This is our story of green garden gates, the most successful group of 746 garden centers in the United States. Follow our adventure building our first store which starts at entry #1, A little Zen, some Zip Ties and a lot of Zinnias! We welcome your questions and comments by posting to this blog or by contacting nickhudson@earthlink.net
(copyright: nick hudson 2008)
We have spent a lot of time looking for carrying devices for our customers and employees at green garden gates. We want equipment that is durable, easy to repair by our staff, can be operated by both men and women, are simple, with few moving parts, and can be repaired with items readily available locally. Trade shows are full of new products to make this lifting and carrying easier. We have watched, in many garden stores, where this equipment is really used and what gets dumped in the back lot never to see the light of day. In most cases, we have returned again to the tried and true tools that have been in garden stores for years and in our view, will remain the lifting and carrying equipment for years to come.
The standard two wheeled dolly or hand truck is valuable and needed for a garden store. It can move an incredible amount of bulk and weight and the good ones cost less than 100.00 each. We have purchased three of these hand trucks for the store
Here are some tips. First, forget about all the whistles and bells on the fancy models. Look for a hand truck that is all strong steel, with every joint welded rather than bolted or screwed together. (If a joint comes apart, it can be welded right back into place, good as new) You don’t need straps or extenders or nice looking handles and levers. They just get in the way. Second, never buy a hand truck for your garden store that has inflatable tires. Always get the solid rubber tires. The inflatables will go flat or damage easily under the weight of our products. The solid tires last forever. The following website is a place to look. However, your local hardware store may have the best selection. Feel it, hear it and see it before you buy. Don’t order this product on the internet.
A cousin to this standard hand truck is the nursery “ball cart”. It is intended to move around large balled and burlapped plants or large pots. It is just indestructible and can be handy at times. We have purchased one ball cart for the store.
We have found that the two wheeled dollies can handle most any weight and configuration leaving the ball cart to sit idle a lot. However, for its added abilities and the moderate cost, it is nice to have one around. They run between 200.00 and 300.00 a piece for a good one. About the tires, it seems that inflatable tires work on this cart. A ball cart is awkward and harder to maneuver in small spaces. Also, it is a pain to try to fit a large round pot into a small recepticle of a ball cart, so find one that has a larger opening frame for a more comfortable pot fit. Here are examples on this website.
Gordon Gleason, from Oregon, is considered “the man”, the ultimate inventor of nursery equipment who revolutionized the way we do business today. One of his inventions is our favorite for retail garden centers, the two wheeled “flat” cart.
It is a simple device, two high quality inflatable tires supporting a flat surface with a frame of welded steel construction. Over the years, these carts have evolved into several styles, some have a steel meshed surface and some are a solid piece of flat metal with holes on each corner to let out excess water. There are cheap copies of this flat cart that are really not acceptable for the heavy use they get in the retail nursery. We intend to purchase ten of these flat carts for each green garden gates. They run about 200-300.00 each and are well worth it for the customer as well as the employee
The loud slam you will hear in the nursery quite frequently is the flat cart, which was loaded off balance and tips down hard, dumping everything on the ground. That is why Gordon Gleason invented a “tip proof” model, a steel arm that moves to the ground when the cart is parked and loaded. Buy these “tip proof” models and you will save a lot of plants and damage. Also, purchase the model with the solid metal surface. We have found that the meshed surface tends to bend and sink in with weight. The wheels of the carts, which can have inner tubes, get a lot of use and can pick up nails frequently.
There are solid foam tires that can be installed to eliminate this, but for us, it is not worth the expense. Stay with a good quality inflatable tubeless tire and keep a few extras around to switch off during repair. These flat carts are real money makers in the garden store!
The cousin to this flat cart is the “lowboy” cart. It is not as versatile for a lot of jobs and mainly used to move heavy pots around without having to get the plants up off the ground onto a flat cart. We believe they are worthwhile to have and we have purchased two of them.
The drawback to this low boy is that it takes a fair amount of strength to get the pot balanced on the cart to move it. Once the pot is balanced, it works well. There are a number of models of these. We would recommend a solid platform rather than a meshed platform and of course all the joints need to be welded rather than bolted or screwed together. The tires are inflatable and they seem to work well.
