What's the most effective way to "teach an old dog a new trick"
I currently own a small cafe. I went from being the one of 4 staff members to the owner of the cafe with 10 employees. I'm having a difficult time re-training my staff members to perform the way I would like them to as opposed to the way the previous owner expected. Any suggestions for training (re-training)?
An example: i have a check off list of tasks that need to be completed during shift and at end of day. There are a group of staff members who do these tasks well and complete. There are also a group who perform to the degree where the tasks are complete but not well done. Of the 10 employees, 3 are leaving in 3 weeks to go away to college. I want to continue to employ them but don't see how I can if they are essentially "training" the new staff to do things the way they do them now.
Any help would be appreciated!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jay Caragay on
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Here's the simple truth: you're the boss. It's your company and staff are expected to perform to your standards. If they are unable to rise to the standard or simply refuse to comply, eliminate them. Hire new people to learn your standards.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Harris on
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Thank you for the insights and suggestions. I was hoping to "wait it out" until the old group leaves (3 weeks) and the new group starts but I think that will just make me unhappy. I agree with your suggestions and will try to start cleaning house!
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Permalink Reply by Chris on
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"There are two ways to do things: 'My way', and 'My way when I'm really pissed off'. The good news is that you get to choose which one."
It's always worked for me.
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hahaha...i like it! i really need to toughen up! seriously, thank you for the reply.
Chris said:"There are two ways to do things: 'My way', and 'My way when I'm really pissed off'. The good news is that you get to choose which one."
It's always worked for me.
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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Lisa Harris said:Thank you for the insights and suggestions. I was hoping to "wait it out" until the old group leaves (3 weeks) and the new group starts but I think that will just make me unhappy. I agree with your suggestions and will try to start cleaning house!
Hey, since they are leaving in 3 weeks anyway, this is a great opportunity to make your point.
Besides, you know they're going to call you up for jobs when they are home for the summer...
(...and Chris, you just made beer come out of my nose. I'm so using that.)
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Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on
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So this thread has degenerated to beer coming out of Brady's nose.
Nice. ;-)
Brady said:Lisa Harris said:Thank you for the insights and suggestions. I was hoping to "wait it out" until the old group leaves (3 weeks) and the new group starts but I think that will just make me unhappy. I agree with your suggestions and will try to start cleaning house!
Hey, since they are leaving in 3 weeks anyway, this is a great opportunity to make your point.
Besides, you know they're going to call you up for jobs when they are home for the summer...
(...and Chris, you just made beer come out of my nose. I'm so using that.)
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Permalink Reply by Rand Flory on
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There are many ways to change employee behavior. The two most popular ways are (1) yell at people when they do things wrong, and (2) ignore the situation and hope it improves. Unfortunately. despite their popularity. neither of these methodologies have very good success rates for getting people to really change their behavior.
Here's a third method you may want to consider--other than an early discharge which leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth (unless it is truly an event worthy of a discharge, such as theft or gross insubordination): RETRAIN.
Retraining in this instance is perhaps best done in the three-step Praise-Demo-Praise fashion, something like this:
"Cindy, I really appreciate that you are trying to follow my new checklist. You are one of the leaders here, and people seem to follow what you do. But I want you to do this task a bit differently than it was done before. Here, let me show you what I mean....
"See how that's done? Pretty simple, and it's the way I want everyone to do it in the future. You've done a lot of good work here this summer, and I really appreciate it. Thanks for trying to do this the way I want everyone to do it in the future. You are a real asset here in the cafe."
You may want to at least give this a try.
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I love'd Chris's line too and would love to use it someday! It's funny, I was having a convo with one of my long time (quality) staff members today about this very issue. He made some interesting points. He felt the checklist was somewhat disrespectful to those who have been with me a while who already knew what needed to be done. He said it wasn't well received by my weekend staff because they felt less "part of the team" and more like a cog in the wheel because of it. My response was, if everyone knows what needs to be done, why wasn't everything being done? I explained how the check list eliminated the issue of forgetting to perform a task while allowing me to see where the issues were and with whom. It also provided me the ability to have my staff take responsibility for their actions and gave me the opportunity to work with someone who repeatedly made mistakes. He also felt it discouraged staff from doing more than just what was required. While few staff members may have "gone above and beyond", most just performed the required tasks anyway.
Since the two biggest culprits are leaving in 2 weeks, I have decided to have a staff meeting. Include everyone, thank them for learning to follow the new rules/checklist, address any issues, discuss the checklist and open the floor to suggestions, comments & concerns.
Hopefully this will work. If not, in the words of Chris, i'll explain..."There are two ways to do things: 'My way', and 'My way when I'm really pissed off'. The good news is that you get to choose which one."
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Rand Flory said:There are many ways to change employee behavior. The two most popular ways are (1) yell at people when they do things wrong,
Rand is quite correct, and I forgot to say that that phrase is far more effective when it is spoken softly, and with a smile.
Screaming it at people is only used as a last resort, and then only mostly for therapeutic value.
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Perrine on
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Make sure that they know that it is perfectly acceptable to only do what is on the checklist. But only doing what is on the checklist might effect whether or not you get a raise or it might effect how willing you are to adjust the schedule when they feel it necessary to give you a short notice in availability.
There were times when I was asked why I promoted one person who had been there a lot shorter of a time verses someone else who was a long-time staffer. I'd point out that the person promoted quickly began do more than was required of them and that they never complained when I asked them to do something not on the list, and that they were alway early or on time and work hard from start to finish.
I would end by politely letting them know that I just couldn't say that about them (even as much as I wanted to). I always made it clear what to expect from me and what I expected from them.
Lisa Harris said:I love'd Chris's line too and would love to use it someday! It's funny, I was having a convo with one of my long time (quality) staff members today about this very issue. He made some interesting points. He felt the checklist was somewhat disrespectful to those who have been with me a while who already knew what needed to be done. He said it wasn't well received by my weekend staff because they felt less "part of the team" and more like a cog in the wheel because of it. My response was, if everyone knows what needs to be done, why wasn't everything being done? I explained how the check list eliminated the issue of forgetting to perform a task while allowing me to see where the issues were and with whom. It also provided me the ability to have my staff take responsibility for their actions and gave me the opportunity to work with someone who repeatedly made mistakes. He also felt it discouraged staff from doing more than just what was required. While few staff members may have "gone above and beyond", most just performed the required tasks anyway.
Since the two biggest culprits are leaving in 2 weeks, I have decided to have a staff meeting. Include everyone, thank them for learning to follow the new rules/checklist, address any issues, discuss the checklist and open the floor to suggestions, comments & concerns.
Hopefully this will work. If not, in the words of Chris, i'll explain..."There are two ways to do things: 'My way', and 'My way when I'm really pissed off'. The good news is that you get to choose which one."
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