Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Staff Shortage

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Operations » Ground Level » Staff Shortage (Page 2)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3

Author

Topic: Staff Shortage

Steve Scott
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1300
From: Minneapolis, MN
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 02-15-2006 11:45 AM

To add to what BC said about guys with Masters degrees, we've had some education-major graduates apply here too, with one that got hired PT. There's a tough industry for sure.

Availability changeups are annoying. Mostly, they're the ones working other jobs back-to-back with the theatre. They get hired, show up solid for a week & then try to discretely start morphing their hours. You've just got to remain firm on scheduling & hold your people accountable. Make it clear that if they don't want to or can't work their respective shifts, there are people that can & will work in their place.

| IP: Logged

Mitchell Dvoskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1869
From: West Milford, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 02-15-2006 12:17 PM

I think you are all dancing around the basic issue. Pay more = Better people.

| IP: Logged

Brad Allen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 688
From: Evansville, IN, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 02-15-2006 01:47 PM

I'm lucky, I don't have much turnover. But I talk to lots of other business owners that do. They are paying better than average, but most of the people today simply don't want to work.
They've had everything handed to them on a silver platter by mommy and daddy, and they think the world works the same way.
Heck, the McDonalds around here are paying $8.00 an hour and up with good benefits, and they can't get workers. I know $8.00 is not a good living wage, but that's a pretty stinkin good wage for a 16 yr old.

| IP: Logged

Cory Isemann
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 500
From: White Plains, MD, USA
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 02-15-2006 02:40 PM

quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
Pay more = Better people.

Duh!

It's impossible though when you have no say at all in the matter with the higher-ups.

| IP: Logged

Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 02-15-2006 03:38 PM

..and the higher ups have no respect what so ever with entry level employees....they even complain in having to pay such a price, especially when some neighboring state's minimum wages are higher than the others and the company has theatres in these states with the higher minimum wage settings.

. Now, that's a whirlwind to get under control...

| IP: Logged

Robert Burtcher
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 194
From: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Registered: Jun 2005

posted 02-16-2006 12:53 AM

quote: Brad Allen
Heck, the McDonalds around here are paying $8.00 an hour and up with good benefits, and they can't get workers. I know $8.00 is not a good living wage, but that's a pretty stinkin good wage for a 16 yr old.

Makes me wish I lived there! $8.00 is FAR more livable than the wages we get here in Oklahoma. Hello federal minimum wage.

My previous employer, AMC's Quail Springs Mall 24, was ALWAYS in a staff crunch. The turnover rate there was insane, and they never took the "Now Hiring" sign down in the 14 months I worked as floor staff for them. It's no wonder they can't keep people though... They throw people into an extremely busy and confusing concession stand, expect them to know how to do everything right off the bat, and the wage? $5.50/hr.

quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
Pay more = Better people

I couldn't agree more. It'd also help current employees care more about the job they do.

| IP: Logged

Mitchell Dvoskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1869
From: West Milford, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 02-16-2006 08:58 AM

quote: Brad Allen
I know $8.00 is not a good living wage, but that's a pretty stinkin good wage for a 16 yr old.

Clearly not, or these kids would value their jobs more.

Just as when I was young, kids today value their time as well as their income, and value being respected and rewarded when they do a good job. Just as then, some will compromise salary because they really enjoy the job, but most will decide that the salary does not justify the time they are putting in and eventually leave. That does not mean that there are better paying unskilled jobs, it means that for what they are being paid, they would rather be elswhere.

Theatre owners, like any business owner, need to weigh the high turnover in relation to their bottom line. Most have decided that they are making more with high turnover than paying more. Those of us on the front lines may disagree, but it is usually not our choice or our dollars.

| IP: Logged

Jack Ondracek
Film God

Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 02-16-2006 09:37 PM

Well then, does anyone want to poke this old dog again?

What IS a reasonable wage for, say, a high school junior or senior... maybe even a first year college student, living at home, possibly driving a parent's car, maybe paying half the insurance cost, probably paying no food or rent? I'm talking entry-level here.

With the differences in economies between the West coast and someplace like Indiana, how do you arrive at a reasonable norm, and what would that be?

Our minwage just went up to $7.65, not counting what the employer pays in SS, and state accident insurance and unemployment taxes.

| IP: Logged

Matt Fields
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 545
From: Ohio, United States
Registered: Jun 2005

posted 02-16-2006 10:09 PM

Minimum wage laws help those who have jobs at the expense of those who don't.

In countries that have not had any minimum wages (Hong Kong and Switzerland for example), the unemployment rate is typically 1 to 3 percent, much lower then countries that have such laws.

As they say in economics...there is no free lunch.

| IP: Logged

Brad Allen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 688
From: Evansville, IN, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 02-17-2006 04:14 PM

In the case of a small cinema, where a concession worker may actually have something to do for 45 minutes per movie set, $7.65 is redicoulous. Minimum wage laws only drive up prices, and help drive small biz out of biz.

