Hi, I'm Britney Saunders and welcome to Big Business, the place where business is far from boring. And today I'm recording on a wobbicle land. For today's episode, I'm going to answer some questions. I popped up a little question box. I love doing these every now and then. Number one because I love answering the questions that people actually want me to answer. Like, I have a lot that I want to say on this podcast, but I also want to give the listeners of this pod you like the info that you want to know. So I'm just going to jump straight into it and read out some questions because there's some bloody good ones in here. I'm going to start with one. Oh where did I see it? Here? It is okay? So this question is how do you deal with disgruntled team etc. Not getting or example, not getting enough shifts in store? This is a tricky one and this is something that I mean, I feel like I always say this. I never thought about this before I started a business, but I quite literally didn't when I first opened my Fate store in Newcastle. That was our first door. I opened it in twenty nineteen, just before COVID hit and I didn't know how to do anything. I quite literally didn't know that I should have like an open checklist and a closed checklist and a cleaning checklist. Like it was. It was so casual. And when we first opened our Fate store in twenty nineteen, I was the one mainly working in the store, Like I was packing the orders and then working in the store, and we were open with really limited hours. Anyway, I don't think we even had like an app that did our rosters. I think I just made it up in like a little table and screenshot it, screenshot it and texted to everyone. Like it was so casual. And I honestly had like two people working in the store with me, and they were kind of like also working in the office and the warehouse because we were so small that everyone's jobs were like kind of all around our vibes. And it wasn't until a little later down the track, maybe like after the lockdown and COVID. I don't rem exactly all those years honestly blur together, But it wasn't until like laid down the track that I actually got some systems in place, Like we got a rostering app, and you know, we had staff contracts made up because when I started FAIT, I didn't know that you had to have fucking all these specific contracts for people and like proper procedures. You know. I was absolutely clueless and absolutely winging it, and I was so hands on. I was like, fuck it, I'm going to work in the store and you just come in at this time and come and help me serve the customers. Back to the question, like, how do you deal with disgruntled teams and people not being happy with the amount of shifts they get. This is a problem that every single retail store business is gonna deal with, like people never being one hundred percent happy, And I've dealt with countless of times over the years, people winging behind my back about their shifts. I'm sure it happens in my company to this day. That our company's kind of so broad now that there's a lot of people in between myself and the store team members that I don't really hear about this kind of stuff anymore unless they absolutely need me to. But just thinking back to when Fate was new, I definitely, you know, would have people come to me and be like she said, blah blah blah, and I'd be like, fuck's sake, Like, people complaining about shifts is just a part of retail. Whether it's too many or in other times not enough shifts, it's completely normal. And I think the way to deal with this, it all goes back to communication. Having clear communication is like the number one most important thing in a business where you're employing people. Like, there's so many important things when it comes to running a store or business, but having clear communication is absolutely everything. So let's say it needs to start and like the communication needs to start in the interviewing process or even in the advertising process. So if you're hiring for whatever position it is, to clearly communicate in that job ad. This is a casual position, you know, if you're going to do some guaranteed hours, guaranteed ten to fifteen hours a week. It's just making that so clear from the get go so that people don't get like overly high expectations kind of thing and then they're later let down if their shifts are lowering or whatever. So that would definitely be my advice. Have it clearly written in your job ads what the hours are, and then secondly in the interview process, make it verbally clear are you okay with this being two to three shifts a week and having that person say yes, I'm okay with that, and then you can communicate to them. You know, if you go into a busy period, there may be more opportunities for other shifts that are going to come up, but then it might you know, drop down again, but you are definitely going to be getting two to three shifts a week. I think just setting those expectations from the get go is going to you know, make everyone be the same page and not over promising and under delivering. I think it's just really important to lay everything out on the table, have your staff know what shifts they're going to get. And again, like I don't know what kind of business you're asking from, but with us, like especially with our store casuals, we're just really clear in the onboarding process. They know what kind of shifts they're going to get. They know that they might get called up for some extra shifts if we go into like a busy Christmas period or whatever, and have it written in their employee contracts as well. Employee contracts. I've always had employee contracts, but at the very beginning, I