This is an open letter to businesses; especially in the State of Florida. But I’m certain it may apply elsewhere.
Dear Florida,
I moved here from the Northeast almost eight years ago. I was not one of those people who came here and complained about things that were different (or stupid) and hoped to change them. If I wanted those things I would have stayed up north. I knew why I moved to Florida. No state income taxes, I never wanted to see winter again, and so I could ride my bicycle year-round. Those were my top three.
But one of the things I still can’t get used to is the slow pace of people. Specifically in retail and other service roles. Now I do realize that minimum wage jobs are not the most attractive and some might say attract a certain person………decades ago I had several. I was a cashier. I was a front desk clerk. I was a newspaper boy. Just to name a few. But I was still service oriented, accurate, and most importantly………QUICK!
About 30 minutes prior to writing this I was in a grocery line. The person in front of me had 27 items. I counted them. The cashier is not new. I stood in line more than 10 minutes for the cashier to ring up that order! 27 items. Back in the day I would have rang up three orders in that time – and some of those jobs had those old NCR registers with rows and rows of buttons (1’s, 10s, 1s, 10s). There was nobody behind me 10 minutes earlier. Now there were five others.
Almost every storefront I walk by today has a help wanted sign. Staffing is tough. Employees, especially minimum wage types, are looking for the best paying position. (Who would have thought that a pandemic would have fixed the $15 per hour debate all by itself?)
But there is another option………..
Retailers, while you’re dealing with staffing shortages it’s time you take a look around at those people who are currently in your employ. It should not take ten minutes to ring up 27 items. I should not be able to use the self-checkout at the supermarket, or the post office, or that big-box hardware store faster than your employees can handle my transaction.
Your training departments suck! Yes, those are some harsh words. It’s time you figure out how to get those people to pick up the pace and include some needed incentives and fun in those positions. To be the best they can! I have some ideas. They’re not gonna be what you want to hear – because you’ll say you don’t have the time. Do you have the time to keep losing customers or having people quit for $.50 more per hour on a 20 hour work week? I have some ideas. And if they worked a looooooooooong time ago, I’m sure they can still work. So why not get in touch!
Or to put it another way……remember that phrase do more with less……there has never been a better time to rethink that one.
I’m here to help remove a few of your hiring headaches!
Rich
#floridabusiness #business #productivity #employee #employeeexperience #employeeretention