Staff Development Day

We take a day off once a year for a Staff Development Day. It is very important, official and serious. Here are some photos from last year's event. In the first photo you can see the staff taking a test. As you can see, they cheat liberally. I have to say that if you are taking some kind of test and want to cheat, sit near Gwyn and Tracey.* That's Tracey holding her paper up for Gwyn to copy. Janet is a not as 'easy' with the answers as you can see; she's actually trying to think things through for herself.


















In additions to testing the staff's product knowledge we like to give them some endurance training. This is the 'see how long you can keep your heiney in a teeny train seat' portion of the day. As you can probably tell, they all do fairly well at that. We went to Pullen Park last year for our staff day. It was an almost perfect location. The weather was fabulous and we had delicious food. That last picture is Galen carrying the box that the caterer put the lunch in. I don't know who they think we are, but it was a really heavy giant box. This year I hope we have a few smaller boxes so Galen doesn't have to work so hard.

So where are we going this year? What are we doing? Well, that is a secret. Everyone on the staff has to be at Ornamentea on the morning of May 1st to get their map and instructions. They have to wear sunscreen and clothes that can get dirty. Oh, and comfortable shoes. The stores are both closed all day, which probably makes a few of our customers mad, but the staff is never really able to be in one place at one time. This gives us that opportunity and we also get to refresh ourselves and play together. I think this helps us all to help the customers; to be ready to work together to give our customers the best service and advice we can. Plus, honestly, it is so much fun to just spend a day in the park when, technically, you are supposed to be working. It's that old hookey feeling, you know?


*The point of sitting near Gwyn and Tracey is that they will cheat but they won't be at all subtle about it. The proctor or professor giving you the test will be so amazed at their behavior you can read the notes written on your hand and not get caught. NOT that I am condoning cheating of any kind. Or writing on your hand. Ink is bad for your skin.

Civic Duties

So this week Jane, our purchasing manager, has jury duty. That is an important part of being a citizen of our fine country. Serving on a jury and listening to the people making their case in front of you, and then deciding on the matter honestly and justly is an awesome responsibility. Really, Jane is probably a great juror. She's one of those folks who listens to what is said and then thinks about the matter at hand in just the right way. If I were at trial, I would want her to be part of my jury.

However, geeze, having Jane gone for essentially two weeks is ROUGH. Really. She is the main person who orders all the goodies we sell. She knows the inventory system better than I do and she knows the prices of almost everything we sell. In theory, I can do her job but the reality is that so much of what she does is an 'expert system' (which means its all in her head!) that it can be really hard for someone else like me to pop in and handle it for a few days. She just remembers when to do what she does. We all do a lot of that around here, actually. There are many things that I handle, or Galen or Nathalie, or Tracey or Lois or anyone that just aren't written down or organized in any kind of a coherent fashion. They just manage to happen because the one person who is supposed to take care of it just does. It is nice on one level but then when this occurs-when one of use is snatched away for a very important civic duty the rest of us (well, me!) have to try to remember how the thread the price gun. That is no laughing matter, my friend.

Yeah, I know that is no way to run a business. I do. Please don't send me links to the MBA program at State. They wouldn't take me anyway. Plus until Jane gets back I am busy trying to remember how to print out a purchase order. It's gonna be a long week.