had like one type of contract that every staff member had and over the years, we've then like catered that differently to eat or tailored that to each person dependent on their role, and it's become a lot more detailed, but just clearly outlining in their contracts, you know what their job title is, how many hours they're going to be getting. If you've told them a certain amount of hours and just having everything in writing, that would be my And if you are dealing with someone who is talking negatively, I remember I dealt with something like this years and years and years ago. Like I'm going to say, in like twenty twenty, someone like talking really badly and negatively about me to actually to one of my friends, like it was so messy, and then my friend came to me and said, Hey, I just want to let you know, like this person that works in your store has been saying this and it all had to do with like shifts, and I'm like, bloody hell with a whole debarcle. But if you are having any anything like that happening, sit down and have her open and honest conversation. It all just comes back to communication. If you have heard so and so said blah blah blah and they're cranky about this, like I just skip. I'm sorry. If you can hear my dog just shaking in the background. If you have heard someone said about she said whatever, it is booking of time to sit down with that staff or team member and just say, hey, like, I just wanted to bring this up with you. I just wanted to check in. I've heard you know, so Xyz. You don't have to say who said it, because I know that staff obviously and understandably get really funny about when they come to tell you something, but then they're like, but don't say like, you can't repeat this kind of thing. It's always really awkward. But you know, you don't have to mention any names, but just say, hey, like, I heard this and I just wanted to sit down and talk about your shifts kind of thing and just lay it all out on the table again. It all just comes back to having that really clear communication. The next question is do you have any advice for employees taking leave to manage pre and post holiday stress. This is a good one because at the time that I'm recording this, we're in our last week of work. I think I've already spoken about this in another episode. I don't know. I've been recording so many our staff take two weeks off, like a majority of like our full time office and warehouse stuff, So there's like two weeks every year where no one's around at the office and warehouse, and I think we have got it pretty downpat over the last few year. I guess it's hard for me to give advice on this because it depends like what kind of business you're working for, like if you're working for a massive corporation or a smaller one. And I guess where a lot of my staff can probably find comfort in knowing is that AJ and I are never not available to do stuff, So even when everyone's off, they know that, like if something needs to be done, AJ and I will do it. And we have things that need to be done during the two week period, whether it's like social media stuff, posting stories, all that kind of stuff, like I'll be doing that customer service emails. I'll be jumping on those and making sure that we're applying to most of them kind of thing. Whereas I think a lot of staff may feel more stressed if like they've got to get everything done and like there's no one to do anything if shit goes wrong in the time that you're taking leave. But again, I think it all comes back to communication. And I know that what our team did in the office is they kind of sat down and all brainstormed everything that needed to be done before they leave, whether that's like scheduling our email marketing to go out, scheduling in all of our social media posts, making sure we've got all of our stories created and they're handed over to me so that I know what they I'm posting. What I think it's a matter of just sitting down with your team or your co workers or whoever it may be that you're working with and just coming up with a plan and kind of ticking it off every day until that last day of work, which I know is what our staff are doing at the moment. They're all kind of getting ready this week and finishing everything off so that they can leave work this Friday and know that like everything is done. And I'd also say again, like I can only give advice from my business, and I know that my business is so different to a lot of other businesses out there, But don't be so hard on yourself if you are taking time off. I'm really passionate about when our staff have time off. They have time off. So even again for our retail stores, which obviously are open throughout the two weeks that everyone's off, our store teams know to contact AJ and I if anything goes wrong or if they need assistance with anything, because normally they would contact Grace, who was our national retail manager, but they know to contact us. But just don't be hard on yourself if you are having time off. I know a lot of staff can have guilt when they take time off, which is really weird. But again, I'm only saying that from my mind and my perspective, but honestly, do the best that you can get all of your tasks ticked off, even just for your own mental well being. I think it's so good to write everything down that you know you need to get done and tick it off so that when you do leave to go on annual leave over Christmas or whenever, you can kind of actually switch off and relax. The last thing I would want is my staff stressing at home being like, oh my god, I didn't finish that one thing or whatever, and reach out for help from your coworkers and team