Business staffing/employee advice?

[Prince_Sunbeam]

I run a small business with my fiance, and we've been having some extreme staffing issues the past 6 months and things seem to continue to get worse, never better!

For example: In the past 4 weeks we have been hiring, and needed to fill 4 roles. We have hired 6 people in the past 4 weeks, 2 lasted less than a week, and a third that had great potential quit today with no notice before her shift.
We are a very small operation and unfortunately cannot afford to pay above minimum wage upon hiring, though we try to give out raises when deserved.
Its extremely difficult for us to retain employees for more than 6 weeks! We never get any real explanation upon quit notice, occasionally something like "my other job gave me more hours" or they literally just stop showing up to work and never come back with no explanation at all!

I swear we're not monsters abusing them, or yelling at them, or even expecting anything beyond the baseline of the job! We try to be very accommodating schedule wise and give people the number of hours they want, and the shifts they want. I just don't understand why we cant get people to stick around! I know working for minimum wage sucks, but that's all that is available if you have no previous experience or relevant qualifications. And we do have opportunities for career advancement, such as management possibilities. We've never opened up a higher position because no one has ever been around long enough to earn one, and we could barely afford it if we did- but we wouldn't hesitate to offer someone with strong potential a better job for better pay to keep them around.

This has turned into more of a rant, but I'm literally out of my mind desperate for people. We've been working 70+ hrs per week trying to cover the shifts and give people adequate training, and then they just quit and we start all over again! Ugh *end rant*

Any advice? Anyone have experience with this issue?

[Pokeyonekenobie]

I'm sorry you're having issues.  I've never had to hire anyone (never had the desire to run my own business or be a manager) but I have worked in different jobs.  This is more common than you think.  Part of it is the minimum wage because anyone with a family to support won't be able to live on the small amount. But anyone who is truly in need of work will take a minimum wage job until they can find something that they like better.  A bigger issue is that a lot of kids have come under the delusion that they deserve CEO status their first day on the job.  They're not taught to stick with things and if they don't get instant gratification, they quit.  (This is what happens when everyone gets a trophy.)  I don't know how many people I've heard claim that working fast food is beneath them but then they get all butt-hurt when nobody wants to hire them for anything else since they've never held a job before. 

Really, the only thing you can do is keep looking for the right person.  You'll find them eventually. 

What kind of work is it, if you don't mind my asking.

[ponycake]

Minimum wage is pretty (well, really) bad. I got my first job for like 1.50 over minimum wage as a teenager (obviously, no experience with any job), working in a restaurant. I've never even had a minimum wage job. I turned down one in the interview when they told me minimum wage though. Plenty of places were hiring for more.

[Thunderwing]

Instead of paying 4 people at minimum wage, can you get by with hiring three and paying them better? If not, what about perks? Benefits, free company swag, extra days off or overtime for people who stay long enough?

[Prince_Sunbeam]

A bigger issue is that a lot of kids have come under the delusion that they deserve CEO status their first day on the job.  They're not taught to stick with things and if they don't get instant gratification, they quit.

I think that is an unfortunately large part of the issue. Its a dog daycare.
We are currently paying $1 over minimum- but minimum will go up by $1 this Jan 1st, and another $1 the.next Jan 1st. Im all for raising minimum wage, especially with how many folks working for minimum are supporting families. But frankly my small business wont be able to absorbe the wage increase with out raising prices soon and that whole mess has me worried. We mostly employ younger folks who do happen to live at home with no kids of their own, but with that brings a bit of that entitement attitude.

I guess its just about waiting for the right motivated people to come along, and rewarding them.

Post Merge: September 19, 2015, 07:02:50 PM

Instead of paying 4 people at minimum wage, can you get by with hiring three and paying them better? If not, what about perks? Benefits, free company swag, extra days off or overtime for people who stay long enough?

Its more about filling the amount of hours we need, than # of people.

I'd love to hear some input on perks

[joce]

Why not try asking on a dog forum? I know there are several people who work doggie daycare on dog forums I'm on.

I know perks for several are they get to bring their dog to work.

Biggest complaint I hear are dogs being allowed to come back that fight and are not separated or kicked out. Them having to constantly stop fights.

