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Recently in Labor Scheduling Category
It's important to maintain consistency amongst management team members in terms of the message being sent to staff or team members reporting to you.
However, where consistency can sometimes rear its ugly head is when certain members of the team choose to follow too closely to the rules and regulations as to be obstinate or unopen to change.
An example is attendance policy. If someone is consistently late, rather than immediately rushing to fire the person, a better approach would be to see if their commute is affected by the time they are scheduled. There may be some extraneous details that are causing this person to be late all the time.
Another example is an open door policy. Some people may claim to have an open door policy, but then refuse to meet with people after meetings or at times when an appointment is not possible. There needs to be a balance of flexibility and with rigidness; certainly a pop-in appointment shouldn't be the norm, but it also shouldn't be frowned upon.
Be careful when following rules to strictly (especially rules you have come up with on your own that are not company policy.)
A question that comes up often in conversations with people is whether or not companies should grant unpaid time off for workers who don't have enough vacation time earned. My answer to this most of the time is yes.
Many companies don't grant time off to employees until they have worked six months with a company. Often, employees have events like weddings, family trips, and college commitments that require additional time off outside the norm. By granting employees unpaid time off during these times, you can save your company a few dollars, allow your employee to feel like their time is valued, and create a commitment to your company that may currently be lacking.
In a world where spare time is sparse, granting an employee a half day off unpaid or even a couple hours off in the middle of the day can really show the difference between a loss of productivity and a loss of a long-term asset to the company. The short-term loss of having that employee available for a single day is completely offset by the value you have given in balancing that employee's personal commitments from time to time.
One of the best practices I've seen in many companies is the concept of the floating holiday. On a day like President's Day, many people choose to work rather than take the day off, and have the option of using that day off some other time during the year.
For those of us in the Northeast, this makes great sense; I'd much rather save that day off for the summer months, where someone else may want to use today to go skiing. Allowing for the "floating" holiday gives people the option to use it when it would be the most valuable.
Are there days in your business where using a "floating" holiday makes sense? Certainly.
Q: I work in retail, and I can't seem to get a raise out of my employer, no matter what I try. They tell me I am a hard worker and they make me feel valued, but it isn't showing in my paycheck. What can I do to earn more money at work when they won't adjust my hours?
A: There are a variety of solutions for you to look at.
One is offering to work overtime. Some companies would rather provide employees with a few hours of guaranteed overtime a week instead of hiring another worker to fill that role.
Another is putting together a proposal to work on a special project. Find out what your employer needs - it may be help with the launch of a new product or service, writing training materials, conducting workshops, or providing work outside the scope of your immediate responsibilities. If you can find a way to quantify the results you may get from the project your propose, you may see opportunities to earn one-time bonuses or supplementary pay.
Other options are to consider moving to a higher volume location, a department that offers sales incentives, or seek out a supplementary income leveraging the skills you use in the store right now.
Next time, I'll talk about some opportunities to freelance without giving up your day job.
I'll be presenting a workshop at Tech II in Saratoga Springs on Tuesday March 23rd. At this workshop, I'll be presenting some of the latest and greatest apps and programs for the Mac and iPhone to work with your business.
There are some amazing apps that help you stay in communication with your coworkers and employees, especially ones that work with programs such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. There are labor scheduling apps, project management apps, and a variety of tools to help you on the go and in the office.
One of the fears always shared with me about the iPhone is that its "not the Blackberry" - not so! Real-time email, messaging, and linking with Microsoft Exchange are just a few clicks away. Calendar sharing and contact sharing as well.
Hope to see you there on March 23rd. For more information, or to sign up, visit
I visited Chic Fil A on my workation on two occasions, and am always impressed with the level of service they provide on each experience.
They are on of two national businesses (Hobby Lobby being the other) that I am aware of that make it a well known fact that they close on Sundays so their employees can either spend time with their family on a set day each week.
I've always been amazed that companies are open seven days a week in this economy (and even when the economy is flourishing). It seems to make more sense to me to have a 5 or 6 day operational week (even if it means closing on a Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday to capitalize on the perceived Sunday business).
The common answer I receive is that "if we close on (insert day here), we will lose business to someone else". My thought and belief is if you really have a business that is going to suffer because you are closed one day a week, perhaps you aren't in the right business or aren't doing business the right way.
