I've given up on expecting good service from anywhere. If I can, I use the internet and apps to figure out want I need and where it is in the store before I even go there. Like if it's an auto parts store, I look up the part on the internet, print it out, and just hand it to the guy at the counter.
We have 8 people working in our shop, 3 are owners/employees (we're chapter S corporation). There are 3 employees that make several dollars per hour more than us owners and the other 2 are not making much less than the owners. Luckily we have great retention, 1 has been here 18 years and another for nearly 14 years. This past year we did the biggest raises we've ever done taking everyone up by nearly 10%.
In the past I've always felt pretty good about our wages. The feedback I was getting is that people wanted to work fewer hours if possible even though they were hourly and it meant their paychecks would be a little smaller. Hell I had one guy lose a paycheck and he didn't even know it until our bookkeeper noticed the check never cleared the bank. I figured that was good indication they were happy with how much they were making. However this year I definitely got some feedback on employees being a little freaked out about how they were feeling a lot more pressed for money which is why we did the bigger raises. Now I admit I'm a little more nervous about the economy taking a dive, because that will make the payroll a much bigger issue.
What worries me more than wages is the age of our workforce. We've got 1 employee just a few years from 70, 2 others over 50, 3 over 40 (not far from 50), and 1 in mid30s. I also left out 1 owner over 70 that still works a few hours a day. In the next 3 to 5 years, we're really going to be trouble. We just don't get younger people applying, except for the design/computer positions which is where our youngest employee works. We've tried tapping into the high school group when they have job fairs. We've hired a couple, but they all have "bigger" plans to be diesel mechanics and electrical engineers. They were good workers, but the sign industry just didn't hold their interest.
Dealing with an older workforce that still has to work outside doing manual labor has some challenges and upsides. They do great work and generally take good care of the equipment and customers. We do have to be more mindful of the work conditions. Heat and cold get to them sooner, and they typically require more recovery time. It means we have to be careful with our lead times and work load. I'm also more lenient about day off requests due to that need for recovery. It works well for keeping happy employees, but sometimes it can mean having to smooth things over with the customers a little more frequently. But it still amazes me when a customer calls and asks why we're not there installing the sign when it's 15° out and the wind is blowing. I guess the weather seems pretty good when they're sitting inside their nicely heated office. They always seem to forget the last part of "we'll be there next Thursday as long as the weather is good enough".
As far as the higher wages for what has generally been considered entry level positions, I think it tends to be a bit of a shell game. What I've seen is that most of those places will just offer less hours and thin out the number of people on shift. The end product is employees still won't be making a lot more money for any single job because they'll be working fewer hours. On top of that, paying the entry level workers a bunch more money is just going raise the cost of the basic items we all need including those same people demanding higher wages.
I also think a lot of us are paying the price of crappy managers and bad companies. They've created a lot of ill will towards all employers regardless that many companies don't treat their employees poorly. It's driven a lot of people to figure out how to make a living without being a typical employee. And unfortunately it's the good ones that you'd like to hire that are the best at being able to work for themselves.
Sorry for the long post, but I could go on for even longer..... Haha
