Where Are All the Employees?

My wife and I sat down in the bar of a local restaurant the other day. It was mid-afternoon—not a typically busy time—but we seemed to have arrived during a little bit of a rush. It took longer than normal for the bartender to get to us and when he did, he looked a little flustered. He grabbed our order in a hurry and there wasn’t much in the way of friendly customer service (certainly not the normal bartender banter). Then it took too long for our drinks to actually arrive. I leaned over to my wife and made the comment: “This place is really under-staffed.” I spoke with the critical, knowing-edge of a sharp-minded business person. “They need to get their act together,” I added firmly.

The next day, as I walked down the hallway of Metro Car Wash, I overheard one of my customers talking to our cashier. The customer said: “Wow, you don’t seem to have many employees today. Is this going to take a long time?”

I quickly hijacked the conversation. I swooped in and assured the customer that her wait time would be around 15 to 20 minutes and that there wouldn’t be any problem in quickly getting her on her way. I smiled confidently, letting her know she could trust me.

“But where are all your employees?” she persisted.

Together we looked around. It did seem quiet. It reminded me of how much had changed in the last few years—how many more employees we used to have—and then it sheepishly reminded me of my comment about the restaurant needing to get their act together the day before.

The truth is, most business have fewer employees these days. And no one should be surprised by this. It doesn’t matter what your politics are, it’s about economics.

First, we’re still seeing the effects of the increases in Minimum Wage. Minimum Wage increases may be good in the long run, but in the short term, businesses have to figure out how to deal with this increased cost. They have two choices. They can either (a) raise prices or (b) cut jobs. And let’s face it, in this economy, raising prices doesn’t sound like a great idea.

At the car wash, we had to completely re-engineer our Operations Model to be able to provide the same quality, in the same time, at the same price, with fewer people. It wasn’t an easy task. But it had to be done. And the hard work paid off. We’re a better Company for it. We’re more efficient and we’ve kept our prices low. The only problem: it doesn’t change the fact that we’re employing far fewer hard-working Americans.

It got me thinking about the bartender and the restaurant. This establishment was fighting against the same economic forces as any business: a sputtering economy, fewer dollars being spent, and rising costs. They needed to survive, and they were working hard to do so. But one of the things they hadn’t done? They hadn’t raised their prices. The cost of our drinks (and subsequent meals) were about the same as they were a few years ago. As a matter of fact, there were a few specials that might have made things even cheaper.

I had complained about the lack of service. But the truth was, we had just dropped in during an unplanned rush. They couldn’t have known they would be busy then. And they shouldn’t have staffed more employees just for us. Staffing extra bodies to handle a potential rush in a bad economy isn’t a good business decision … at least not if you want to keep prices low for your customers. It was me that had been wrong, because I’d been impatient.

Look, I’m not saying you should ever have to be satisfied with poor customer service. You shouldn’t. But what I am saying is this: Maybe, just maybe, we can all learn to be a little more patient in this rough economic time. If things take just a little longer, because a struggling business is trying to watch their expenses, it might be good to remember that they’re saving you a little money too.

The other thing I’m saying: If we all work together, we just might get through this mess.

And of course, stay clean my friends.

-DJ DripDry