Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Britney Saunders and welcome to Big Business, the
Speaker 1: place where business is far from boring. And today I'm
Speaker 1: recording on a wobbicle land. For today's episode, I'm going
Speaker 1: to answer some questions. I popped up a little question box.
Speaker 1: I love doing these every now and then. Number one
Speaker 1: because I love answering the questions that people actually want
Speaker 1: me to answer. Like, I have a lot that I
Speaker 1: want to say on this podcast, but I also want
Speaker 1: to give the listeners of this pod you like the
Speaker 1: info that you want to know. So I'm just going
Speaker 1: to jump straight into it and read out some questions
Speaker 1: because there's some bloody good ones in here. I'm going
Speaker 1: to start with one. Oh where did I see it? Here?
Speaker 1: It is okay? So this question is how do you
Speaker 1: deal with disgruntled team etc. Not getting or example, not
Speaker 1: getting enough shifts in store? This is a tricky one
Speaker 1: and this is something that I mean, I feel like
Speaker 1: I always say this. I never thought about this before
Speaker 1: I started a business, but I quite literally didn't when
Speaker 1: I first opened my Fate store in Newcastle. That was
Speaker 1: our first door. I opened it in twenty nineteen, just
Speaker 1: before COVID hit and I didn't know how to do anything.
Speaker 1: I quite literally didn't know that I should have like
Speaker 1: an open checklist and a closed checklist and a cleaning checklist.
Speaker 1: Like it was. It was so casual. And when we
Speaker 1: first opened our Fate store in twenty nineteen, I was
Speaker 1: the one mainly working in the store, Like I was
Speaker 1: packing the orders and then working in the store, and
Speaker 1: we were open with really limited hours. Anyway, I don't
Speaker 1: think we even had like an app that did our rosters.
Speaker 1: I think I just made it up in like a
Speaker 1: little table and screenshot it, screenshot it and texted to everyone.
Speaker 1: Like it was so casual. And I honestly had like
Speaker 1: two people working in the store with me, and they
Speaker 1: were kind of like also working in the office and
Speaker 1: the warehouse because we were so small that everyone's jobs
Speaker 1: were like kind of all around our vibes. And it
Speaker 1: wasn't until a little later down the track, maybe like
Speaker 1: after the lockdown and COVID. I don't rem exactly all
Speaker 1: those years honestly blur together, But it wasn't until like
Speaker 1: laid down the track that I actually got some systems
Speaker 1: in place, Like we got a rostering app, and you know,
Speaker 1: we had staff contracts made up because when I started FAIT,
Speaker 1: I didn't know that you had to have fucking all
Speaker 1: these specific contracts for people and like proper procedures. You know.
Speaker 1: I was absolutely clueless and absolutely winging it, and I
Speaker 1: was so hands on. I was like, fuck it, I'm
Speaker 1: going to work in the store and you just come
Speaker 1: in at this time and come and help me serve
Speaker 1: the customers. Back to the question, like, how do you
Speaker 1: deal with disgruntled teams and people not being happy with
Speaker 1: the amount of shifts they get. This is a problem
Speaker 1: that every single retail store business is gonna deal with,
Speaker 1: like people never being one hundred percent happy, And I've
Speaker 1: dealt with countless of times over the years, people winging
Speaker 1: behind my back about their shifts. I'm sure it happens
Speaker 1: in my company to this day. That our company's kind
Speaker 1: of so broad now that there's a lot of people
Speaker 1: in between myself and the store team members that I
Speaker 1: don't really hear about this kind of stuff anymore unless
Speaker 1: they absolutely need me to. But just thinking back to
Speaker 1: when Fate was new, I definitely, you know, would have
Speaker 1: people come to me and be like she said, blah
Speaker 1: blah blah, and I'd be like, fuck's sake, Like, people
Speaker 1: complaining about shifts is just a part of retail. Whether
Speaker 1: it's too many or in other times not enough shifts,
Speaker 1: it's completely normal. And I think the way to deal
Speaker 1: with this, it all goes back to communication. Having clear
Speaker 1: communication is like the number one most important thing in
Speaker 1: a business where you're employing people. Like, there's so many
Speaker 1: important things when it comes to running a store or business,
Speaker 1: but having clear communication is absolutely everything. So let's say
Speaker 1: it needs to start and like the communication needs to
Speaker 1: start in the interviewing process or even in the advertising process.
