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Take a Timeout
Stop wasting your labour hours |
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Written by Bernice Klassen
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It’s no secret that running a floral shop can be unpredictable. You may go days without seeing a walk-in customer and then, in a matter of one phone call, be working off your feet to get a funeral order complete. Scheduling the right number of staff can be difficult and if you don’t do it right, you can hurt your bottom line and frustrate your employees. You must also keep in mind the fine line between loyalty to staff and meeting your budget expectations. Here’s a look at how you can take away some of the guesswork, control your labour costs and keep your staff working steady.
In the retail sector, labour costs, on average, account for approximately 20 per cent of revenue. Some businesses operate on between 12 to 15 per cent of revenue, which can be accomplished by having stringent procedures in place. These standards can be based on meeting sales targets and mandates that are set according to the total dollars sold per week. For example, if sales are $10,000 a month, your total labour costs should be $2,000. At $15 per hour (the average wage in retail in Canada according to a Statistics Canada April 2010 report) you would have 133 hours to work with. If you do not meet those targets, hours are cut. That’s the practical side.
In the floral industry, consideration for the talents of your designer, your sales personnel and office staff require loyalty to you and from you. But how can that pay the bills? As great as it is to “be there” for your staff and customers, if it is not in the best interest of the profitability of your shop, it is not in the best interest, period.
A great method to devise a proper staff schedule is to start planning daily hours based on the peak times. Look at your projected orders and sales. With the high number of chop and drop bouquets in the market, planning should be easier than ever. There are several things you can do to create a smooth workflow. You can stagger your designer hours or utilize your designer as a salesperson on slower days and employ part-time staff on weekends and evenings to pick up the remaining hours. Maybe full time in your shop means 30 hours a week and overtime is paid after 40 hours a week instead of after eight hours a day. As each province is different, you will need to know the labour laws in your province to know what is acceptable. It may require you to set a policy that states that after 2 p.m. there is no designer on staff and orders are filled by an apprentice capable of minor adjustments to designs to bring designs to the appropriate value. Part of that process would be first training, then apprenticing, staff, and setting the expectation that there be a certain number of designs at a basic price point on hand after 2 p.m.
Set out your expectations for your staff. Are they required to do cleaning, sales calls, promotions and/or office work? Diversifying job descriptions is a great step in utilizing your staff. When hiring personnel, you will have a clearer vision of which type of employee you are searching for. The employee with more experience in a variety of areas will be more knowledgeable of the overall business. This will allow you greater freedom within your business.
When you look at your current employees, consider what else they have to offer you. People always have more than one gift so list the talents of each employee and how they can relate to the overall success of your business. Training each employee to do a second or third job allows flexibility within your business. Are your sales personnel meticulous enough to help with some of the accounting requirements? Does your designer have enough talent for teaching to do an afternoon class? Who is outgoing and could do a walkabout through an industrial section of town, going from business to business promoting your shop?
Develop task lists on a daily and weekly basis to provide all staff with the overall expectations of what needs to be accomplished. The interaction of teamwork coupled with ownership of expectations provides a healthy and efficient work environment.
Don’t forget to think long term. Having your business goals for the year listed with specific strategies for reaching these goals in clear view may reward you with exciting opportunities. For example, if you have a goal to increase business exposure, you will want greater Internet exposure. You may have a staff member that is a whiz at this stuff. This will not only save you money by not having to farm out the entire project but it will also keep that staff member occupied during a slower time as well as excited about a new adventure in their job.
Plan extra tasks outside of busy holiday times to prepare for upcoming occasions. The end of July to August is a good time to bring out the last Christmas leftovers and get creative. Not only are you in a more relaxed frame of mind and promoting a higher level of creativity, but you are also providing an opportunity to assess inventory levels prior to shows and to avoid replicating purchases.
Use down time wisely to catch up on tasks that might otherwise be ignored. Paperwork, particularly after a holiday, can be overwhelming, and having a helping hand is a great use of slow sales periods. Employ a staff member to do everything from filing invoices and double-checking credit receipts to looking at statement mailouts, customer base analysis, researching trends, or getting the best value on supplies and learning how to place orders.
Another area you need to schedule in time for is staff education. Though training is expensive, providing training during down time is time well spent. Next year’s goal would then be to reduce training hours through employee retention.
At the end of each month, look back at how your labour hours were spent to be sure you are using these hours wisely. If you have your business set up with separate expenditures for office, promotion, etc., be sure to slot the wages for your staff under the correct department. Try numerical classifications such as 01 for designer work, 02 to designate sales, 03 for administration and 04 to indicate training hours. It will give you better insight into your total hours when doing wage evaluations.
Properly staffing your shop comes down to organization and forethought. Begin with the goals that need to be achieved, then slot them into the time frames required for completion. Developing a scheduling method and template will help you use your labour hours more effectively and keep your staff working hard instead of hardly working. Having well-informed, competent, multi-talented and loyal staff always costs a business less and is definitely a great business asset.
M.G. Bernice Klassen is experienced in nearly every aspect of the floral industry, including retail, wholesale and grocery chain. Armed with a business administration degree, with a specialty in marketing and management, Bernice is now offering her services as a floral consultant to the industry. Contact Bernice directly at
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