<p>As many of you know, I own and operate a small retail shop. I generally have 4-6 high school students on the payroll at any one time. The good teenagers are important to the smooth running of the shop and are an important part of the staff. The bad ones are a real drag on the shop’s performance. I think for every 6 or 8 I hire, I get 1-2 good ones that are quick, smart, want to work, and are willing to learn about business, life, and working.</p>
<p>I have a lot of turnover, and I have a lot of kids that don’t work out for a variety of reasons. I do want to note that a lot of the not-working-out is due to substance abuse and anti-authority issues. Also some learning disabilities that are undisclosed at the time of hire and incompatible with retail requirements.</p>
<p>It takes <em>at least</em> 6 weeks for a teenager to become any use at all and longer than that for them to be worth what I am paying them. Generally I start them with about 10-12 hours per week, normally 1 afternoon, 1 weekend day, and perhaps a second afternoon.</p>
<p>Minimum wage in my state is around $7.50. I currently start all the teens at $8, with a raise to $9 and a bonus when they complete an 8 hour online training program. They are bonused for each portion of the program they complete.</p>
<p>I have recently become aware that it is legal in my state to pay a training wage of 85% of minimum wage to under-18 year olds for the first 200 hours of employment.</p>
<p>I’m wondering what you parents think about that. I’m thinking that of the current group, there are 2 on their way out the door, and 2 more that are probably not keepers, and another 2 that are great. The next bunch, I am very tempted to start at the 85% of minimum, with the same raise/bonus pattern for online training. I probably would not go the full 200 hours at sub-minimum – but at 100 hours they either get to keep their job or they are cut loose. What do you think?</p>
<p>If my kid were thinking of working for you, I would not mind that while he was training. It sounds fair to me, but training at many of the kinds of jobs teens get are usually 10-20 hours long. Some kids with not such organized employers really have no training, and also do not know what they are supposed to do. If my kid had to work for 100 hours at 85% of minimum wage I would advise him not to take that job, unless he really was going to get some special type of training that would be valuable down the line (ie: some sort of certification program). Another factor that might sway me to tell him to stick it out at lower pay would be if he were in walking distance to your shop and he would not need to rely on me for rides to work. Last, if my son were planning on going into a field where he would be working with animals, I would tell him that the money is not what is important right now, but the education and experience is worth going through 2.5 mos. with a bit less pay.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t mind it for my kid either but to me it depends on the competition for employment in your area. Around here it is difficult to find decent workers so you wouldn’t want to pay less than minimum if everyone else is paying minimum. To me, that would put you at a disadvantage where you might be more likely to end up with problem children who wouldn’t cut it.</p>
<p>The only caveat I see - you get what you pay for. Although at present you’re paying slightly above minimum, and not getting much in return. If you pay even less, who will you attract? Consequently, if you started them at $9 or so, and advertised that fact, might you attract a higher quality of worker? It might save you money in the long run, if you didn’t have to deal with so much turnover.</p>
<p>Just a thought…</p>
<p>As a parent, if my kid were willing to work for 85% of minimum for 100 hours, that would be up to her. But I suspect she could find a job that would pay her more, even in this economy.</p>
<p>I think that your ideas make sense. My only suggestion would be to accelerate the raises for those students who are doing great. I agree with you that there’s no reason to keep on for 200 hours students who clearly aren’t working out. If your area is like mine, there’s a job shortage, so having a starting wage below minimum wouldn’t prevent one’s attracting good workers.</p>
<p>The online course offers, upon completion, a certificate suitable for framing – which we do frame and display for all current staff! If a student is interested in the ‘animal industries’ or in retail sales and merchandising, it would be a credential. </p>
<p>I have alumni that are pursuing business and marketing degrees (one girl’s ambition is to be a buyer for a retail store), applying to vet school, working as assistant store managers in other regions of the country, a graphic artist who works on my newpaper ads, and one zookeeper! </p>