Speaker 1: So if you're hiring for whatever position it is, to
Speaker 1: clearly communicate in that job ad. This is a casual position,
Speaker 1: you know, if you're going to do some guaranteed hours,
Speaker 1: guaranteed ten to fifteen hours a week. It's just making
Speaker 1: that so clear from the get go so that people
Speaker 1: don't get like overly high expectations kind of thing and
Speaker 1: then they're later let down if their shifts are lowering
Speaker 1: or whatever. So that would definitely be my advice. Have
Speaker 1: it clearly written in your job ads what the hours are,
Speaker 1: and then secondly in the interview process, make it verbally
Speaker 1: clear are you okay with this being two to three
Speaker 1: shifts a week and having that person say yes, I'm
Speaker 1: okay with that, and then you can communicate to them.
Speaker 1: You know, if you go into a busy period, there
Speaker 1: may be more opportunities for other shifts that are going
Speaker 1: to come up, but then it might you know, drop
Speaker 1: down again, but you are definitely going to be getting
Speaker 1: two to three shifts a week. I think just setting
Speaker 1: those expectations from the get go is going to you know,
Speaker 1: make everyone be the same page and not over promising
Speaker 1: and under delivering. I think it's just really important to
Speaker 1: lay everything out on the table, have your staff know
Speaker 1: what shifts they're going to get. And again, like I
Speaker 1: don't know what kind of business you're asking from, but
Speaker 1: with us, like especially with our store casuals, we're just
Speaker 1: really clear in the onboarding process. They know what kind
Speaker 1: of shifts they're going to get. They know that they
Speaker 1: might get called up for some extra shifts if we
Speaker 1: go into like a busy Christmas period or whatever, and
Speaker 1: have it written in their employee contracts as well. Employee contracts.
Speaker 1: I've always had employee contracts, but at the very beginning,
Speaker 1: I had like one type of contract that every staff
Speaker 1: member had and over the years, we've then like catered
Speaker 1: that differently to eat or tailored that to each person
Speaker 1: dependent on their role, and it's become a lot more detailed,
Speaker 1: but just clearly outlining in their contracts, you know what
Speaker 1: their job title is, how many hours they're going to
Speaker 1: be getting. If you've told them a certain amount of
Speaker 1: hours and just having everything in writing, that would be
Speaker 1: my And if you are dealing with someone who is
Speaker 1: talking negatively, I remember I dealt with something like this
Speaker 1: years and years and years ago. Like I'm going to say,
Speaker 1: in like twenty twenty, someone like talking really badly and
Speaker 1: negatively about me to actually to one of my friends,
Speaker 1: like it was so messy, and then my friend came
Speaker 1: to me and said, Hey, I just want to let
Speaker 1: you know, like this person that works in your store
Speaker 1: has been saying this and it all had to do
Speaker 1: with like shifts, and I'm like, bloody hell with a
Speaker 1: whole debarcle. But if you are having any anything like
Speaker 1: that happening, sit down and have her open and honest conversation.
Speaker 1: It all just comes back to communication. If you have
Speaker 1: heard so and so said blah blah blah and they're
Speaker 1: cranky about this, like I just skip. I'm sorry. If
Speaker 1: you can hear my dog just shaking in the background.
Speaker 1: If you have heard someone said about she said whatever,
Speaker 1: it is booking of time to sit down with that
Speaker 1: staff or team member and just say, hey, like, I
Speaker 1: just wanted to bring this up with you. I just
Speaker 1: wanted to check in. I've heard you know, so Xyz.
Speaker 1: You don't have to say who said it, because I
Speaker 1: know that staff obviously and understandably get really funny about
Speaker 1: when they come to tell you something, but then they're like,
Speaker 1: but don't say like, you can't repeat this kind of thing.
