Hotel Restaurants-The Reliable(un) Worker

I was just reading a blog from someone who had just gotten fired from his job for a series of events. I felt I had to add this personality trait to my study of Hotels and Restaurants
He got fired from a dishwashing job because he had failed to show up for work about 4 times due to "other" commitments.


THE UNRELIABLE EMPLOYEE
At some point or another, someone is bound to hire someone like this. He or She will be lucky to get hired, because most employers are sometimes in a hurry to just get someone in the door. Big Mistake!

This to me is the worst type of employee that anyone can hire.
A.) Someone who has several "activities"

Unfortunately here you can read-high school or college student. I used to work for a very fancy college in Southern California and besides the workers that were classified as full time (Who's numbers and abilities were very limited), we had to hire "Student Workers." The whole idea is not too bad when you consider that by taking on a job at any school position, you help yourself as a student by earning money for tuition, books, or other "goodies." As the employer of an area that utilizes students as workers, you are at their mercy, because;

• Their schedule is very limited-due to classes
• During mid-terms or finals-They all either call out, or just quit on the spot. Worse they just do not show up to work.
• If there is a college team and they are playing a home game, forget about scheduling them for work.
• There are exceptions to this rule-I did find a lot of them that were hard working and reliable, but when it came time for finals, they could not miss them-Very understandable.

You may be thinking right now, "What about attendance policies, department rules, etc."- Of course they apply to them as well as any of your full time employees, However, when you are taking on a side job just because you "want" to-Not because you "need" to, the prospect of getting written up or terminated is the furthest thing from your mind. This is partly because most student employees can get another position within campus just about anywhere else (Remember that the employer may just be trying to get someone in as fast as possible). Then again there is always next semester.

I was a student once. I also took on many other activities, but knowing that there was not someone to take me in if I lost my job, made me appreciate a little more the people I worked for. I do recall a time I was written up for failing to show up to work, because I had gotten too drunk to even pick up the phone to call. I got lucky then, because it had just been about a month since I had taken on the job. (1985)-Westin Bonaventure. It never happened again. I also took on a second job-I can't even remember why!...I could only do it for about three months. 1987-Beverly Wilshire

B) Workers with a second job

I can understand when people have to hold two jobs because they have families to support or because they may be trying to get out of debt, save money for a house, etc. How can there be others who come to beg you for a job and as soon as they walk through the doors they are the first people to ask to leave early? "We were so busy at the other place" is a common excuse. I guess your operation must suffer then so that you can give someone else a needed break, when they do not even work fullt ime for you. Also, at times when you most need of their help, they cannot do it because they must be at their other job on time. At least with this type of employee, you have the option of "progressive counseling"-I will delve into this catchy phrase at a later chapter. Thus, as time progresses, eventually you may be rid of them.

C) Management personnel is not exempt from these traits

The unreliable trait is not reserved for hourly or line employees. There are and I have worked with plenty of managers who display the same traits proudly. I remember working with a few of those as well. I believe I was one of these "people". I did get fired from an assistant's position, because "I was leaving the property to have lunch with other co-workers" Then again I was only 22 years old. Not many responsibilities and I though it was cool to be walking around wearing a suit at work, and of course buying lunch for the HR Secretaries, or other office types(girls). Eventually, I was paying more attention to other things than to my responsibilities as a manager, so I got fired. That was many years ago. I went back to waiting tables and in the meantime, I worked with plenty of bad managers, who had a lot to teach me, or at least I learned the things I was not supposed to do if I ever got back into management. (which I did years later)

The point here is, do not question "Why" you got fired from a job, when you know exactly the reason. The person whose blog I was reading, recounted in detail each instance in which he failed to show up for work. Still, there was questioning, because according to him, "He was the best worker in that position". I guess he failed to understand that the best worker for any position is that who is reliable, does the best that he or she can with tools that are available to work with and still, he does not "feel" that he or she is the best.

Adios!