Retail staff hiring advice: only hire and keep happy people

In a newsagency recently I heard a staff member complaining to a colleague behind the counter about the roster, the weather, and someone at home. I was several metres from the counter. Shoppers in the newsagency could hear too.

Unhappy staff are a turn off for shoppers and for the leaders of the business keen to create a happy place where people enjoy themselves.

We need to hire happy people and train them in their tasks rather than hire skilled people and hope to train them to be happy – if that is a choice you face.

Being happy in a newsagency can be a challenge some days with customers complaining about the smallest thing, some suppliers treating you appallingly, you discovering how much theft has cost you recently, your bank rejecting you banking a fake £50 note … and so on. Yes, there are many opportunities for us to be unhappy. This is another reason we need to surround ourselves with cheerful / happy people.

But there is plenty we see and hear in our newsagencies that makes us happy – if we look for it. If our natural disposition (as the owner and leader) is to be unhappy, we need to push back on that urge, we need to choose to be happy. Surrounding yourself with happy people is key to this.

We need to show unhappy people the door and encourage them to go and work somewhere else.