Josh is the head driver for a pizza place in town. He has a lot of other responsibilities too. In recent years his only raises have been mandatory. When Gov. Murphy was first elected, a law was passed raising the minimum wage in New Jersey to $15 an hour in increments.
Restaurants all over the area look like restaurants all over the country. "Help Wanted" signs looking for really every position. Josh's restaurant is typical like that. Kitchen staff are leaving, phone girls are leaving, and drivers are leaving. The biggest issue for the drivers, is that tips are down by a lot. It's a tipped job. If you aren't making enough tips to be worth it, you leave for a better job.
His boss is a good guy and is trying to keep it a good place to work. He just doesn't have the profit margin to give the kind of raises these employees are asking for. But he did give Josh a great raise on top of that mandatory raise. The restaurant needs an assistant manager. But Josh is in demand by a bunch of regular customers. Literally! When he was out for two months with a broken arm two years ago, they didn't order. When he returned, they were relieved and were worried that he had quit. They told him. When they call, they ask for him. His boss needs him to stay a driver. But Josh also does a lot of other things around the restaurant that an assistant manager would do. He is trusted with responsibilities that other employees aren't. This raise was to give Josh a reason to stay.
All year I have been reading stories about the great resignation. I am rooting for those who are leaving unreasonable jobs to find success in better jobs going forward. The pay needs to match the work and personal sacrifices being made. The jobs with the most people fleeing do not do that. That is especially true for tipped jobs. Tips are down for everyone everywhere in the US. Retail work is awful, I have done it. But some retail places are offering better pay and benefits. This summer, Josh asked for paid sick and vacation days. They turned him down. Now they had to choose, pay him his worth, or watch him and his talent with customer service walk.
Employers fear the great resignation. "We can't compete with the large corporations." Then maybe you have a bad business model. People need to make more than a living wage. People need paid sick and vacation days. People need to be making enough to pay for health insurance. If you are underpaying them so they can be on government assistance, you have a bad business plan. You will find yourselves understaffed and losing customers for being understaffed.
My real question is why are tips down so much? Inflation? Most people are just eating out less. A more common occurrence is people not tipping at all. What's that about? Why are you being an ass? Loss of respect for the job? Did anyone really respect food delivery guys and waiters? Ironically, I think tips are down because its rare you see the same driver twice. If you have a regular driver, you might tip well in hopes you get "your house first" priority (yes, sometimes that's a thing). But if you don't think you will see that guy again, why bother. You're not getting anything out of it. So, here's the solution to better service, tip better. If the tips are worth it, drivers don't leave. You might also find better service when that same driver returns in the future.
We live close to the restaurant. Like, "can walk to work" close. Sometimes customers see Josh with me or both me and Zach walking for exercise. That always gets an entertaining response. These are the customers that tip better next time. They see him as more than the guy with dinner. They see how he's providing for his family just like them. That helps the restaurant too.
That's what this raise was about. One restaurant owner trying to keep a valued employee. His boss offers what he can to every employee. But he's had to make hard choices. This means, when he has priority orders, he has a dependable driver. This means, that the customers who ask for a familiar face behind a mask will get who they want. This means that he has someone he trusts to run the shop when his wife gives birth in February.
What does it mean for us? It means, Josh is respected at work. It means, we can save more and better cover expenses. It means, an improved life. It means, less stress. It's what everyone resigning is looking for. Employers need to listen to what these employees are saying. Frankly, so do customers. Customers can't enjoy the things they enjoy without these employees. But in a lot of cases the behavior of the customers contributes to these resignations. That's the part that is mentioned but never taken seriously.
This is the great resignation story that wasn't a resignation. Because of an employer who did something first. This is the lesson for employers on how to save their businesses. This is the lesson to customers on how to keep good employees of favorite places from leaving. This is the story of empowerment about a man who has always been too afraid to ask for what he is worth. It started this summer when I made him ask for the paid sick and vacation time in front of me so, I knew he did it. This might just be the middle.
I will continue to root for those taking part in the great resignation. For too long these are the overworked, over sacrificing, underpaid, unnoticed, and underappreciated, employees that felt they couldn't get out. We couldn't convince lawmakers to fix this problem. I am happy to see the power these brave people hold as they change a long-broken system.
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