[cuddlebuggy]

What are your hours? Are you looking for part time or full time? Frankly, most minimum wage jobs are not taken seriously by employees and they will only take it till they can get something better. How are you advertising for the positions available?

[Prince_Sunbeam]

Biggest complaint I hear are dogs being allowed to come back that fight and are not separated or kicked out. Them having to constantly stop fights.

Good idea w/the dog forum! We do allow our employees to bring their dogs free to their shifts, and at a discount when its not their shift.

Wrt dog fights and behavioral issues, we have a pretty strict evaluation and strike system in place, and have only had one (minor) injury causing fight in a year. I have heard horror stories of other local daycares issues with fights and behavior due to lack of good policies though. Its definitely a very common industry issue, something we take very seriously.

What are your hours? Are you looking for part time or full time? Frankly, most minimum wage jobs are not taken seriously by employees and they will only take it till they can get something better. How are you advertising for the positions available?

Weve been advertising on craigslist, part time only, but anywhere from 10-30hrs based on what the employee wants/can handle and is available for. Weve seriously considered offering a fulltime position if the right person comes along but its never happened.

[melodys_angel]

It sounds like you need to find the right, dedicated people--who want to be with the dogs more then the $ (they do exist and are out there!)

If you are worried about turnover, let them know what to expect before hiring them.  I cant really offer too much in the way of advice but if this was 10-15 years ago and you were down the street id probably be the first one to sign up during the summer and on whatever free days I had during college

[kaoskat]

I'd love to hear some input on perks

Well, it's a doggy daycare, why not let them bring their pets? Or offer free doggy daycare time for their pets for a certain amount of time each year? Get creative with your benefits, especially if you are on a budget. Have employee contests where they can win little prizes each month or whatever. If they are teenagers especially, maybe a once a month pizza party or something. If you can reward them with higher pay, reward them with fun. This won't work extremely well if you are hiring adults trying to support families, but if you are hiring teens just trying to earn spending money, it really might work well. I mean, overall, it doesn't seem you are doing anything wrong, it kinda sounds like you may be just hiring people who are under the impression they are going to get paid to play with puppies and not actually have to work.

[SnorkMaiden]

One perk we get in the company I work for is that every employee gets their birthday off. It's a little thing, but everyone loves it.

Another thing that you're already doing, but maybe could expand on are the flexible work-hours. People love flexible work-hours, and if you put them in the job adverts straight away, it'll attract lots of different kinds of people - college students, stay-at-home mums...

One thing you could look into in future is doing a short leaver's interview. You just sit down with a person on their last day at work and ask for feedback. It's a very good way to find out which areas you can improve on. Obviously, you won't be able to change everything (wages are certainly going to come up), but it's always good to listen to one's employees, and who knows, they might come up with things we're not thinking of at all.

[apanda0622]

Did you think of recruiting new employees a different way than craigslist?  Like a local newspaper or a local city or county website.  Maybe it will attract more quality people.  Also, you could do an exit interview when employees quit to get some insight into the situation.  And since you can't really offer benefits, some type of incentives might help recruit and keep employees.  Maybe like an incentive to not missing any work days in a certain period of time and giving a gift card as a reward.

[Prince_Sunbeam]

Thanks for the input everyone We're going to try to come up with some good incentives to help keep people motivated.
I wish we could get folks to do an exit interview, but honestly its more frequent that they literally never come back to work. Its like pulling teeth to even just get out company keys back. I doubt we could get anyone to willingly sit down and be honest about their reasons for leaving.

[Beldarna]

I work at a place which has a high turnover rate of people. Some stay for a couple of months, other for just a day or two. Some find something better while others realise it is horrible workhours with low pay and therefor prefer being jobless. I am declared an Oldie and I've only been there for three years. But the things we do to try to keep people and motivate them to stay is to be open and generous with giving responsibilities. New ideas, new initiatives.. even if we know in the beginning that the idea given is useless, we listen and thank them for it and when we turn it down we explain why. It makes people think they matter and given that positive attitude already in the beginning makes people somewhat loyal. (says she who is desperatley trying to find something else )

Another important note is that everything is not about pay and beneftis, it's about the feel of the place, the camraderie as well. The feeling that one is wanted and needed and appreciated, already from the start.

[joce]

Hire at animal events to. Dog shows, adoption events. You could have a booth for your business and look for employees.