State of labor

[Lomithrandel]

Over the past month and a half or so there has been an epidemic decline in the loyalty and work ethic of prospective employees in this province. We have had almost 10 people now who we originally thought to be good hires (judging by the interviews, and how well they did on their first shifts) come in for one shift then fall off the face of the earth. They don't show up for any further shifts, and they don't answer their phones or return messages. There have been a couple who lasted as long as a month however who decided they would let us know they were quitting, but would not be giving proper notice of such. This is coupled with the fact that I swear to god 7 out of 10 interviews we setup, never even show the fuck up... The stress our management team are undergoing is enormously wearing. At this rate we are going to have to start hiring fucktards with no initiative to get another job! We treat our employees very well, give hands-on paid training, we now bonus hourly associates, give them commission, raised their hourly wages, and still we have this problem!

I better stop now, I am getting angry just writing about these issues... does anybody have any anecdotes or tips that might help us weed out the people who are less likely to stick around? We are normally pretty good at finding the right people, but I will take any help I can get.

[Koron]

Originally Posted by Lomithrandel

Over the past month and a half or so there has been an epidemic decline in the loyalty and work ethic of prospective employees in this province. We have had almost 10 people now who we originally thought to be good hires (judging by the interviews, and how well they did on their first shifts) come in for one shift then fall off the face of the earth. They don't show up for any further shifts, and they don't answer their phones or return messages. There have been a couple who lasted as long as a month however who decided they would let us know they were quitting, but would not be giving proper notice of such. This is coupled with the fact that I swear to god 7 out of 10 interviews we setup, never even show the fuck up... The stress our management team are undergoing is enormously wearing. At this rate we are going to have to start hiring fucktards with no initiative to get another job! We treat our employees very well, give hands-on paid training, we now bonus hourly associates, give them commission, raised their hourly wages, and still we have this problem!

I better stop now, I am getting angry just writing about these issues... does anybody have any anecdotes or tips that might help us weed out the people who are less likely to stick around? We are normally pretty good at finding the right people, but I will take any help I can get.

Personally I have found that throwing the application out the door when you do the interview helps alot. I have never once asked the questions on the app simply because it gives me no real information about the person.

My interviews are typically 30 minutes to an hour long with me just chatting with the person. We cover everything from previous employment, to school, and to likes and dislikes. If after 30 minutes of talking to me, and they haven't warmed up and started having fun, I usually wrap up and let them out.

Out of the last 10 people I personally hired, only one has left. Three have been promoted to SL and 1 soon to be the 4 star csr.

You just need to find the right personalities that you think best match your store. Mine are always highly energetic and talkative, but across town, they need more uptight people.

[HardcoreKeith]

Even our good CSRs usually quit without notice. I guess they feel it's fair for the unnecessary burden we've placed on them by requiring them to show up for scheduled shifts and suggest promotions to customers &c.

I had one guy bug me a couple times about an interview, I set him up with one, the time comes and goes. A few hours later he calls and asks if we could reschedule. I said actually it looks like we're not needing any at the moment but thanks.

[rk237]

Originally Posted by Lomithrandel

Over the past month and a half or so there has been an epidemic decline in the loyalty and work ethic of prospective employees in this province. We have had almost 10 people now who we originally thought to be good hires (judging by the interviews, and how well they did on their first shifts) come in for one shift then fall off the face of the earth. They don't show up for any further shifts, and they don't answer their phones or return messages. There have been a couple who lasted as long as a month however who decided they would let us know they were quitting, but would not be giving proper notice of such. This is coupled with the fact that I swear to god 7 out of 10 interviews we setup, never even show the fuck up... The stress our management team are undergoing is enormously wearing. At this rate we are going to have to start hiring fucktards with no initiative to get another job! We treat our employees very well, give hands-on paid training, we now bonus hourly associates, give them commission, raised their hourly wages, and still we have this problem!

I better stop now, I am getting angry just writing about these issues... does anybody have any anecdotes or tips that might help us weed out the people who are less likely to stick around? We are normally pretty good at finding the right people, but I will take any help I can get.

This is probably because the Canadian economy has improved since you were hired, so there are more jobs available to Joe lazy ass worker. So Joe doesn't have to bust his ass in an interview or in his first week trying to impress everyone, since he can get a job anywhere, and he doesn't need your good reference, so he can quit (or worse, stop showing up without warning) and doesn't give two shits because there are a thousand other jobs out there waiting for him.

This is how it is here also. There are so many entry-level jobs in this state that it's hard to find decent labor -- getting fired is no big deal here since you can have three new shitty jobs by the afternoon. It was a plague my entire time at Blockbuster and as far as I know is still a problem.

[zooworker]

It's the same here, people want a job and don't want to work. We get dozens of apps a week but only about 1 or 2 or worth looking at. Take special care at their job history, to many people are going from job to job. If I see a person has had 2 jobs or more in the past 12 months I have to rethink that app.

[Lomithrandel]

Thanks for the tips guys, the job-rate right now is approx. 120%, there are more jobs than there are people to fill them. We are getting a lot of people from other provinces moving here because of this, in fact it seems if we hire people from this province they suck or leave quickly, and the people we hire from out of province stay and work harder. We might have to start provincially profiling heh.

[rk237]

Originally Posted by Lomithrandel

Thanks for the tips guys, the job-rate right now is approx. 120%, there are more jobs than there are people to fill them. We are getting a lot of people from other provinces moving here because of this, in fact it seems if we hire people from this province they suck or leave quickly, and the people we hire from out of province stay and work harder. We might have to start provincially profiling heh.

How would you do that?
Interviewer: "Hey buddy, are you a canucks fan, a flames fan, an oile..."
Prospect: "Go Leafs!"
Interviewer: "Get the fuck out of my store!"

EDIT:
I misread your post. Sounds like you DO want out of towners, which means leafs fans.
Honestly though, are people really moving across Canada only to work at Blockbuster?

[Lomithrandel]

Most of the people that apply are college students or people who couldn't find work in a small town in another part of Canada, and have heard about the boom in Alberta.

[rk237]

Originally Posted by Lomithrandel

Most of the people that apply are college students or people who couldn't find work in a small town in another part of Canada, and have heard about the boom in Alberta.

Ahh makes sense.

[johnlow71]

Originally Posted by rk237

How would you do that?
Interviewer: "Hey buddy, are you a canucks fan, a flames fan, an oile..."
Prospect: "Go Leafs!"
Interviewer: "Get the fuck out of my store!"

EDIT:
I misread your post. Sounds like you DO want out of towners, which means leafs fans.
Honestly though, are people really moving across Canada only to work at Blockbuster?

lol thats great