Are there things you can do for your business to improve balance issues for your staff? Share some of the best practices of your company in keeping your employees personal lives balanced with their professional lives.
When I queried some of my colleagues, they shared with me some of the things their workplace does in lieu of closing on Sunday
- an office in Florida gives employees every other Friday off and has them work longer days Monday through Thursday
- businesses in Saratoga Springs close Mondays and Tuesdays (and sometimes Wednesdays) during the winter months
- many personal care businesses like hairdressers close Mondays and Wednesdays.
In July 2008, I took my first "workation". I spent 9 days in Florida (had only planned on spending 5 days) and worked 4 of them remotely. It was a refreshing way for me to change the scenery and get work done, all the while also relaxing and recharging.
The first workation was something different - the first two days I stayed with a friend, and while she was at work, I worked from her house on some projects over the web, and when she got off of work I turned back into vacation mode. Later in my trip, I took another full day of work at my aunt's house, and on my last day before traveling back, I worked at the airport.
Last summer, I did a similar extended time away in Alaska. That time, I took a different approach - spending an hour each day before everyone awoke catching up on work or building new business, and vacationing the rest of the time. I took two full days completely off while I was there.
This time, I have a much shorter workation planned, but over three days I'll be in three different places, and work a few hours each morning before I spend the afternoons with friends or in leisure activities.
For those of you who find it hard to get away from the office, take it from me, the workation works!
I was talking to some friends the other day about how to schedule your staff for New Year's Day if your business is open. It brought to mind one of my New Year's Day experiences back in the day.
We had a skeleton crew on for most of the day, knowing we'd have a slow morning and maybe a moderately busy afternoon. Most people were scheduled for short shifts, so as to limit the impact of overtime and also to limit the impact of callouts.
After a fun and exciting New Year's Eve where I got home pretty late, I arrived at the store about 15 minutes till 10 and was joined by two other opening crew members. The store was very quiet until about 11:45, when one of my staffers called and told me they didn't feel well after going out last night and they wouldn't be in. He was scheduled for a 4 hour shift. I was pretty upset with him, but then realized we'd be better off without having someone there who already decided he was going to be unproductive.
At times like these, it's important to make the employee realize that they are being irresponsible. I informed him I was out until 5am (which was a bit of a stretch) and still managed to come in to run a business at 9:45am. He fell silent on the phone, and then said, well I am sorry but I am still not coming in. Believe it or not, he knew not to call in like that again after this occurrence.
A difficult concept for many managers to understand is how to manage the flow of people and resources during the holidays. This is especially true in retail, where the ebb and flow of business over the holidays is critical to monitor and manage to maximize revenue and minimize disruption in service.
Some ways to manage this tough time include:
1. Split shifts - those working in retail know they are going to be expected to work long hours during the holidays, so by splitting a shift into 2 five-hour blocks with an extended break in the middle can work to maximize productivity and minimize over coverage in non-peak times. This may not be effective if you have employees who live far from the store location, but for those who live close by, having them work 8am-1pm or 9-2 and then come back from 5-10 or 6-11 can help you manage coverage and minimize burnout.
2. Not extending holiday hours unreasonably - does it really make sense to stay open until 11pm every night of the holiday season? Certainly, some shopping centers have rules that require stores to all be open at the same time. But if your property allows for flexibility, consider closing early when possible, especially on weeknights.
3. Having minimal staff on New Year's Day. Typically a slow shopping day, minimizing staff on this day can allow you to let staff recover from the long holiday season without wasting resources. Again, if you are open from 10-6 New Year's Day, you can probably afford to run with a minimal crew working 5 hour shifts instead of 8 hour shifts.
Best of wishes to you all this holiday season!
Well, here we go again! This time of year is the time where we get the "end of the world" storms where the bread and milk aisle are bare and so are the streets.
As I plan my day tomorrow, I look at this as a great day to work from home for part of it, and take the mass transit for the other part of it.
For those unaware, the Route 50 bus is one of the great connectors between Saratoga and Schenectady. You can check out the route here. $1.50 each way beats driving in the foul weather!
In positions where work can be done from home, it's always better to err on the side of safety. With telecommuting becoming such an easy option, no operation can do without a sound telecommuting plan for inclement weather.
A smart HR team will put together an action plan around how to handle absences/working from home on days like tomorrow, and work to keep the business rolling without playing favorites or risking injury.
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