Now that the general building design has been completed and the construction has started, it is time for the group to decide on and purchase the equipment and tools needed for green garden gates. In keeping with our goal to reduce, re-use and re-cycle, we will be looking for only essential tools necessary to conduct our business and search for those recycled tools in the area to purchase.
We have already made our choice and purchased a type of company vehicle that will be the model for all green garden gates stores in our network (entry #55)
If a garden store owner had only the money for one piece of major equipment in the business, it needs to be a forklift. It is essential. The forklift will save hours of backbreaking labor and lots of employee wages.
There are a lot of used forklifts available anywhere in the United States. If the general condition is good, a forklift that will last a lifetime, can be 20 years old and can be bought for under 12,000.00. We chose a used Toyota, a 1973 model that has a re-built engine. We got it for 8,500.00!
Here are some important features that are needed. First, it is best if it is propane powered. Yes, the gas fuel ones are good if the price is right, but propane is handy for re-fueling and does not cause exhaust or odors for indoor operation. Be sure that that you don’t get stuck with a forklift that has those little tires in the rear. You will be towing the thing out of loose sand and gravel all the time. We prefer the dual tires on the front of the forklift for better lifting power. Spend the money and get an automatic transmission for the forklift. It will save you lots of dollars not having to replace the clutch all the time. (Your employees burn out clutches at 700.00 a copy, you can count on it)
If you get the forklift where the forks adjust side to side and get into tight spaces, buy it. It is not necessary, but it is handy. And while you are at it, build a little removable plywood cover for the roof of the forklift. You will thank us for this tip with the rain comes down.
Now don’t spend your money on some big hulking forklift out of some shipyard. Remember, you are operating in tight low buildings. Those big berthas are not good. We believe that no other forklifting equipment is needed for a garden store other than an average lift, average power, medium sized used forklift.
Forklift Safety Cage
This cage is a must for forklift work. It is a safe way to get up to high places and eliminates the need for a huge dangerous ladder. We have purchase one for each store. You can usually find these used in the 200-500 dollar range. Buy one if you have a forklift
Some type of loader is essential for our bark loading operations, soil production, potting operations and moving large trees and shrubs that we sell. Our conversations with garden store owners have convinced us that a wise purchase for our stores is a medium duty skid steer.
We have chosen the Bobcat brand of wheeled skid steer. They are extremely versatile, easy to operate, can be fitted with many attachments, hold a very high re-sale value and are plentiful on the used market. We were able to buy this used low hours vehicle for under 15,000.00 including the attachments we need. Here are some important specifications that we highly recommend as well as features that are not necessarily needed.Like the forklift, avoid a huge bobcat. Remember the tight spots in a garden center.
Engine: Diesel
Horsepower: 45 or above
Operating Capacity: 1700 pounds or above
Tipping Load: 3800 pounds or above
Joystick Controls
Enclosed CabNot needed
Suspension SeatNot needed
Cab HeaterNot needed
Attachments Most Needed
A forklift attachment with a self leveler feature
Although fork lifting with a bobcat is a bit tricky, it can be of great help when a lot of shipments arrive at the same time in a larger garden store. The important feature to get is the self leveler. When the load is lowered from the truck, it stays even all the way down to the ground.
A boring attachment with several sized augers
In order to get the large trees into the display holes, the soil needs to be bored out. This attachment is very valuable for this work.
Buckets
We recommend two sizes of buckets, a half yard bucket and a full one yard bucket
Additional Loaders and attachments
Depending on the volume of business in our bark loading operations and the amount of material that is being loaded per customer, we may purchase, later, an additional larger capacity loader.
Another indispensable tool for garden stores is the pallet jack. You will be lost without one. They have just a lot of uses during the retail day, unloading trucks, moving store inventory and re-locating shelves and counters. This is not a place to economize. Get a good one, able to handle a lot of weight with all steel construction, top notch hydraulics, and high quality easily replaceable wheels. Pallet jacks cost 200-400.00 a piece. (Often they are available used and an auction item in your local area) We have purchased two used pallet jacks for each of our stores. We see no reason to purchase the motorized style of pallet jack for our stores. They have limited uses and are not adaptable for the many chores a pallet jack must do in the retail garden store.
