, the manager had to talk to me.  He started by congratulating me on the fact that my daughter had been hired at Izzy’s (what proud parent wouldn’t love that?).  Then he walked me through all of the key procedures both so that I would understand them (especially if she got fired after her third shift) and reinforce them with my child.  How’s that for good expectation setting?

Now I recognize that a small employer with a couple of outlets can do this kind of stuff more easily than a retailer with 100’s of outlets.  But what I loved about the experience was that it contained many of the best practices in talent management — applied to an workgroup that rarely gets that kind of consideration.  Most of all, it gave this Dad a chance to talk about his work in a context that (maybe for the first time) my daughter could really understand.  That should be Bonus Point #5.

If you find yourself in the Twin Cities, you’ll definitely want to get yourself a scoop of an old favorite (mine is chocolate chip) or one of their artisan ice creams like Norwegian Chai or Peace Coffee — it would be worth the trip!