Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

When things get more difficult we start to ask some of our employees to wear multiple hats. That’s the right thing to do but be aware that just because they are good at one thing doesn’t mean they are good at everything. We can turn a strong employee into a weak one by giving them a job they can’t do well. — Rick Segel

Let me tell you about Erica. She was the modelemployee. Literally.

She was a model. She was the star of our selling floor. She did great work for us in a shop-resale video. She dressed great, looked spectacular, made our customers look and feel like models themselves.

But we knew from Day One not to let her help incoming consignors (she couldn’t keep the steps of checking them in straight) and shortly thereafter, we literally BANNED her from the sales counter. Handling financial transactions was, well, not on her radar.

She adored selling; she adored putting wonderful outfits together. But had we required her to wear all the hats the rest of us wore, she would have dissolved into a red-haired puddle (a cute puddle, but still a puddle) of misery.

Erica was the first, and one of very few, staffers I ever had whose job description was so circumscribed. Had I required her to wear all the hats the rest of us did, not only would those crimson curls have ended up squashed… so would her spirit and her effectiveness.

Now not every shop has the latitude to work with someone whose talents are spectacular in one area and non-existent in another.

But if you’re lucky enough to have a stellar performer, let her (or him) shine.