We like used golf carts. They are plentiful on the market. They have lots of pulling power, the batteries re-charge quickly, they maneuver well around the garden store, they are easily maintained and repaired and they are quiet and comfortable to operate. Forget about all those fancy pieces of equipment like “gators” or even four wheelers. You can pick up a used golf cart for about 1500.00 a copy or less. There is an abundance of them in each area for sale.
We have purchased three golf carts for the store, each of them have rear seats for transporting disabled customers. The seats fold flat to carry supplies. We installed a rear hitch for trailers.
We have chosen to wait on purchasing a an enclosed road trailer for our company vehicle. In the early days, a trailer was necessary since many growers asked that the plants be picked up their greenhouses. Now, most growers will transport their plants to the store. However, if we find an outstanding grower in the area who does not have this ability, we will purchase a trailer to get the good stuff at this growers place of business.
The best trailers on the market for moving plants around the garden store are the old “Gleason” (the guy who invented them) flat trailers. They have large, self tracking, with air filled wheels which can maneuver around most any obstacle and are smooth to pull. They have a bed of almost indestructible meshed steel that drains water off. You can load three pallets of cans ofnursery stock onto the trailer bed, hook several trailers to a golf cart and drive them to a display location, no problem. We recommend about the 48” wide and 10 feet long dimensions They aren’t cheap and hard to find used. They run about 1200.00 each new and we wished we had a dozen of them for each store. They can be hooked together in groups of four or five and easily pulled by a golf cart of forklift. Forget about buying the double deckered support rails or any sideboards, they just get in the way. We have purchased five new “Gleasons” for the store.
We have all seen the butts in the air, the image of the “Bloomer Betty” lawn ornament, as our customer doubles over to the ground trying to pick up a pak of petunias or a one gallon bee balm?
“Consider the implications of what we call the butt-brush factor, the discomfort women feel when they are jostled from the rear when shopping. It indicates that women have an aversion to examining merchandise that’s displayed below the waist level, which takes quite a bit of American retailing’s selling space. You can’t ask a woman to bend over and expect that she’s going to feel comfortable for more than a moment or two. This isn’t limited to women, either. Nobody likes to bend over in a store. In fact, older women are probably more limber than their male counterparts.”
“Why We Buy”
by PagoUnderhill
We want our customers to view and choose small plants, flowers and shrubs from a convenient height, using benches and raised display pieces. We have observed successful nurseries raise these plants from ground level which dramatically increases those sales.
The display benches are a significant money outlay for each of our green garden gates. The goal is to use one bench design and one major manufacturer in order to duplicate for all of our stores.
Our requirements for the benches are:
They are uniform in sizes, height, materials and look
They are lightweight for moving and storing
They are simple in design and function
They hold a large amount of weight without bending or breaking
They are safe, free from sharp edges or other obstructions
They are economical
They are free of excessive maintanence and can be easily repared.
We like the aluminum framed benches with the steel meshed tops. They have a number of supports that keep the meshed steel fabric from bending under weight. The legs are detached from the tops for easy storing and moving. The new models lock into one another when combining benches keeping them sturdy from wobbling. The rough edges are protected with rubber snap on coverings. The benches are delivered pre-punched for easy set-up. They are galvanized to prevent rust. and they are extremely light weight and economical
We have purchased 150 tables, 75 of them used, for each store, in lengths of 8-10-12 feet and a width of 4 feet. Some of these bench styles come with wheels on the legs. We see absolutey no reason for this extra purchase. Normally rolling a bench through a garden store is impossible. The total cost outlay for the benches are 75 used tables at 30.00 each plus freight and 75 new tables at 200.00 each for a grand total of 17,250.00.
We took a hard look at having constructed locally wood frames, a meshed top and concrete blocks for support. Our conclusion was that, although the cost was much less, there would be constant maintenance issues with them. Also, they would have no re-sale value. In addition, we want a professional look to our stores that these hand made wooden benches could not provide.
These benches are often available used from greenhouse auctions and out of business sales. The problem is freighting them to the store. As we expand our store network, we will be able to make those purchases and other store items for future store development. For now, we try not to purchase used benches and other larger equipment farther than 300 miles from the store.
Here are two sample companies to get started on these benches.
greenhousemegastore.com
wellmaster.ca
We like these two additions to the benches.
A hex table.