Speaker 1: It's always really awkward. But you know, you don't have
Speaker 1: to mention any names, but just say, hey, like, I
Speaker 1: heard this and I just wanted to sit down and
Speaker 1: talk about your shifts kind of thing and just lay
Speaker 1: it all out on the table again. It all just
Speaker 1: comes back to having that really clear communication. The next
Speaker 1: question is do you have any advice for employees taking
Speaker 1: leave to manage pre and post holiday stress. This is
Speaker 1: a good one because at the time that I'm recording this,
Speaker 1: we're in our last week of work. I think I've
Speaker 1: already spoken about this in another episode. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I've been recording so many our staff take two weeks off,
Speaker 1: like a majority of like our full time office and
Speaker 1: warehouse stuff, So there's like two weeks every year where
Speaker 1: no one's around at the office and warehouse, and I
Speaker 1: think we have got it pretty downpat over the last
Speaker 1: few year. I guess it's hard for me to give
Speaker 1: advice on this because it depends like what kind of
Speaker 1: business you're working for, like if you're working for a
Speaker 1: massive corporation or a smaller one. And I guess where
Speaker 1: a lot of my staff can probably find comfort in
Speaker 1: knowing is that AJ and I are never not available
Speaker 1: to do stuff, So even when everyone's off, they know that,
Speaker 1: like if something needs to be done, AJ and I
Speaker 1: will do it. And we have things that need to
Speaker 1: be done during the two week period, whether it's like
Speaker 1: social media stuff, posting stories, all that kind of stuff,
Speaker 1: like I'll be doing that customer service emails. I'll be
Speaker 1: jumping on those and making sure that we're applying to
Speaker 1: most of them kind of thing. Whereas I think a
Speaker 1: lot of staff may feel more stressed if like they've
Speaker 1: got to get everything done and like there's no one
Speaker 1: to do anything if shit goes wrong in the time
Speaker 1: that you're taking leave. But again, I think it all
Speaker 1: comes back to communication. And I know that what our
Speaker 1: team did in the office is they kind of sat
Speaker 1: down and all brainstormed everything that needed to be done
Speaker 1: before they leave, whether that's like scheduling our email marketing
Speaker 1: to go out, scheduling in all of our social media posts,
Speaker 1: making sure we've got all of our stories created and
Speaker 1: they're handed over to me so that I know what
Speaker 1: they I'm posting. What I think it's a matter of
Speaker 1: just sitting down with your team or your co workers
Speaker 1: or whoever it may be that you're working with and
Speaker 1: just coming up with a plan and kind of ticking
Speaker 1: it off every day until that last day of work,
Speaker 1: which I know is what our staff are doing at
Speaker 1: the moment. They're all kind of getting ready this week
Speaker 1: and finishing everything off so that they can leave work
Speaker 1: this Friday and know that like everything is done. And
Speaker 1: I'd also say again, like I can only give advice
Speaker 1: from my business, and I know that my business is
Speaker 1: so different to a lot of other businesses out there,
Speaker 1: But don't be so hard on yourself if you are
Speaker 1: taking time off. I'm really passionate about when our staff
Speaker 1: have time off. They have time off. So even again
Speaker 1: for our retail stores, which obviously are open throughout the
Speaker 1: two weeks that everyone's off, our store teams know to
Speaker 1: contact AJ and I if anything goes wrong or if
Speaker 1: they need assistance with anything, because normally they would contact Grace,
Speaker 1: who was our national retail manager, but they know to
Speaker 1: contact us. But just don't be hard on yourself if
Speaker 1: you are having time off. I know a lot of
Speaker 1: staff can have guilt when they take time off, which
Speaker 1: is really weird. But again, I'm only saying that from
Speaker 1: my mind and my perspective, but honestly, do the best
Speaker 1: that you can get all of your tasks ticked off,
Speaker 1: even just for your own mental well being. I think
Speaker 1: it's so good to write everything down that you know
Speaker 1: you need to get done and tick it off so
Speaker 1: that when you do leave to go on annual leave
Speaker 1: over Christmas or whenever, you can kind of actually switch
Speaker 1: off and relax. The last thing I would want is
Speaker 1: my staff stressing at home being like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I didn't finish that one thing or whatever, and reach
Speaker 1: out for help from your coworkers and team members or
Speaker 1: your boss or whoever, depending on how the business is structured.
Speaker 1: If there's anything that you're struggling to get done or
Speaker 1: you feel like you're not going to get done before
Speaker 1: you go away, reach out and ask for help. I
Speaker 1: always say to my team life, anyone needs help, like,
Speaker 1: just let me know. And I know people sometimes feel independent,
Speaker 1: like they don't want to have to ask for help.
Speaker 1: But especially if you're working on a timeline and you're
Speaker 1: stressed about going away and you're worried about this, that,
Speaker 1: and the other, don't be afraid to ask for help
Speaker 1: and just remember like nothing awfully terrible is going to happen.
Speaker 1: I mean again, it depends where you work, Like it
Speaker 1: could be completely different if you have two weeks and
Speaker 1: you'll leave and you work at a hospital or something.
Speaker 1: But like, nothing bad is going to go terribly wrong
Speaker 1: in your absence, especially if your leave has been approved.
Speaker 1: You know, like you've been approved for the leave, they
Speaker 1: know that you're taking time off. And on my end
Speaker 1: as well, like I approve all of our staffs leave
Speaker 1: and then I know, like I don't expect them to
Speaker 1: do a single thing in the time that they're gone.
Speaker 1: I'm never gonna bother them, I'm never going to message
Speaker 1: them when I'm on when they're on leave, I'm like,
Speaker 1: i'll see you in two weeks when you're back. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess my final piece of advice for that is,
Speaker 1: don't be too hard on yourself and enjoy your time
Speaker 1: of enjoy your very deserved leave, and you'll be bloody
Speaker 1: back at work before you know it anyway, so make
Speaker 1: the absolute most of it. And one last question, how
Speaker 1: do you and AJ go about resolving work conflicts when
Speaker 1: they get mixed with relationship life. That's a really good question.
