Rapid Turnover...?

Sorry its a day late...I didn't realize I had only saved the post, not published it!

I'm pondering what to do when you lose two key employees on the same night, a situation my sister is indirectly coping with. It's a simple issue...what are you gonna do when you have to fill slots on the schedule? You can only ask the remaining employees to cover so much, so you gotta hire new people soon as possible.

That often means hiring someone crappy though...someone you don't vette properly because of the time crunch.

This is a two fold issue, since as an owner/operator you sabotage the culture, the efficiency, maybe even the safety and security of your business. As one of the new person's coworkers, you have to directly put up with someone who you have to train, who might have attitude or ability problems.

It's a cycle that means the rest of your key people lose their value as they become demoralized, or even quit. And if you have no key people, you have no culture. If you have no culture (or a culture of "It's just a job") you won't be able to retain employees OR customers.

Death spin! Oh noes.

How do you deal with the issue then? How do you avoid the death spiral of bandaid hiring?

You, as an owner/operator, have to get on line for a few days and fill the spot. Or get buy in from the team, pay out overtime or other perks for people picking up shifts. Bandaid moves...but bandaids that are sterile, and won't infect the wound.

I'm also a big believer in always hiring...so in my shop, I'd have a few people I'd just interviewed not long ago I could call up and get started. Somewhere in all of these options, the shop would weather the storm, with a stronger sense of self. It's more art than science...but I'll try and keep exploring this topic, since good human resource management is hard to find.

Thoughts?

The Culture

Recently, I took it upon myself to stick around my day job an extra fifteen minutes and show a new guy a couple things. Nothing serious...just where the store-use tools are, how to mark down damaged stuff, whom to pay attention to.

It was enough to remind me of the days when I did orientations for Wendy's. Orientations were probably the best part of my job, with training a close second. When you bring a new person into an organization, the first couple days are the key. It sets the tone for their entire experience. Its when you set the standard a person will measure other input against.

It's re-creating part of the organization. Making what you have better (or ensuring its continued success) simply by taking the time to set someone up properly. I think about a startup, a cafe or restaurant from scratch where one doesn't have to inocculate against staff with the wrong idea or attitude...and it makes me happy.

My sister has worked in a coffee shop off and on for the past few years. She's also worked in a small restaurant, closely with the owner/operators. Her opinion is that I romanticize the start up process, creating that culture. Her opinion is that the initial training wave is great, it goes just as you expect...but, after successive waves of new employees, things get less and less shiny. There's more drama, more disappointment.

I think there's a lot of truth to that. I never said it'd be easy to create a culture of excellence, to maintain it, to get buy in from the employees. If it was easy, we'd never complain about the crap service at McDonalds. We'd never wonder why Starbucks can't get our drink right. We'd never hate our boss. I've come close a few times, but I've always been sabotaged by the company. The GM won't buy in, or the company wouldn't allow enough labor hours for training, or the pay is too low for anyone to give a rat's ass.

Starting from scratch, with a blank slate to draw on? I could do a heck of a lot more than try to make a guy feel valued by showing him where to find a wrench, while warning him that Jimbob is full of shit. The possibility is what excites me, the idea of no outside limits on what I want to accomplish.