<p>I’m willing to teach the kids <em>anything</em> that they are willing to learn. Right up to the buying, the animal nursing, purchasing and receiving, the merchandising. That’s the big advantage of working in a store like mine – the kids are important, not just cashiers or janitors. That would be the kids that work out of course!</p>
<p>cnp, wow, you seem to be offering a lot of opportunities to learn a lot of different skills. I would have no problem having my children work for less money in that case. The kid who is working because the family is very in need of money for basics might feel differently.</p>
<p>I have no background in business, zip, nada. I admire small business owners such as you. </p>
<p>My intuition is this: in your line of work you might be getting students who apply because they feel “I love animals soooo much” but soon the bloom is off the rose when the work becomes real.</p>
<p>As you continue to seek solutions here for the payscale piece of the puzzle, I wonder also about recruitment. Can you perhaps contact a local h.s. guidance counselor and ask, “who has good work ethic and really needs this job?” </p>
<p>Does the SPCA have teen volunteers who’d also like to work for pay…although perhaps they’d not want to give up their best volunteers. Maybe you can put together a package with the shelter, where somebody’d volunteer X hours at the shelter free, and then X hours with you for pay, and get some other kind of bonus or certificate? Together, the combination of paid and volunteer work could make a great college resume entry for a kid with goals.</p>
<p>Are there any h.s. clubs for kids interested in a business-future? Or contact adult commerce groups such as Kiwanis or Rotary to ask if their members have kids who want to work. </p>
<p>I’m just wondering if part of this problem comes from hiring following advertised employment openings; and perhaps networking to recruit better kids would help improve your percentages of success.</p>
<p>Continued admiration for the mentorship you do accomplish!!</p>
<p>PS, In h.s., my kids all endured sub-minimum pay during training for short periods (2 or 3 days) for work related to their true interests. They were only resentful when the “training” was extended; promised promotions to full pay were delayed due to “store sales volume” and other things outside of their control. Then they felt trapped, having invested weeks at a place yet not wanting to quit, only to begin training again elsewhere.</p>
<p>cnp55- I think your plan is sound. I think I know your specific type of retail business, and I believe you’re in CT as well. It’s a seller’s market for jobs, many are out of work, adults as well as kids.</p>
<p>I like the idea of the effort you put in training, and yes I can see paying a training wage. </p>
<p>Once completed, they get your starting hourly rate. What I would suggest you add a 3 or 6 month intitial performance evaluation, and salary bump if warranted. Second review within 6 months max. You know your business. With most employees, you’ll know in 6-9 months if they are truly an asset, a steady performer or just a body. </p>
<p>Dump the bodies. Reward the steady, average, and provide feedback on an onoing basis. And make sure you reward the true assets with a substantially better increase than the average worker, and increase their responsibilities as you deem appropriate. These people help grow your business, and often have friends of similar mindsets. If you play it smart, you can begin to draw applicants from a similar ilk, if you don’t mind employing “friends”. Good employers are hard to find. Good employees know this, and will not hesitate to recommend you a friend who is a fit within your parameters. They know their rep and the trust you’ve shown in them, and what’s expected of an employee. They aren’t likely to jeapordize their position by sening you clunkers. </p>
<p>Just my $.02 from experience as both a corporate manager with hire/train/fire responsibility, yet no voice in levels and frequency of feedback, rewards and as an employee who’s first boss held the philosophy I now reiterate.</p>
<p>I hired my son this summer, and I know exactly what you mean about how worthless they are at first. I think a training wage is a great idea. The nicest thing you can do IMO is to give the good worker raises as quickly as you can. My first boss was really sweet, and one of the nicest things he did was give me a dollar more an hour about every three or four months. Make sure the good kids know you’ll be happy to write reference or college recommendations too!</p>
<p>You really need to understand the local job market in order to evaluate making a move to a training wage. Although the national economy is terrible, there are still some pockets out there that are relatively healthy. Are teenagers willing to do this work plentiful? What is the going wage at other retail shops?
