Only The Lonely Can Play
Ever been on an outing with a friend and they spent the entire time on their device? Thinking to yourself "Did I really want to have dinner alone?" It can feel like sitting with and talking to a brick wall.
In business, sometimes we can be so desperate to fill a spot that we just use any warm body - any person to fill the hole even if they are often distracted and don't bring much to the company.
It is so easy to get sucked into those devices.
Our phones now hold a whole world on a tiny screen. There are hundreds of games we can play and that's without even touching on social media. All of these things can grab a hold of us and keep us longer than we ever wanted to stay. We are often not even aware of the cost.
For some people, it could be a missed invitation to an event that you would have loved to attend. For others, it could be the cost of the job.
I can't tell you how many times I have been waiting in line for the employee to finish whatever task they were completing on their device before I was served. In these moments, getting frustrated doesn't help. I've found that most businesses are so desperate, the lack of cooperation is a price they are willing to pay to fill the void.
When it comes to hiring people, it can often be like a game of chance. They bring their very best to the interview, and it likely will not be until they are hired that you find out their true character.
In some cases, you can discover that they didn't really want to be there in the first place. In my experience, I have seen many people come through a company because they really only wanted the benefits that the job offered. Unfortunately for the company, these employees were only willing to do the least amount of work for it.
So, what is the solution?
In most companies, new hires will have to go through a probation period before being officially a part of the company. However, these might only last for a few weeks or months. Is that really enough time to know the true character of someone?
The business owners I have worked with usually don't want to get caught up in litigation of right and wrongful termination of employment, so they don't bother to review the new hires performance after the probation period is over.
But who really pays the price? Isn't it the customer? The one who waits to be waited on, for long periods of time? Sometimes so long that they might even leave and go to a different company.
What needs to happen - extend the probation times!
It's human nature that a person can only hold out so long before their true colors really start to show. I'd recommend that at least 90-120 days are necessary so that this person's true colors will start to show. Then you can make an accurately informed decision on the long-term investment of this employee.
Once you make that decision to hire them, some things to keep in mind:
Always give your employees the tools to achieve success.
The level of depth in your training is what you can expect of your employees.
An employeethat feels valued will value the customers and their co-workers.
A customer who is feeling lonely, feeling as if they don't matter is much more harmful to a business than having to be put on a waiting list.
A happy & satisfied customer = Profit IN
but
An employee not doing their job = Profit OUT
You'll quickly realize that it's very easy to lose a lot of money simply due to a lack of attention. Make sure your employees are well-practiced and understand exactly what needs to be done so that a customer never experiences a moment of loneliness. That is how your business and employees will succeed.