Speaker 1: I would say that we don't experience that. I think
Speaker 1: the only time when AJ and I ever really clash
Speaker 1: heads over something work related is if it's got to
Speaker 1: do with people's time sheets. Like that's the one thing
Speaker 1: that will kind of like blow up at each other
Speaker 1: at because AJ often like does the pays at night
Speaker 1: to kind of get them prepared, and I think it's
Speaker 1: just a hilarious thing. Like any business owner or anyone
Speaker 1: in payroll will know, like how much of a fuck
Speaker 1: around time sheets are, and like when people don't do
Speaker 1: their time sheets correctly, And then because AJ does our pays,
Speaker 1: I used to do them, but I handed that role
Speaker 1: over to him. Maybe this year. I can't Boddy remember
Speaker 1: when it was. It's just funny because he'll always just
Speaker 1: blow up at night when he's doing the pays and
Speaker 1: because like you can't do the pay run properly until
Speaker 1: everyone's done their timesheets and he's gone, this person hasn't
Speaker 1: done their timesheet again, And then I get so mad
Speaker 1: at him that he's dragged me into that scenario because
Speaker 1: I'm just like, let's ask the person tomorrow kind of thing.
Speaker 1: But it's like ten o'clock at night when he's trying
Speaker 1: to like start the pays, but like it's never anything serious.
Speaker 1: I'm like, don't fucking talk to me about the time sheets,
Speaker 1: and I just like don't want that to interfere our relationship.
Speaker 1: But we're really fortunate in a way where we have
Speaker 1: so many amazing people working in our company at fate
Speaker 1: to deal with workplace conflicts. Especially AJ does not have
Speaker 1: anything to do with any workplace conflicts that we deal
Speaker 1: with touch Wood, Like it's few and far between, and
Speaker 1: we don't deal with workplace conflicts often. Touch would. But
Speaker 1: anytime we ever have had something, AJ's not directly involved
Speaker 1: in it because it's not his role. He doesn't have
Speaker 1: anything to do with like working directly with people within
Speaker 1: their roles or dealing with anyone's issues or anything like that.
Speaker 1: It's more so me and a few others that work
Speaker 1: in our head office, so I never really have it
Speaker 1: crossover into my relationship with AJ. He's more so like
Speaker 1: my soundboard from when I come home and I'm frustrated
Speaker 1: about something or shit's hit the van somewhere, and he
Speaker 1: just kind of like listens to me rant and gives
Speaker 1: me his advice. But it never, fortunately comes in the
Speaker 1: way of our relationship because it's outside of AJ's role.
Speaker 1: AJ's role at Fate used to be just like managing
Speaker 1: the warehouse, but not even managing the team, but just
Speaker 1: managing the logistics of the warehouse. But he's kind of
Speaker 1: stepped away from that this year and now he's more
Speaker 1: so just doing the books. He does the books all
Speaker 1: about invoicing, pays everything and pays everyone, which it's turned
Speaker 1: into a really big job for him because yeah, we
Speaker 1: have like sixty something people on the payroll now we
Speaker 1: pay weekly, so that's a huge part of his job.
Speaker 1: He doesn't really deal directly with like staffing issues or
Speaker 1: workplace conflict, so thankfully that doesn't interfere with our relationship.
Speaker 1: But I think just to add to that, like it's
Speaker 1: important for me to just stay aware. And you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes AJ and I will be having conversations at night
Speaker 1: and we might get a little bit heated about something
Speaker 1: that's stressful that's happening at work, and I think it's
Speaker 1: on us to just kind of be like, look, let's
Speaker 1: not talk about this now, Like, let's wait until everyone's
Speaker 1: back at work tomorrow and go and speak to the
Speaker 1: right people that we need to speak to, because otherwise
Speaker 1: we just get caught up in it when it's like
Speaker 1: ten o'clock at night. We don't have to be talking
Speaker 1: about this right now, and it's really hard not to
Speaker 1: because when you own a business, you're never not working.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think it's just all about us being
Speaker 1: self aware and knowing stuff that we need to talk
Speaker 1: about at home or stuff that can literally just wait
Speaker 1: until tomorrow, because most of the time, shit can always
Speaker 1: wait until tomorrow. So thanks for sending in your questions
Speaker 1: for this bonus episode. I actually got so many questions.
Speaker 1: I think I'm going to make a part two of
Speaker 1: this because I only answered three in this bloody episode,
Speaker 1: So stay tuned for Part two coming soon