Why don’t you have time?

Several years ago I was that person who was always late to appointments, meetings, dates when finally someone posed this question to me: “Why are you always late?” No one had ever called me out on this before so at first I was jarred, scrambling for an excuse and had none.

For as long as I could remember, I’d been operating as if time were a rapidly spinning force that tested my credibility, relationships, and activities. Time felt untouchable. However, to the contrary, it’s the most malleable force we have control over.

I think about that lesson anytime someone tells me their boss is not available or consistently cuts meetings short to respond to external events.

Being able to drive your time is critical to the success of your team and company. Time as a vehicle and must be driven strategically with built-in stops for each of your employees. This particular form of respect can easily prevent turnover and promote goal achievement.

Are you late all the time? Do your employees try (unsuccessfully) to meet with you? Do you know? We’re all the directors of our own lives so this awareness applies to everyone: time does not control you, it’s up to you to utilize time. To start your journey to improve your time management skills, start asking yourself “Why don’t I have any…time?”

Today’s Affirmation

You are the director of your life.

It’s a Holly Jolly Christmas…

Setting out on a brisk walk from my car to the big-box office supplies store in hopes to make the holiday shipping timeline, it was no surprise that a parade of others followed, with outbound packages in tow.

Expecting lines to the door I was a pleased to find myself in third position; any celebration was temporary, when it was noted that the two people behind the desk were the only staff on the floor. That’s, two people to oversee 12,000 square feet of retail space, assist customers in-aisle, serve as UPS and USPS service providers, run a print shop, and keep an eye out on the five un-attended registers across the way.

December occurs annually and with it, the cyclical uptick in demand for retail and mailing services. It’s an entirely different scene at corporate headquarters. Marketing departments deploy final assets nationwide, merchandizing teams analyze inventory strategies, and office-closure notices are double checked and scheduled for automatic distribution. 

Back in line, it’s around 9:00 am. Yesterday’s due date for a customer has expired and hours before their event, the folding machine jams, repeatedly. A woman’s returns can only be taken to a real UPS store which the associate kindly explains, there are now three others behind me with packages, four others waiting at the print desk, and a stranded customer gets no help at the empty registers. Thankfully there’s currently no “call holding for the any department.”

When you have a retail store where two people end up in a situation where they are to double-handedly process and deliver brand promises to customers, the system has failed.

If you have worked in retail I hope you were never in this situation. If you have managed retail stores you know staffing challenges are not new. As an advocate for happiness at work and a belief that a healthy retail staffing experience can exist, I see opportunities to create a more humane space that is economically beneficial.

Imagine a store that brings in a new wave of overqualified desperate applicants who decide to stay even after their once-dream-job is finally offered to them; retail can be that good. 

In the meantime the holiday music must go on.

Today’s Affirmation:

If you build it, they will come.