Help!
Small business owners know what this is about. Nobody knows better than us. We all work most, if not all, the days of the week. Rarely do we go home before 12 hours of labour. “Weekends” do not exist and holidays are defined as a chance to go for a workout.
Why? Because there is virtually no help to be had! The stories abound.
How many can recount the times that the following scenario has played out in their business? Someone applies for a position and agrees to various conditions before being given precisely the shifts and hours they ask for. The Handbook is read, the job description understood, staff introductions are made, the web site has been introduced, philosophy shared and the first shift has been scheduled. Then, a no-show. No call. Nothing. Messages are left expressing concern for the person’s well-being. Nada.
How many of us have experienced the 2 a.m. emails declaring a resignation from a job (without notice), or an inability to make it for a 7 a.m. shift five hours later?!
Have you called an employee to ask, after four weeks of employment, why they did not come in to work? How about the response that “I forgot to tell you that I have another job”?!
I am sure that there are some pretty interesting stories out there. More intriguing, perhaps, is the comment these vignettes make about our present social conditions. How did we evolve into this being that so cavalierly rejects the respect and courtesy for employers and jobs that we grew up with in the 50’s through the 80’s?
So, along with my on-going rant about the failure of so many to support the local, small businesses that give our culture some colour, I find myself questioning the links between the erosion of our interconnectedness with our environment (social and physical) and behaviour of people toward employers…