Dealing with the crunch at holiday time.
Frances Massey of Davenport Custom Tailors handles the hectic pace of the holiday season by keeping a festive atmosphere at her business. (Oct. 21, 2011)
Staff photo/NICK PERRY
The holiday season is normally a time of food, drink and festivities, but for many business owners, it's also their busiest time of the year.
This means it's crunch time, and with that comes a heavy workload and not a lot of time for holiday fun. However, despite being retailers' busiest time of year, you have to make sure you keep employee expectations reasonable, said Claude Balthazard, vice president, regulatory affairs and registrar of Human Resources Professional Association in Toronto.
"If you're in retail, you know this is the season whether you make it or break it, and so the trick is to keep it (the workload) reasonable on your employees, for example, you can't ask them to work continuously..." he said.
When you're operating on extended hours, the owner may be there all the time, but you can't expect staff to be, so finding the balance between the work that needs to be done along with the time the employee may need for personal reasons, is crucial.
"Sometimes it works well with religious accommodations because sometimes people don't need the same days off," Balthazard said.
For business owner, Frances Massey, who owns Davenport Custom Tailors and Dressmakers in Toronto, because the fall and holiday seasons are her busiest time, she and her staff don't get a lot of time off, and work a lot of overtime to get the work done.
This doesn't leave a lot of time for usual holiday activities, but that doesn't mean Massey forgets about it altogether.
Massey said while the store atmosphere is hectic, she does her best to balance that with a festive one as well. She decorates the store in both Christmas and Hanukkah decorations, and there are always chocolates and candies around the store. This, she said, is both for her customers and the morale of her staff.
"I like my staff to be happy, because if my staff is happy, the customers sense that and they like coming in," Massey said. "I like the staff to feel good, not feeling tense or pressured."
And, she said her customers are always in a festive mood when they come in during the holidays so that keeps her and her staff in a great mood as well, despite it being so busy. Many of these customers they consider friends, she said, so it becomes a joyful atmosphere.
"I have regular customers that have been coming in for three decades and we have fun talking ...," she said.
However, Balthazard said the pendulum of moods swings both ways during the stressful holiday season, and customers can also be demanding and nasty, so make sure you consider your employees may have to deal with that along with the heavy workload.
Another thing business owners could consider, Balthazard said, is bringing in seasonal workers. This will help to lessen the load and vary up schedules, but this will only be beneficial if they are trained well, or delegated particular tasks, or their lack of knowledge of the job could be a hindrance more than a help.
"Sometimes it can be tricky because they may or may not know the routines as well and they need more guidance and asking staff how to do things like how to use the register," he said.
While it can seem difficult, the key is to try to inject some lighter and social time during the craziness. Balthazard said a feeling of camaraderie and teamwork is crucial in getting through the busy season, and because it's the holidays, even little gestures such as bringing in baked goods and taking breaks together can be helpful in lifting spirits.
Massey said besides treats around the shop, she and her employees have lunch together at least once a month to break up the hectic nature of the season, and also have one that doubles as a Christmas party in December. And to show her appreciation, her employees get year-end bonuses, which Massey said gives them something to look forward to and lets them know they are truly appreciated.
"Life isn't only about working, collecting your paycheque and going home," Massey said. "There's is a lot more to it, like showing respect and appreciation for one another."
Balthazard said knowing they'll get a bonus gives employees incentive and motivation to get through the busy season.
"If you're going to ask employees to go above and beyond normal, it's a good idea to make it worth doing so," he said.