members or your boss or whoever, depending on how the business is structured. If there's anything that you're struggling to get done or you feel like you're not going to get done before you go away, reach out and ask for help. I always say to my team life, anyone needs help, like, just let me know. And I know people sometimes feel independent, like they don't want to have to ask for help. But especially if you're working on a timeline and you're stressed about going away and you're worried about this, that, and the other, don't be afraid to ask for help and just remember like nothing awfully terrible is going to happen. I mean again, it depends where you work, Like it could be completely different if you have two weeks and you'll leave and you work at a hospital or something. But like, nothing bad is going to go terribly wrong in your absence, especially if your leave has been approved. You know, like you've been approved for the leave, they know that you're taking time off. And on my end as well, like I approve all of our staffs leave and then I know, like I don't expect them to do a single thing in the time that they're gone. I'm never gonna bother them, I'm never going to message them when I'm on when they're on leave, I'm like, i'll see you in two weeks when you're back. So yeah, I guess my final piece of advice for that is, don't be too hard on yourself and enjoy your time of enjoy your very deserved leave, and you'll be bloody back at work before you know it anyway, so make the absolute most of it. And one last question, how do you and AJ go about resolving work conflicts when they get mixed with relationship life. That's a really good question. I would say that we don't experience that. I think the only time when AJ and I ever really clash heads over something work related is if it's got to do with people's time sheets. Like that's the one thing that will kind of like blow up at each other at because AJ often like does the pays at night to kind of get them prepared, and I think it's just a hilarious thing. Like any business owner or anyone in payroll will know, like how much of a fuck around time sheets are, and like when people don't do their time sheets correctly, And then because AJ does our pays, I used to do them, but I handed that role over to him. Maybe this year. I can't Boddy remember when it was. It's just funny because he'll always just blow up at night when he's doing the pays and because like you can't do the pay run properly until everyone's done their timesheets and he's gone, this person hasn't done their timesheet again, And then I get so mad at him that he's dragged me into that scenario because I'm just like, let's ask the person tomorrow kind of thing. But it's like ten o'clock at night when he's trying to like start the pays, but like it's never anything serious. I'm like, don't fucking talk to me about the time sheets, and I just like don't want that to interfere our relationship. But we're really fortunate in a way where we have so many amazing people working in our company at fate to deal with workplace conflicts. Especially AJ does not have anything to do with any workplace conflicts that we deal with touch Wood, Like it's few and far between, and we don't deal with workplace conflicts often. Touch would. But anytime we ever have had something, AJ's not directly involved in it because it's not his role. He doesn't have anything to do with like working directly with people within their roles or dealing with anyone's issues or anything like that. It's more so me and a few others that work in our head office, so I never really have it crossover into my relationship with AJ. He's more so like my soundboard from when I come home and I'm frustrated about something or shit's hit the van somewhere, and he just kind of like listens to me rant and gives me his advice. But it never, fortunately comes in the way of our relationship because it's outside of AJ's role. AJ's role at Fate used to be just like managing the warehouse, but not even managing the team, but just managing the logistics of the warehouse. But he's kind of stepped away from that this year and now he's more so just doing the books. He does the books all about invoicing, pays everything and pays everyone, which it's turned into a really big job for him because yeah, we have like sixty something people on the payroll now we pay weekly, so that's a huge part of his job. He doesn't really deal directly with like staffing issues or workplace conflict, so thankfully that doesn't interfere with our relationship. But I think just to add to that, like it's important for me to just stay aware. And you know, sometimes AJ and I will be having conversations at night and we might get a little bit heated about something that's stressful that's happening at work, and I think it's on us to just kind of be like, look, let's not talk about this now, Like, let's wait until everyone's back at work tomorrow and go and speak to the right people that we need to speak to, because otherwise we just get caught up in it when it's like ten o'clock at night. We don't have to be talking about this right now, and it's really hard not to because when you own a business, you're never not working. But yeah, I think it's just all about us being self aware and knowing stuff that we need to talk about at home or stuff that can literally just wait until tomorrow, because most of the time, shit can always wait until tomorrow. So thanks for sending in your questions for this bonus episode. I actually got so many questions. I think I'm going to make a part two of this because I only answered three in this bloody episode, So stay tuned for Part two coming soon

