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How to Write Impactful Reviews That Matter

Annual employee reviews are here! Writing employee reviews used to feel like climbing Mt. Everest. Then, I developed a process that streamlined the whole thing.

Now, I get to share all my best practices with you. This 8-minute read will show you how to plan, write, and deliver impactful reviews that matter.

You can ​​grab it right here.​​​

Now, on with today's newsletter.

Welcome to Retail Renegades.

In every issue, I tear into 1 of the 10 biggest problems all retail leaders face:

• Delegation
• Priority order
• Building culture
• Self-confidence
• Speaking up
• Time management
• Actionable empathy
• Dealing with an overbearing boss
• Clear & consistent communication
• Streamlining processes - working smarter & saving time.

(If you want to smash all 10 of these AND master the fundamentals of running a kick-ass store, I'd love to have you in ​The Break Room​.)

Building Culture

Be cool to people

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This week, I want to help you build culture within your team. It may sound elusive or impossible. It's not.

Here's how you do it.

When I was leading teams in stores, I didn't give much thought to the nitty gritty details of leadership. I showed up and did it. I learned, adjusted, and moved on. Time is scarce in retail, and I was producing good results year after year, so why dig too deep, right?

Then, one day, a new assistant manager from another company joined my team. After a few weeks, he asked me, "Everyone gets along in your store. How do you do that?"

I didn't have an answer. "I don't know." I replied. "I'm cool to people."

I've thought about that question a lot. Here's what I know now after A LOT of reflection.

I treated everyone the same until I didn't.

Here's what I mean. When we hired new people, I treated them very similarly. Training went in a certain order. They had time to get used to the store, the operations, and the staff. After that, they'd get comfortable and share more of their personalities.

Once I got to know them well, I'd joke with them, laugh when they tripped (and they'd laugh at me), or give them special projects. Or I very much would not. I adjusted my leadership style depending on who was in front of me.

I'd never laugh at a new person if they slipped or made a mistake. But if it was a seasoned associate who was being too chatty, not paying attention, and liked a good ribbing - I'd absolutely laugh at them.

It's okay to adjust to the different people on your team - it's necessary.

I celebrated each person's uniqueness.

One of my favorite things in the world is travel. Each year, my goal is to visit somewhere I've never been. Seeing new places is rejuvenating, but meeting new people in these new places is the best part of all.

My team members were from all over and had very different interests. Some were into skating, and others were into yoga or K-pop. We all accepted the interests and talents of the other people on the team.

I had no interest in K-pop, but a few people on my team were into it. So, it was fun chatting about it and learning what they liked. I got an insider scoop into just about everything. Then, when a customer came in chatting about Kpop, I knew which associate could connect with them and help them out.

Think of your store culture like The Muppets. Each character is very different and has unique talents, but everyone comes together for the good of the team. It's just like that.

Never do these things.

• Gossip about other people.
• Talk about someone's weaknesses with others.
• Talk poorly about your customers when you're on the floor, or let the associates do it.
• Apply the rules differently to people.
• Have favorite team members.
• Tolerate an employee who's not pulling their weight.
• Tolerate disrespect or harassment from anyone.

Some of those may seem obvious, but I've had to pull a seventeen-year-old boy into the office and tell him he was too forward with the girls on the team. He thought he was being friendly and outgoing. The girls were fed up with the advances and were a bit creeped out.

It was a terribly awkward conversation, but I'd created an environment where the girls felt empowered to tell me, and they had faith I'd take action, and I did.

Respect all points of view. Include everyone.

People thrive when you embrace people for who they are and what they like to do and are genuinely interested in them.

In my last store, we created a photo wall for all the employees. They sent me their favorite photo, and I printed them out and posted them on the wall with their names and titles. That project was low-cost, but it made people feel like they were a part of something.

Include all voices. People want to belong. They can work anywhere; think about what makes them stay working with you.

Culture takes time to cultivate. It won't happen in a day or a week, but it will happen. When your team environment is people-first and celebrates the uniqueness of each person, there will be no stopping you.

You got this.

Mailbox

I got this DM this week.

Share! Share! Share! I feel like the cow jumping over the moon when people tell me they've shared my work on their conference calls or group text threads. I can't believe I get to write every day, share what's going on in my brain, and connect with people all over the world.

WOW!

Take that, ChatGPT.

BTW:

Check out the latest podcast I was on right here if you haven't already. I'm STILL getting messages about this one. It's really resonated with people. Deanne Rhynard is a fabulous host and she had great questions for me.

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Level-Up

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One thing you can do today to be a better leader.

Learn a new thing from a sales associate.

What can they teach you? What are their hobbies? I've learned many things from my team members, including fishing, surfing, musical theater, and selling clothes on Depop.

Always continue learning and being interested in people.

That's building culture.

Hit reply and let me know what you think of this newsletter. Good? Bad? Helpful? Do you have questions you want answered?

See you next time,

Kit

Looking for more ways to save time and run an awesome store? Let's go!

If you want to learn how to write an excellent schedule in 60 minutes, go here. This ten-minute read will save you time and make your store more money, even if you are new to leadership.

Got a store visit coming up? Want to know how to prepare? Go here.​
I'll show you how to prep for a store visit and you won't have to work twelve-hour days.

Score 20% off right now.
Buy one and you'll have the option to add the other in the checkout screen. 🤓

⭐️ Want ALL the how-to nitty, gritty info?

​Order my book today! The Retail Leader's Field Guide: How to Run a Kick-Ass Store Where Everyone Wants to Work will help leaders at all levels, even if they are new to leadership.

See you next time!

PS - You're a badass and you can do hard things.

PPS - Stay rad.