11/26/2012–You catch more flies with honey than vinegar
Almost done with first O3s with everyone. They continue to prove beneficial. Putting them on the schedule is working, though I’m only doing 5 per week. For the next schedule I put 2 on each day, but even then it would be 1 month until I made it through all 40 employees. Still better than nothing.
My last O3 was interesting. I spoke with an employee whose hours had been reduced by Kyle and she wanted to know why. All the reasons are performance related, so I felt comfortable relaying them to her. She acted as though she understood, but was upset. Throughout our talk I learned about more drama at the host stand. She mentioned that drug use was a topic of discussion at the host stand during shifts. She also admitted to using recreational drugs, which is consistent with rumors I’ve heard previously. Two things I learned: a host stand is a catalyst for harmful gossip if hosts don’t get along; and people will admit drug use if you make them feel comfortable and as if they won’t be immediately punished. I expected her to deny it, like another employee I spoke with awhile back. But when I said, “you’d never let it affect your work right?”–basically making it sound like I both knew of and was o.k. with drug use outside of work–she opened right up and said she only came in high one time when she was off. The ethics of my misleading her are suspect, I feel. I have always felt that being forthright is the only way to communicate, and deception is wrong. However, this O3 taught me that valuable info can be obtained from an unethical employee who isn’t being forthright. I say she isn’t forthright because she told me she continues to lie to her parents, and also because the drug topic was being discussed for 5 minutes before she admitted it, and only after I asked her point blank. She got much respect for admitting it to me–which I told her–but I still will need to talk to my team and decide what to do next.
We had our manager conference in Chicago Monday. It was an “outing” for the CM/FOH managers–a nice gesture for us. We got a hotel and ate at Roy’s and basically partied all night. Ryan’s last words of advice before releasing us into the city were “don’t be THAT guy”… Later, my CM–a very good person and friend–would turn out to be that guy. The best part of the meeting was when Ryan put up the SMG scores for our region. These are survey results from guests. Brookfield was above the company average in every category, and leading several. Basically it was a 10-minute pat on the back. We worked hard to get there and must continue working hard to build on it. We’ve been told we’re performing well, but it’s a different feeling when you actually see the data.
A bad part of the meeting was learning 2 managers are leaving. Another example of the turnover in this job. An interesting situation to track will be in Castleton, where a manager is relocating to the store that lost people. This presumably leaves an opening there–my hometown. I’m not expecting them to offer me relocation there, and I’m not even sure I’d accept. Nothing would be better than moving home, but I would not like leaving in the middle of my progress in Brookfield. Maybe I’d flip a coin.
QOTW: “Don’t be that guy.” –Ryan
?FNW: Ryan said he’d contact Kyle about my bonus %. How long will he take?
11/11/2017–Regarding the employee who opened up about doing drugs, I shouldn’t have included her not telling her parents in my duties as manager. She and her parents are totally excluded from my concern, barring anything that would put my employee’s health or safety at reasonable risk. I am happy that I shared with her how I would speak with the other managers to decide. If a manager does this, it shows employees he or she holds himself or herself to the same level of honesty and transparency to which the employees are held. Further, the manager reflects the teamwork expected from the staff by taking the matter to the management team to make a collective decision.