Pay, to talk or NOT to talk
Had an associate the other day approach me with tears in her eyes. She said she heard that a certain set of people in one department were making more then she was and she had been there longer. One thing I have learned is you can not ignore questions like these but you have be very tactful in your approach. I had a mentor long ago who was able to help anyone see the other side of the coin and a lot of my experience comes from this person in such situations. He had the ability to break thing up in small simple categories and open your eyes to different realities or concepts. I did not always like his answers but I walked away wiser and better for it.
One of the best ways to approach it is to ensure the employee understands they are valuable. Express some of their qualities that make them important and ensure they are comfortable with you. When someone is relaxed and open, you have a better connection and they have more of an ability to relate to something they really don’t want to hear or may not fully understand. (Trust factor).
Then begin to explain “Their job commitment VS someone else’s pay”. Explain that when they were hired they accepted the job they were doing with the understanding of what they were going to make, That there is a reason people should not know what other people make. Try to avoid talking directly about pay and stick more to the job commitment, and do not talk about disciplinary action directly either. If you feel the need say it softly. And example would be. “I would avoid talking about pay on the floor, people can get in trouble for speaking about anyone’s pay because it causes problems in most cases and its nobodies business what someone else makes, that’s a private matter”. Explain that people come to the company with different qualifications and backgrounds, and that the company builds a persons compensation around this based on the companies needs and the potential that prospect has to the company “at that time”. It may be more or less, but in the end it is still a private matter.
What makes a good manager
Wow this can cover and entire world of ideas. I was asked by an employee what I felt made a good manager. I babbled about some generic answers, but there are 4 that have always stuck with me. Experience, Motivation, Ability and Training. Training gives people experience, ability determines how much of that training will affect their ability to do something, and personal motivation determines the commitment level. No matter how I look at it, these four areas seem to cover it all. People can fight it, muscle it, and gain short term results, but in the end, years of trial and error, successes and failures, and having an arsenal of ways of creating results usually wins out and has a tendency of creating sustainable results. That is….given you have the proper motivation and ability to actually do the job. Don’t get me wrong. I feel there are times when muscling something has a tremendous advantage. But if you do, there better be a plan at the end or a plan built into the work to justify the efforts.
Experience is the gas in the tank, Ability is the size of the tank, Training is the power of the fuel, and Motivation determines how much fuel someone is going to use.
Experience- More of this allows you to drive farther but without the other 3 you are driving a straight line down a single lane highway .
Ability- Expanding that single highway to several lanes but still going in a straight line
Training-The road map to the multi-lane highway that takes you to new places.
Motivation-Determines how far down ANY highway someone will go.
How to determin your management level
In a class the other day with our managers we asked what type and what level of manager they felt they were. We gave them a basic reference sheet to go off of. The 4 concepts we stuck with on this evaluation was accountability, self management, delegation, and leadership. Where do you rate. Simply replace the names for your working environment. Its very basic in terms of the concept so all levels can identify with it. It is after all a training tool.
Trainee
Knows how to tell people what to do, knows basically how to fix problems, relies heavily on upper management to be held accountable, is seen as a peer leader by some.
Supervisor
Understands over all operations, has built some leadership skills, can supervise with some help. Has the ability to ask questions when needed, relies on upper management for daily direction, somewhat understands the concept of accountability. Seen as a peer leader by a majority of employees.
Assistant manager
Clearly understands the concept of the business, can answer most QA, understands basic operations, has a good understanding of accountability, overall leadership skills have developed, knows how to push or manage results with minimal direction, can perform most duties needed to run the business effectively.
Manager
Makes results happen, knows how to develop others, needs no direct in house supervision, accountability is clearly understood, seen as a leader, understands all operations of the business, effectively manages key components.
Director
Produces results, has a clear goal and path to success, uses operations to effectively manage business, develops depth, effectively retains employees, seen as a leader by employees, peers, and upper management. Intellectual ability to clearly give direction and produce consistent results.
Blessed be the broken toe
So when is something considered a bad omen. Take Max (named changed to protect the stupid), and a typical day at work. Max is going about his business, says something about having a bad feeling when he woke up. About 5 minutes later a shelf falls on his foot smashing it open. Ya think there might be something there? Well lets take it a step further. After he wraps it he gets back to work with a little less speed then before and walks into the warehouse. The door sticks as he walks through it causing him to slam the wrapped apendage into the door. He goes down, hits the floor, and grimaces in pain for a bit. With great resolve he get up, takes a deep breath, and walks into the warehouse. He then helps a co-work pull a rolling cart with a heavy TV on it. As he is backing up his heal catches in a grove causing his foot to stop and it gets rolled onto by the cart. Max hits the floor once more and utters a few choice words, something like “You got to be ^%&@# kidding me”. He is sent on a break to recover. When he returns he climbs on to a lift to get some product down, after he brings it down he slides the stock off the platform. In doing so his foot slips off the platform and wedged between the platform and the beam crushing all his toes together. So does bad karma happen? Is he being punished? Is his mind creating this because he believed he was going to have a bad day?
Pinball Effect
So today I am approached with much randomness and disorganization. I have people “binging” all around me. Binging you say? What’s that? Its reacting without forethought. This causes people to react by seeing someone or something but not the right someone or something. Why is this a problem!!!. Well let’s get intimate for a minute. Let’s say you like sex. Let’s say, when you want it, you say “ let’s have sex”. Now let’s say for some reason this is on your mind when the first person you see walks by you and you react without forethought…..oops. Now pretend you are at work and instead of organization you have a bunch of people asking questions or help from the first person they see instead of the correct person. This has been my day. But in this case most of them don’t see anything wrong with asking the first person they see for sex.. um… errrr… help. What’s your input? Have days like this?
Who Am I
Well I guess the first post should be about me and who I am. Am 42 and married with 3 kids, and have been working in the retail industry since I was 16. I have seen or been offered every position from RVP to dishwasher. I am the one chosen most of the time to train, develop, fix, or revamp that which is deemed in need of change. Mind you, not because I’m the smart one, but because I raise my hand and volunteer way to much. <– It’s a sickness really. However it has given me a grand insight into the retail world in multiple facets and a multitude of perspectives. It is my hope this blog will be many things including, self-righteous, bold, challenged, argued, loved, and spit on from all levels and all corners. I expect no less from you than what I would dish out. All opinions are welcome and we can always agree to disagree. That said, welcome to “Abstract Notions”.