People...

For sitting at a counter and signing in a few guests?

Damn........Righteous bucks.

Well, I think so. Funny thing is, the pay isn't mentioned in the ad,
so it has nothing to do with our recent lack of applicants. We used
to run the exact same ad, in years past, and get dozens of people
applying.

One problem we've discovered is that we have incrementally added
services since we opened five years ago that make the job more than
"sitting at the counter". When you add these tasks a little at a
time to a worker, over a period of years, they seem insignificant.
When you're training a new person from "zero", however, they can seem
overwhelming.

Things like knowing how to run the Kiwi flight simulator, for
instance, can take more mental horsepower than some people are able to
produce. Between that, and delivering breakfast baskets to the proper
suites, we're discovering that there are a lot of people who simply
can't perform.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
For sitting at a counter and signing in a few guests?

Damn........Righteous bucks.

Well, I think so. Funny thing is, the pay isn't mentioned in the ad,
so it has nothing to do with our recent lack of applicants. We used
to run the exact same ad, in years past, and get dozens of people
applying.

Sounds like your reputation has gotten around. :-)

Matt

Sounds like your reputation has gotten around. :-)

Guess so. We've been the top-rated hotel in Iowa City for the past
three years...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Sounds like your reputation has gotten around. :-)

Guess so. We've been the top-rated hotel in Iowa City for the past
three years...

;-)

Rated by your employees or your guests? :-)

Matt

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ps.com...
For sitting at a counter and signing in a few guests?

Damn........Righteous bucks.

Well, I think so. Funny thing is, the pay isn't mentioned in the ad,
so it has nothing to do with our recent lack of applicants. We used
to run the exact same ad, in years past, and get dozens of people
applying.

One problem we've discovered is that we have incrementally added
services since we opened five years ago that make the job more than
"sitting at the counter". When you add these tasks a little at a
time to a worker, over a period of years, they seem insignificant.
When you're training a new person from "zero", however, they can seem
overwhelming.

It might be time to add to the pay a bit, with the extra duties. I don't
know what the commission adds, on an average per hour basis, to be really
fair in suggesting that, though.

Word may have gotten around about your pay, and how much is required of your
workers.

I'm in no way criticizing your pay, or management style. It is just a
commentary on the fact that higher pay will usually attract a better class
of employee. Some may even switch from another job to come to your place,
if the pay is higher and the job is more interesting.
--
Jim in NC

I'm in no way criticizing your pay, or management style. It is just a
commentary on the fact that higher pay will usually attract a better class
of employee. Some may even switch from another job to come to your place,
if the pay is higher and the job is more interesting.

True, but with margins razor thin, and competition from our gummint-
built new hotels growing over-more ferocious, there just isn't much
room to do more...

One major impediment to filling one of the desk jobs has been that it
includes some morning hours. (Mary and I take Wednesday/Thursday as
our "weekends", so we need someone to fill those morning hours.)

Morning hours pretty much weeds out students -- which is 90% of the
workforce in Iowa City. It would be great for a retired person, but
lots of businesses have caught on to hiring "gray"...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination

Jay Honeck writes:

True, but with margins razor thin, and competition from our gummint-
built new hotels growing over-more ferocious, there just isn't much
room to do more...

Whatever the reasons for low pay, you'll inevitably get what you pay for.

It would be great for a retired person, but
lots of businesses have caught on to hiring "gray"...

I suppose whoever pays the most will win, especially when hiring "gray"
employees who know their priorities.

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Jay Honeck writes:

True, but with margins razor thin, and competition from our gummint-
built new hotels growing over-more ferocious, there just isn't much
room to do more...

Whatever the reasons for low pay, you'll inevitably get what you pay for.


True enough in your case where you make nothing.


Bertie

Whatever the reasons for low pay, you'll inevitably get what you pay for.

Yep, we have a saying "Pay peanuts; get monkeys"...

There are many intangibles about working a position like this that
make things worthwhile, however. Entry level positions are, to a
large degree, like school. You're learning skills while getting paid,
and -- in the end -- you should come out much more qualified for your
next job.

Finding an employee who understands and appreciates this fact is, as
always, a trick. Most people don't plan their lives farther than
their next paycheck.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck writes:

There are many intangibles about working a position like this that
make things worthwhile, however. Entry level positions are, to a
large degree, like school. You're learning skills while getting paid,
and -- in the end -- you should come out much more qualified for your
next job.

That would depend on the job. Today, well-paid jobs usually require skills
that no poorly-paid job will provide--which is why poorly-paid jobs pay
poorly, and well-paid jobs pay well. If one could prepare for a lucrative job
by taking a minimum-wage job, people would be falling over themselves trying
to get the minimum-wage jobs.

Today, not even an expensive stint at college prepares a person for a
lucrative job.

Finding an employee who understands and appreciates this fact is, as
always, a trick. Most people don't plan their lives farther than
their next paycheck.

Younger generations have grown up with such uncertainty and rapid change that
planning ahead may not seem cost-effective.