It is strong and sturdy, made of galvinized steel and steel mesh, with legs that disassemble and bolt tightly into place. This unit can be configured to a complete or one-half table as desired.We have purchased fifteen of these tables
A stair step display table
It can be moved and positioned easily and holds lots of weight. We have purchased twenty of these steel stair steps for the store.
wellmaster.ca
While we are on the display fixtures for plants, here is a cheap and neat way to display small pots of annual basket vines.
Use plastic white rain gutters, attach them to posts for support with a bolt and a large washer and drill holes in the bottom of the gutter for drainage.
You can pack a lot of vines in these displays, they never get tangled and they are easy to shop.
Retail garden centers just cannot get enough of these rolling greenhouse transport carts. They are invaluable for quick loading, unloading and display. They are strong, capable of being pulled by a golf cart and even fork lifted completely loaded with heavy plants. They break down and store easily (which never happens).
We have purchased twenty new carts for each garden center. We would buy them used if we could find them, but they are difficult to get used.
Here are some tips in what to look for in these transport carts.
Buy the narrow ones,
about 2 feet wide by 8 feet long by about 6 feet high.
Never, never buy the big square 4 feet by 4 feet carts. They are a bear to move and position.
Buy solid shelving for the carts
not the meshed shelving
Get the shelves that slide into place rather than hook into holes in the supports.
It takes a brain surgeon to figure out how to get the shelves in, locked and leveled
Get the best high quality wheels available.
Look for the best wheels. You might have to buy from another company and install them. The effort in pushing bad wheels will kill you
Get the assembly with the wheels that turn only on one end.
A lot of these carts are set up for all the wheels to turn freely and that is a pain to maneuver and position
Get the locking mechanisms on at least two of the wheels.
That way, you won’t have to carry a pocket full of little rocks to keep the cart from rolling
The safety of our customers, employees and vendors is of utmost importance to us.
The following is our checklist to insure that we are safe at all times at green garden gates
Tell us about the “emergency stations”
We have designated several small areas in the complex as emergency stations. They are clearly marked with bright “OSHA yellow”. They house all the supplies and instructions for any emergency situation we can imagine in a garden store.
Do you have posted numbers for emergencies?
Yes, we have those contact numbers posted at the emergency stations. In addition, the numbers are posted at the all desks of the section leaders, the checkout area and the manager’s day office and in her private residence. They list numbers as police, fire, ambulance services, hazardous materials agencies, and poison control centers in the area
Who has the authority to contact these agencies?
We would prefer the manager or the floor manager to make the contacts. Sometimes that is not possible for an immediate response needed. All the section leaders of the departments have the authority to make the calls
What about emergency shutdowns of the water or power in the facility? Are instructions posted on how to do this and numbers to call after the shutdown?
We realize that a huge break in the water system or a fire in the electrical circuitry of the buildings may require a mass shutdown on the site. We train our section leaders on this procedure each spring by hand walking them to the shutdown valves and boxes. At the emergency stations and at the shutdown site, we post instructions on how to do the shutdowns. We would prefer that the manager or floor manager to make the call and do the shutdown, but the section leaders have the authority to do so in their absence. We post the numbers of anyone who will be helping us to re-start and get back to business; plumbers, electricians, power companies, water utilities, and well companies.
Is your well checked for purity?
Yes, we have the well inspected and tested according to government regulations often. We do not have an overflow pond for the well.
Do you have stocked first aid kits positioned on the site?
Rather than buying pre-made first aid kits, we purchased 6 identical yellow large plastic tool boxes and stocked the boxes with all the first aid supplies needed for store safety. They are easy to spot at the emergency stations. All the necessary first aid diagrams and pamphlets are located at these stations. We will assign a “safety” employee to monitor the stocking of the boxes and re-fill them accordingly.
What first aid training do the employees have or will have when the store opens?
The key employees, the store manager, the floor manager and the section leaders attend a first aid course and refresher course at the beginning of each season. The seminar is conducted at the store before we officially open under the direction of the local first aid chapter. During that training, we do a refresher and go down our checklists of all the safety issues that may occur during the season. We require these employees, during the first three years of employment to qualify as an EMT, an emergency medical technician. We note any other first aid or emergency training of our employees and enlist their help in emergency situations. For example, if an employee is a retired fireman or policeman. Their names and work locations on the site are posted in these “emergency stations” of the site
Do you have a portable defibrillator at the store?