Hi, I'm Britney Saunders and welcome to Big Business, the place where business is far from boring. And today I'm recording on a wobbicle land. For today's episode, I'm going to answer some questions. I popped up a little question box. I love doing these every now and then. Number one because I love answering the questions that people actually want me to answer. Like, I have a lot that I want to say on this podcast, but I also want to give the listeners of this pod you like the info that you want to know. So I'm just going to jump straight into it and read out some questions because there's some bloody good ones in here. I'm going to start with one. Oh where did I see it? Here? It is okay? So this question is how do you deal with disgruntled team etc. Not getting or example, not getting enough shifts in store? This is a tricky one and this is something that I mean, I feel like I always say this. I never thought about this before I started a business, but I quite literally didn't when I first opened my Fate store in Newcastle. That was our first door. I opened it in twenty nineteen, just before COVID hit and I didn't know how to do anything. I quite literally didn't know that I should have like an open checklist and a closed checklist and a cleaning checklist. Like it was. It was so casual. And when we first opened our Fate store in twenty nineteen, I was the one mainly working in the store, Like I was packing the orders and then working in the store, and we were open with really limited hours. Anyway, I don't think we even had like an app that did our rosters. I think I just made it up in like a little table and screenshot it, screenshot it and texted to everyone. Like it was so casual. And I honestly had like two people working in the store with me, and they were kind of like also working in the office and the warehouse because we were so small that everyone's jobs were like kind of all around our vibes. And it wasn't until a little later down the track, maybe like after the lockdown and COVID. I don't rem exactly all those years honestly blur together, But it wasn't until like laid down the track that I actually got some systems in place, Like we got a rostering app, and you know, we had staff contracts made up because when I started FAIT, I didn't know that you had to have fucking all these specific contracts for people and like proper procedures. You know. I was absolutely clueless and absolutely winging it, and I was so hands on. I was like, fuck it, I'm going to work in the store and you just come in at this time and come and help me serve the customers. Back to the question, like, how do you deal with disgruntled teams and people not being happy with the amount of shifts they get. This is a problem that every single retail store business is gonna deal with, like people never being one hundred percent happy, And I've dealt with countless of times over the years, people winging behind my back about their shifts. I'm sure it happens in my company to this day. That our company's kind of so broad now that there's a lot of people in between myself and the store team members that I don't really hear about this kind of stuff anymore unless they absolutely need me to. But just thinking back to when Fate was new, I definitely, you know, would have people come to me and be like she said, blah blah blah, and I'd be like, fuck's sake, Like, people complaining about shifts is just a part of retail. Whether it's too many or in other times not enough shifts, it's completely normal. And I think the way to deal with this, it all goes back to communication. Having clear communication is like the number one most important thing in a business where you're employing people. Like, there's so many important things when it comes to running a store or business, but having clear communication is absolutely everything. So let's say it needs to start and like the communication needs to start in the interviewing process or even in the advertising process. So if you're hiring for whatever position it is, to clearly communicate in that job ad. This is a casual position, you know, if you're going to do some guaranteed hours, guaranteed ten to fifteen hours a week. It's just making that so clear from the get go so that people don't get like overly high expectations kind of thing and then they're later let down if their shifts are lowering or whatever. So that would definitely be my advice. Have it clearly written in your job ads what the hours are, and then secondly in the interview process, make it verbally clear are you okay with this being two to three shifts a week and having that person say yes, I'm okay with that, and then you can communicate to them. You know, if you go into a busy period, there may be more opportunities for other shifts that are going to come up, but then it might you know, drop down again, but you are definitely going to be getting two to three shifts a week. I think just setting those expectations from the get go is going to you know, make everyone be the same page and not over promising and under delivering. I think it's just really important to lay everything out on the table, have your staff know what shifts they're going to get. And again, like I don't know what kind of business you're asking from, but with us, like especially with our store casuals, we're just really clear in the onboarding process. They know what kind of shifts they're going to get. They know that they might get called up for some extra shifts if we go into like a busy Christmas period or whatever, and have it written in their employee contracts as well. Employee contracts. I've always had employee contracts, but at the very