My point was, Most, well ok not most, but lots of folks that apply in cinemas and fast food, could give a rats ass what your paying, they simply don't want to work. They have been raised to expect a free lunch, and that's what they want. They want to get paid, but "ME, have to work to get paid". "How dare you". "I'll sit over here on the stool, and you hand me a check each week, ok?"

| IP: Logged

Jim Ziegler
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 753
From: West Hollywood, CA
Registered: Jul 99

posted 02-17-2006 06:59 PM

Barring a major discrepancy between the theatre's wages and the market's wages - I would say this issue is more to do with the declining work ethic than pay.

| IP: Logged

Robert D. LaValley
Film Handler

Posts: 58
From: Florida
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 02-18-2006 12:29 AM

You do get what you pay for but also you can get more out of people if you treat them with alittle respect. Also you have to realise what type of employee's you have on staff and use their talents accordingly. The biggest mistakes that I see happen is that when management makes the environment an "us against them" type of thing. If you treat a minimum wage worker like a lower class citizen that is all the level of work you will get out of them if any work at all. But if you actually treat them like a human being and take into concideration they might not be doing this job as a career but they still have bills to pay or gas to pay for etc. I think alot of the turn-over problems is not in what you pay but how you manage your building and staff. If you just go around acting like you deserve to be respected just because you have a title or that you have BS'ed your way to lasting a few years in the business without getting fired is not the way to get people to work for you. I am not saying you have to be everyone's friend, or be a friend for that matter. You just have to get to the point where there is mutual respect. A good way to do that is help regular staff members with daily duties instead of sitting in the office playing solitarie on the computer. Or even a please or thank you would be good. I dont think many of todays high schoolers really want to bust their ass at their job becuase they have alot more on their plates with school and just trying to have a life while they can. They see that mcdonalds is paying better then the theatre and would quickly just say "f this!" then trying to stick it out, and thats even with the fact the theatre is the easiest job you can have. I dont believe that just becuase you end up making a dollar or two more then a regular staff member or end up wearing a suit entitles you to acting like your better then anyone else. There's this thing called team work. it's an interesting concept.
Raises and overtime make things more attractive to an employee but in the end if they feel like they are worth something to a company they will work harder for you. If you micro manage the crap out of a staff you will have a high turn over with un happy staff members that equal unhappy customers. I cant tell you how many times I would get irritated if I walked into a place and could see that everyone was putting on a fake smile. I'd much rather walk into a place where I could see everyone that is truely at least in a semi decent mood.
No one has to love their job as a minimum wage worker but I dont see any rule saying they have to hate it either. I'm not a fan of a million rules and getting a staff so when a manager walks in they all freak out. I think everyone would benifit the more you incorporate your staff in your goal of making money with your location and have some sort of appriciation for their efforts. You'd really be surprised just how many people actually would care if the business did well if they truely were involved in it and not just "used" for lack of better phrase. If you have employees just there to get a paycheck then just use them as that. But if you notice that you have employees that want to learn more, and do more becuase they are leaning towards sticking around for longer then a month then you want to not turn a blind eye to them and maybe see if they have friends with the same attitude you would want to add to your staff too.
I've gotten people to be managers for 5.50 an hour, so trust me how you treat people does make it so you can make money in the end and everyone ends up feeling happy like they accomplished something.

| IP: Logged

Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 02-18-2006 01:53 AM

quote: Robert D. LaValley
I've gotten people to be managers for 5.50 an hour, so trust me how you treat people does make it so you can make money in the end and everyone ends up feeling happy like they accomplished something.

...it's simply called "tact" - if you got a talent in using tact in your operation and really know how to deal with people of all ages and really have this inner skill of tactfullness, you can get people do practically anything - almost even for free since those people feel like they're doing a service, instead of a job. And the reward is they, themselves feeling good about what they do. That's what keeps employees around..almost forever.

But, there is a clause called 'being fair' and reward them with pay worthy of their qualification and earnings.

-Monte

| IP: Logged

David Buckley
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 525
From: Oxford, N. Canterbury, New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2004

posted 02-18-2006 02:11 AM

As said above several times, more pay can mean a better class of worker, but if that option is not open to you then you could get creative - work around and with what your staff are willing to offer in terms of hours. So its their schedule, not yours, they own it, and they are then responsible for doing what they comit to, not what you try to commit them to.

| IP: Logged

Robert D. LaValley
Film Handler

Posts: 58
From: Florida
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 02-18-2006 02:18 AM

quote: David Buckley
they are then responsible for doing what they comit to, not what you try to commit them to.

this is true. I have seen staff members run amuck do to requesting too many days off or only certain hours..etc.etc.. there is a give and take, the key is fairness and understanding whom you are dealing with.

quote: Monte L Fullmer
But, there is a clause called 'being fair' and reward them with pay worthy of their qualification and earnings.

-Monte

true. at the time of my managers at 5.50, minimum wage was 5.15 and I was running a two screen at the time so the title really only ment you ran projectors, had some keys, counted some money, and thats about it.. I had some turn over there but not nearly some that I have seen in certain locations. It really just depends on the management, the location of the building, and the actual quality of employee you can get from the comunity too. All in all thou, I really really really stress how you treat your staff is the key to a successful business. they make the impression on your customers and if you make them feel like they dont mean anything to you, your customers (regardless how much you say to your staff they pay their salary) wont mean anything to your staff.

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.