Yes, we do and its location is clearly marked at an emergency station. Training is conducted each year for the key employees of the store.
Is there an emergency manual at the store?
Yes, it is available at all the emergency stations.
Who monitors safety hazards at the store and on the entire site?
We charge the "safety employee" with this monitoring and pay him an extra stipend to perform these tasks. He or she walks the store looking for hazards, gathers information about hazards from the employees and sees that the hazard is repaired as soon as possible.
The manager consults with this “safety” employee regularly. Each section or department is responsible so see that their areas are safe and free from hazards for the customers and their fellow employees. We reward the staff of those sections for being safety conscience.
Are the first aid kits available to all employees?
Yes, but we remind them that these boxes are not their personal medicine cabinets.
Are the shopping aisles safe?
Yes we have designed the surface and widths of these aisles to be free from obstructions. We especially watch hoses in the aisles and standing water and eliminate them or mark those hazards right away.
Wal-Mart has introduced these spill stations in their new store look. We will adopts these stations and place several of them near chemical and fertilizers concentrated displays.
How about the safety in the parking areas? It can get quite congested in the parking areas.
Yes, it can be even quite dangerous with lots of customers doing lots of things with their purchases of plants and plant care products. We assign the carry-out staff to patrol the area and help to keep it safe. In the heat of the season, we employ parking lot attendants to assist in directing traffic in these areas. We employ a private parking lot sweeper company to keep the parking areas clean. We then finish off the remaining lot, the sidewalks and the general site by blowing those areas each morning before the beginning of the business day.
There are a lot of out buildings at green garden gates. Are those areas well lighted and ventilated to prevent falls on a darkened day or health issues on a very hot day?
Yes, we make sure of that. The areas that could be a problem are well lighted for grey cloudy days. and for evening shopping. Also, these areas are designed to be ventilated to avoid customer overheating
Do you have regular safety meeting on specific topics?
Yes, for example, subjects on operating a golf cart or the proper method of lifting.
Each section leader is required to give a short oral pre-prepared oral presentation on the subject of the week to all the employees and they sign off on completion. This is placed in the employee’s file. The “safety” employee coordinates these meetings and gathers the documentation.
What are the rewards for employees when the store has an outstanding safety record for the season?
They are rewarded with a gift certificate to a nice restaurant in the community, or tickets to movies, or an amount for shopping at a department store.
What are the benefits to the store with a good safety record?
The benefits can be enormous. An injury free workplace can reduce our insurance premiums and our workman’s compensation premiums and ratings. We avoid costly lawsuits and settlements from injured customers. We also avoid the loss of a valuable employee who stays healthy and free from injury during the season. The loss of a valuable employee can hurt the most in the middle of a busy gardening season.
What happens with an unruly, disruptive customer?How is that handled to keep the customers and employees safe?
During the season, there will be incidents with customers who may become agitated for variety of different reasons. All employees, as part of training are instructed how to deal with them. The store manager, floor manager, and the section leaders take a course each season on unruly to violent people. Most of the situations can be resolved with the employee and the customer and there is no need to go further. Sometimes they exchanges will spiral out of control and further intervention is needed. We have established a code for this when the employee needs help immediately from the manager or floor manager. The employee then moves away to a supportive role attending to other customers and directing them away from the incident. An employee, who has had police training, may be called to help or other male employees who can handle the employee physically if needed.The manager or the floor manager, if unable to calm the confrontation, are to call the police. Then it becomes a matter of trying to stabilize the person until they arrive. The key is fast response from the employee to the manager and the manager to the police
What about robberies?
Our training each spring for all employees is to bring in a policeman who is familiar with the patterns of a robbery and robber. We make every effort to minimize “spooking” the robber or causing unnecessary commotion during the act. Our employees are instructed to follow their instructions to the letter. The employee has no other obligations, just pay attention to the robber. This robbery will most likely take just a number of seconds and it is over. Hopefully, it goes off without a hitch. Employees are instructed to observe the robbery, and observe the robber if it is safe to do so. They are to write down everything that they observed immediately after the incident is over. The key to this is let the robber control the situation. Do not add stress or confusion during the incident.
What is the training for burglaries that have been discovered in the morning?