beginning, I had like one type of contract that every staff member had and over the years, we've then like catered that differently to eat or tailored that to each person dependent on their role, and it's become a lot more detailed, but just clearly outlining in their contracts, you know what their job title is, how many hours they're going to be getting. If you've told them a certain amount of hours and just having everything in writing, that would be my And if you are dealing with someone who is talking negatively, I remember I dealt with something like this years and years and years ago. Like I'm going to say, in like twenty twenty, someone like talking really badly and negatively about me to actually to one of my friends, like it was so messy, and then my friend came to me and said, Hey, I just want to let you know, like this person that works in your store has been saying this and it all had to do with like shifts, and I'm like, bloody hell with a whole debarcle. But if you are having any anything like that happening, sit down and have her open and honest conversation. It all just comes back to communication. If you have heard so and so said blah blah blah and they're cranky about this, like I just skip. I'm sorry. If you can hear my dog just shaking in the background. If you have heard someone said about she said whatever, it is booking of time to sit down with that staff or team member and just say, hey, like, I just wanted to bring this up with you. I just wanted to check in. I've heard you know, so Xyz. You don't have to say who said it, because I know that staff obviously and understandably get really funny about when they come to tell you something, but then they're like, but don't say like, you can't repeat this kind of thing. It's always really awkward. But you know, you don't have to mention any names, but just say, hey, like, I heard this and I just wanted to sit down and talk about your shifts kind of thing and just lay it all out on the table again. It all just comes back to having that really clear communication. The next question is do you have any advice for employees taking leave to manage pre and post holiday stress. This is a good one because at the time that I'm recording this, we're in our last week of work. I think I've already spoken about this in another episode. I don't know. I've been recording so many our staff take two weeks off, like a majority of like our full time office and warehouse stuff, So there's like two weeks every year where no one's around at the office and warehouse, and I think we have got it pretty downpat over the last few year. I guess it's hard for me to give advice on this because it depends like what kind of business you're working for, like if you're working for a massive corporation or a smaller one. And I guess where a lot of my staff can probably find comfort in knowing is that AJ and I are never not available to do stuff, So even when everyone's off, they know that, like if something needs to be done, AJ and I will do it. And we have things that need to be done during the two week period, whether it's like social media stuff, posting stories, all that kind of stuff, like I'll be doing that customer service emails. I'll be jumping on those and making sure that we're applying to most of them kind of thing. Whereas I think a lot of staff may feel more stressed if like they've got to get everything done and like there's no one to do anything if shit goes wrong in the time that you're taking leave. But again, I think it all comes back to communication. And I know that what our team did in the office is they kind of sat down and all brainstormed everything that needed to be done before they leave, whether that's like scheduling our email marketing to go out, scheduling in all of our social media posts, making sure we've got all of our stories created and they're handed over to me so that I know what they I'm posting. What I think it's a matter of just sitting down with your team or your co workers or whoever it may be that you're working with and just coming up with a plan and kind of ticking it off every day until that last day of work, which I know is what our staff are doing at the moment. They're all kind of getting ready this week and finishing everything off so that they can leave work this Friday and know that like everything is done. And I'd also say again, like I can only give advice from my business, and I know that my business is so different to a lot of other businesses out there, But don't be so hard on yourself if you are taking time off. I'm really passionate about when our staff have time off. They have time off. So even again for our retail stores, which obviously are open throughout the two weeks that everyone's off, our store teams know to contact AJ and I if anything goes wrong or if they need assistance with anything, because normally they would contact Grace, who was our national retail manager, but they know to contact us. But just don't be hard on yourself if you are having time off. I know a lot of staff can have guilt when they take time off, which is really weird. But again, I'm only saying that from my mind and my perspective, but honestly, do the best that you can get all of your tasks ticked off, even just for your own mental well being. I think it's so good to write everything down that you know you need to get done and tick it off so that when you do leave to go on annual leave over Christmas or whenever, you can kind of actually switch off and relax. The last thing I would want is my staff stressing at home being like, oh my god, I didn't finish that one thing or whatever, and reach out for help from your coworkers and team