When I came to work at the store, eleven years ago, I was very surprised at the pay scale; it was definitely one that you could live with. And before long I found that with hard work and a demonstration of good old fashioned team work, one would receive a raise. Quickly, my earnings began to rise.
In fact, I started making more then at the legal office downtown where I had worked for a short time. With that job one was required to have knowledge, background and education of law - this job, there was no requirement.
Over time I not only tried to apply myself, since I hadn't a clue of what I was doing, but I basically fell in love with the whole store. The employees, many of the customers and the job itself provided me a life, a different one perhaps, but a good life none the less.
As time went on I witnessed many changes take place, changes that slowly started to unravel this new world in which I worked.
The first thing I found to be true was that when dealing with customers you don't make changes, customers hate change. Puts a whole new slant on the saying, 'Change is good.'
The second thing I learned is that if customers don't like the changes, guess what - they go elsewhere and no amount of good Customer Service will stop them; Business 101 - Customers have the upper hand.
And the third thing, which I learned, that despite the first and second things, companies never learn and continue to make changes. And customers continue to react negatively.
But amidst all of this there is another side - the employees. The very people that go out of their way to work the business of companies are only left, in the end, with the sad result of the changes that did not work.
So move over American retail workers, we are now joining the crowd. With news that hours are being cut, we have now joined the ranks of other retail employees that we have read about for the last year or so.
Now here we are amongst another 'CHANGE'. And this change, like so many others, is doomed.
Companies always look at the bottom line and when sales drop, they react - like this - instead of trying to figure out why sales are dropping. And in this reaction, that so many companies have taken, we will see that bottom line continue to fall.
Why?
Because the very people that support these companies are losing their spending power.
Talk at ya later!
In fact, I started making more then at the legal office downtown where I had worked for a short time. With that job one was required to have knowledge, background and education of law - this job, there was no requirement.
Over time I not only tried to apply myself, since I hadn't a clue of what I was doing, but I basically fell in love with the whole store. The employees, many of the customers and the job itself provided me a life, a different one perhaps, but a good life none the less.
As time went on I witnessed many changes take place, changes that slowly started to unravel this new world in which I worked.
The first thing I found to be true was that when dealing with customers you don't make changes, customers hate change. Puts a whole new slant on the saying, 'Change is good.'
The second thing I learned is that if customers don't like the changes, guess what - they go elsewhere and no amount of good Customer Service will stop them; Business 101 - Customers have the upper hand.
And the third thing, which I learned, that despite the first and second things, companies never learn and continue to make changes. And customers continue to react negatively.
But amidst all of this there is another side - the employees. The very people that go out of their way to work the business of companies are only left, in the end, with the sad result of the changes that did not work.
So move over American retail workers, we are now joining the crowd. With news that hours are being cut, we have now joined the ranks of other retail employees that we have read about for the last year or so.
Now here we are amongst another 'CHANGE'. And this change, like so many others, is doomed.
Companies always look at the bottom line and when sales drop, they react - like this - instead of trying to figure out why sales are dropping. And in this reaction, that so many companies have taken, we will see that bottom line continue to fall.
Why?
Because the very people that support these companies are losing their spending power.
Talk at ya later!
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