Our spring training instructs the employee who finds the burglary to move away from the scene, leave the premises and go to a safe place, away and out of the property, call the manager and then call the police . There is a danger, however slight, that the burglary is still in progress. The area is taped off if it is confined to one location. Simple to operate cameras are available at the emergency stations to take lots of pictures of the scene without disrupting the area. Employees arriving are to search their sections for any evidence of a burglary. The most damaging action our employee can take is to disrupt the burglary scene before it is cleared by the police authorities.
Some of the green garden gates stores are in areas with extreme weather shifts; heavy downpours of rain, violent thunderstorms or even tornados. How are the employees instructed to handle this?
Of course, it never fails that one of these weather incidents will occur right in the middle of the spring with hundreds of customers milling about.........................
First, we have had all our buildings and coverings evaluated by experts as to which of them are suitable for the sheltering people during violent weather patterns. A verbal alert is broadcasted to all employees through their walkies. They are instructed about the weather incident and if they should be moving customers out of the open areas and into the safe buildings on the site. They receive instructions by the walkies when the pattern passes. Section leaders are instructed to close doors and batten down the hatches in their area, if time permits. Following the incident, all employees are to look for damage and dangerous areas and report them to their section leaders and on to the manager or her assistant. Repairs are then made if possible or cordoned off from the customers. The business day resumes. We have designed the buildings and ground with weather problems in mind. For example, there are no large trees in the display areas because of the danger of falling debris during the storms
How about injuries and health incidents to the employees and customers at the store?
Injuries and health emergencies will occur in our garden center. It is a fact. Employees are trained in the early spring on how to handle these incidents. Guidelines, supplies, and contact information are housed in the emergency stations. We follow the guidelines of the Red Cross in these situations. Cameras are available to note the scene of the injury or health emergency. We train our employees to have a swift response to these emergencies and get the victims to additional care as fast as possible.
There are heavy equipment vehicles and other technical equipment at the store. How do you keep the operation of these vehicles and equipment safe?
First, any person operating our heavy equipment, such as loaders, bobcats and forklifts much go through a nationally recognized safety operating training program and become certified to use the equipment safely. Since, on rare occasions, they may be operating this equipment on public roadways (unloading trucks in a street or driving across a street); all employee operators must have a valid driver’s license and insurance. The “safety” employee is responsible for monitoring the operation of these vehicles and insuring that they are maintained as safe. Other rolling stock such as our golf carts do not require a driver’s license since they are operated off public roads and rights of way, but we do required a safety course for them done in house. Any vehicles, such as our company van, require the necessary driver’s license and insurance.
We have equipment that require some specialized training, such as operating our soil mixing machines. We do this training in the early spring before opening. People not trained do not operate the equipment.
Plants need to be sprayed for insects and diseases in a garden store. Tell us about this?
We do have a spray program and equipment for this purpose. We have sent two of our employees to be certified to apply these products safely. We have a lead employee who does most of the application and a backup employee for heavy workloads or in case of absences. All of our employees are given training on the use of chemicals, working around chemicals, and chemical spills that may occur at the store.
How do you handle a disruptive or terminated employee?
The most dangerous and threatening person in a garden store is an employee. Yes, that is what I said. Here are the reasons for this statement
The employee is familiar with the physical site. The employee knows the common exit and entrance points and the secret ways to get in and out of the facility, the low fences, the doors and gates that are not always locked. He or she knows the hidden away nooks and crannies to hide,
The employee is familiar with the hours of operation, when the store is busy and quiet and when there are more or less employees on staff.
The employee knows where the tools are located to get into the facilities and the location of tools that could be used as weapons.
The employee knows where the management is located and who will take charge of an incident and direct the process.
The employee has general or specific knowledge of where the money is located, how the process of money is counted and secured, and when large amounts of cash are stored in the facility.
The employee knows other employees and how they will react to an incident.
Some employees have access codes to the store and keys that will allow them in the facility. Some even have combinations to the safe. They also have codes to computers to access and disable important data.
We place a lot of trust in our employees, often too much trust. At green garden gates, we have developed specific procedures to protect us and keep us safe in the event of an employee issue
The Disgruntled of Unstable Employee
Your employees have any number and kinds of personal crises in their lives, relationships, finances, accidents, illnesses and just awful tragedies. The workplace can be a cauldron for an employee just losing an ability to cope any longer. We charge our manager with the responsibility of staying very close to the employee ,watching for a change in the work patterns and the attitudes and approach to customers and fellow employees.
