Hello

[SGT. SPRINKLES]

Just wanted to say hello. I currently own a custard store in Rochester, NY. I am looking forward to sharing ideas with others.

[ICP]

Hi SGT. SPRINKLES, welcome to the forum!

How long has your frozen custard shop been in business? How'd you choose to go into the frozen custard business?

[SGT. SPRINKLES]

I started with a custard company when I was 15 years old as a summer job and grew up in the business. After working for the company for 15 years I decided to open up a shop of my own. Things have been going well so far but I am looking for new ideas to expand the business. My biggest road-block so far has been finding good locations and retaining good managers.

[ICP]

Wow 15 years is a long time. That's great!

Yeah employee retention can be a tough one. Did you do any exit interviews for the managers that have left your shop? Asking them why they are leaving and what you could have done to keep them?

Sometimes this is the best way to learn so you don't make the same mistakes next time or can offer things they want to keep them.

If you did ask the above questions, what did they say their reasoning for leaving was?

Here is a great piece of advice:

Giving feedback, mostly praise, is the single most effective way for managers to impact performance. Yet, telling an employee they're "doing a great job" is not enough. Effective praise-feedback that will not elicit a doubt about the giver's sincerity or motive-is specific and appropriate for the situation.

Also Look for ways to build a personal relationship with the employee. Look for ways to stay connected to the whole person you hired. It doesn't mean we have to "get personal" with them. Great coaches recognize the importance of coaching the whole person, not just the basketball forward or guard. Learning who the player is beyond the court is their key for successful relationship building. Once you know who you "coach," then you can endear them to you by giving something of value to them so they may give something of value to you.But if the managers are leaving because they've graduated college and are ready to move on or if they want to pursue other career paths - then maybe your hiring process could use some tweaking. Find out what their future plans and goals are so you can see if they will be a long term employee or are looking for more of a temporary position.

[ICP]

Also there are some good tips for hiring good employees in this article:

http://www.icecreamprofits.com/articles/hiring-tips.php

check it out when you get a chance. Let me know what you think.

[SGT. SPRINKLES]

I checked out the article, there was a lot of useful information. Thanks for the info!

[ICP]

glad I could help.

:)