members or your boss or whoever, depending on how the business is structured. If there's anything that you're struggling to get done or you feel like you're not going to get done before you go away, reach out and ask for help. I always say to my team life, anyone needs help, like, just let me know. And I know people sometimes feel independent, like they don't want to have to ask for help. But especially if you're working on a timeline and you're stressed about going away and you're worried about this, that, and the other, don't be afraid to ask for help and just remember like nothing awfully terrible is going to happen. I mean again, it depends where you work, Like it could be completely different if you have two weeks and you'll leave and you work at a hospital or something. But like, nothing bad is going to go terribly wrong in your absence, especially if your leave has been approved. You know, like you've been approved for the leave, they know that you're taking time off. And on my end as well, like I approve all of our staffs leave and then I know, like I don't expect them to do a single thing in the time that they're gone. I'm never gonna bother them, I'm never going to message them when I'm on when they're on leave, I'm like, i'll see you in two weeks when you're back. So yeah, I guess my final piece of advice for that is, don't be too hard on yourself and enjoy your time of enjoy your very deserved leave, and you'll be bloody back at work before you know it anyway, so make the absolute most of it. And one last question, how do you and AJ go about resolving work conflicts when they get mixed with relationship life. That's a really good question. I would say that we don't experience that. I think the only time when AJ and I ever really clash heads over something work related is if it's got to do with people's time sheets. Like that's the one thing that will kind of like blow up at each other at because AJ often like does the pays at night to kind of get them prepared, and I think it's just a hilarious thing. Like any business owner or anyone in payroll will know, like how much of a fuck around time sheets are, and like when people don't do their time sheets correctly, And then because AJ does our pays, I used to do them, but I handed that role over to him. Maybe this year. I can't Boddy remember when it was. It's just funny because he'll always just blow up at night when he's doing the pays and because like you can't do the pay run properly until everyone's done their timesheets and he's gone, this person hasn't done their timesheet again, And then I get so mad at him that he's dragged me into that scenario because I'm just like, let's ask the person tomorrow kind of thing. But it's like ten o'clock at night when he's trying to like start the pays, but like it's never anything serious. I'm like, don't fucking talk to me about the time sheets, and I just like don't want that to interfere our relationship. But we're really fortunate in a way where we have so many amazing people working in our company at fate to deal with workplace conflicts. Especially AJ does not have anything to do with any workplace conflicts that we deal with touch Wood, Like it's few and far between, and we don't deal with workplace conflicts often. Touch would. But anytime we ever have had something, AJ's not directly involved in it because it's not his role. He doesn't have anything to do with like working directly with people within their roles or dealing with anyone's issues or anything like that. It's more so me and a few others that work in our head office, so I never really have it crossover into my relationship with AJ. He's more so like my soundboard from when I come home and I'm frustrated about something or shit's hit the van somewhere, and he just kind of like listens to me rant and gives me his advice. But it never, fortunately comes in the way of our relationship because it's outside of AJ's role. AJ's role at Fate used to be just like managing the warehouse, but not even managing the team, but just managing the logistics of the warehouse. But he's kind of stepped away from that this year and now he's more so just doing the books. He does the books all about invoicing, pays everything and pays everyone, which it's turned into a really big job for him because yeah, we have like sixty something people on the payroll now we pay weekly, so that's a huge part of his job. He doesn't really deal directly with like staffing issues or workplace conflict, so thankfully that doesn't interfere with our relationship. But I think just to add to that, like it's important for me to just stay aware. And you know, sometimes AJ and I will be having conversations at night and we might get a little bit heated about something that's stressful that's happening at work, and I think it's on us to just kind of be like, look, let's not talk about this now, Like, let's wait until everyone's back at work tomorrow and go and speak to the right people that we need to speak to, because otherwise we just get caught up in it when it's like ten o'clock at night. We don't have to be talking about this right now, and it's really hard not to because when you own a business, you're never not working. But yeah, I think it's just all about us being self aware and knowing stuff that we need to talk about at home or stuff that can literally just wait until tomorrow, because most of the time, shit can always wait until tomorrow. So thanks for sending in your questions for this bonus episode. I actually got so many questions. I think I'm going to make a part two of this because I only answered three in this bloody episode, So stay tuned for Part two coming soon