We encourage other employees to be alert to these changes and alert the manager of this unusual behavior. We charge our managers to do what it takes to ease the pressure on an affected employee, extra days or hours away from the workplace, short term financial help or a different job assignment to allow them to renew their coping skills. None of these remedies may work.Here is our checklist for this employee incident
1. The manager and the floor manager or section leader (no more than two people) sit down with the employee in a calming private setting and discuss the behavior of the employee. It has been our experience that no matter how agitated the employee, that person will agree to a sit down. If there is potential violence possible at any time during the process, the police are alerted immediately.
2. Attempt to find a quick solution to the behavior; leave for the rest of the day, assign other work, or if the behavior is drastic, an immediate termination. Monitor the solution carefully if the employee is allowed to stay in the workplace and take more action if the behavior continues
3. If there is no workplace solution and the employee must be terminated, inform him or her of the termination in no uncertain terms and take the following action;
4. Ask for their keys to the building and equipment. Do not exacerbate the charged atmosphere by demanding they remove articles of uniform clothing.
5. Inform them of when they will get their final paycheck. DO NOT KEEP THEM IN THE BUILDING FILLING OUT TERMINATION PAPERWORK.
6. Escort the employee to gather their most personal effects, purses, vehicle keys, etc. DO NOT DRAG THIS OUT. Inform them that any found personal will be collected and stored safely. Tell them that someone will call them to set up a time to pick up these stored belongings. Inform them that they are not allowed to enter the site
7. Escort the employee out of the buildings and off the premises (two people for the escort).
8. Inform the section leaders of this action and advise the section leaders to inform their employees. All the employees need to know is that the employee is not longer working at the store. That’s it.
9. Soon, have a debriefing with all the section leaders to discuss the detail of the incident and what procedures need to be improved for these incidents.
During all of this process, maintain a composed demeanor and a calming non-confrontation approach. Be pleasant and understanding. Never, never get angry, never be-little, never humiliate, never embarrass.This is all business. It is not personal.
Involuntary Termination
Sometimes, for any number of reasons, an employee just does not fit in the company. The choice is to terminate the employee. Many of the same procedures of the disgruntled employee are to be used with this employee. The atmosphere, in most cases, is more civil, but has potential danger, nonetheless. The employee may start to “boil up” into a disgruntled person. It is up to the discretion of the manager to gauge the situation.
The first cardinal rule of involuntary and disruptive termination is to terminate immediately and remove the employee from the premises immediately.
The second cardinal rule is to give no reasons for the termination. Say as little as possible. Don’t get into the reasons for termination at all. Don’t have any other conversations about anything with them except procedures.
Store Manager:“John, It’s just not working out here at Green Garden Gates. We are going to terminate your employment with us and let you go immediately.” You will be paid for your work on this day…….any personal items will be collected and kept safe……etc.
Employee: “Why am I being fired?
Store Manager:“What I can say to you is that it is just not working out. I want to thank you for your work here. I am sorry it did not work out” Now, Bonnie, the floor manager will go with you to retrieve some personal items you need right away".
The Voluntary Termination/Resignation
This is the least stressful of all the employee separations. It can be mixed with much sadness for both the employee and the manager. The reasons are many; the employee has another job, is moving away, a lifestyle change, a tragedy in life. This is not the place to ask why or conduct an exit interview. This is not the place to negotiate with the employee Sometimes the employee is only threatening to quit in order to seek more money or a better job in the business. It is too late for all of that.
The manager needs to express good feelings about the employees work and his or her sadness in the resignation, but don’t start engaging in a conversation about the reasons.Explain to them the exit procedures. Invite them to visit the store occasionally. No need to be harsh. Make it easy for the both of you.
Generally, we do not like the “two week notice” process. We have found that the employee who is “getting short” lacks enthusiasm and productivity. Those two weeks of retention also may have an effect on the moral of other employees. We would rather that the company award the employee some “sweet money” right then and there and terminate them immediately. This is a judgment call for the manager. If the employee wants to complete unfinished work that only he or she can do, it may be advantageous to keep that person employed for a very short period of time. We have found it the best to cut the cord right then and there. It sounds heartless and cruel, but we believe that is the best way to handle this situation.