I worry that you may lose quality candidates if there are many retail opportunities to choose from. Let’s face it, teenagers are likely to make a choice based on wages. You don’t want this to backfire…
Now, if things are bad out there… yeah go ahead and give that training wage a try.<br>
I agree with what other posters say about recruiting - see if there are ways to tap into kids that have already proven themselves. And look at your interview techniques as well…maybe you need to get tougher…perhaps add a behavioral component if you don’t go there already. You probably know this but there is plenty of info on the web and in books about how to interview to help weed out the “bad eggs.” The top 100 companies to work for generally have rigorous interview processes. Good luck!!</p>
<p>You have the supply and demand equation you’ll need to contend with. Some of the more capable potential employees may pass you up for someone else offering a higher starting wage up front along with more hours. It’s often not just the wage but the combo since that’s what determines what they really earn. Some students might not look past the starting wage and skip working for you without considering the longer term benefits. Some will calculate what they’d ‘lose’ by getting only 85% (or whatever) for n hours versus somewhere else. </p>
<p>That said, I like the idea of increases as they accomplish clearly defined milestones. </p>
<p>I’m curious, when you interview them do you discuss their grades and ECs at all? It seems that if one has excellent grades they may already be hard workers and achievers who would make good employees. </p>
<p>The HS my Ds went to had a place on their website where employers posted jobs directed at HS students so you might want to look into that for more exposure if you don’t already do something like that.</p>
<p>My d. probably would have worked for you for free! I think your idea is fine–you might find that you get the students who are interested in animals and not just the paycheck. Maybe even if you knock it to the minimum for starting employees? </p>
<p>My d. worked at a kennel all through high school. I don’t think she ever made below minimum, but didn’t get her first raise until she “graduated” to the next job description level.</p>
<p>Football … I hire what’s available. I am not getting a lot of interest in the morning shift jobs either. However, I am really busy from 3-6 and there are not a lot of adults looking for that shift where I need to add 1-2 people.</p>
<p>I’ve had some wonderful teens … but I am really discouraged about the current group and what it’s costing me in payroll to sift one gem out of the sand. And I absolutely HATE firing a kid that’s trying but not catching on. But …it’s going to happen this week to make room for some that might figure it out sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>My D. stayed at an underpaid lifeguarding/summer swim camp counselor job through hs because it was convenient and she felt a certain obligation to the owners of the club. What bothered her was not the low starting wage but the lack of differential between the newbies and the experienced workers like herself. She probably won’t return in the summers (she’s gone to college) because even though she was told she was one of the best and most reliable workers that never showed in her pay. I think a teenager’s sense of justice is such that they’d understand a low starting wage if they knew they’d be rewarded later on if it works out.</p>
<p>To get a “better crop” of employees, I would find a way to get my employment needs known to the teachers and/or directors of the AP/Honors Programs at the local high schools. Surely, those kids won’t have the “anti-authority” issues and undisclosed learning disabilities that you have been experiencing. More to the point, those students are used to meeting the requirements that have been set before them.</p>
<p>If you are able to find out who these educators are (by checking the schools’ websites or by calling the school and asking who directs these programs or asking for the names of the teachers who teach AP Cal, AP Bio, AP Chem, etc), you probably can get those educators’ email addresses from the schools’ websites. Then, I’d send them an email asking them to please announce the following job openings. Then I’d list the jobs available, the hours, and the salary. </p>
<p>What sort of differential would she think was fair?</p>
<p>The program I have in place now has a $1 differential between starting pay and the completion of the online training program. It’s automatic, and in some cases too much money.</p>
<p>Most sales management guidelines say that the opportunity to work more hours (i.e. be paid for more hours) should be the reward for experience, in addition to a small increase. Lots of teens don’t see that as a reward though!</p>
<p>I can see why that wouldn’t work out. Teens have other things to do, and anyway, parents often require them to limit the number of hours they work, especially on school days.</p>
<p>Perhaps you need to see what other businesses in your community are doing. How common is the “training wage,” and if it is used, how long are the training periods? Two hundred hours seems awfully long for a routine, part-time job for a high schooler. I know that when my daughter worked in a retail store, she was given only eight hours of training before she was expected to be able to do the job without constant supervision.</p>