New problem with groomer! *sigh*

[JantheMan]

Hi again, Thanks to those before that helped me with my previous question about hiring a bather/brusher for my groomer. I felt vindicated.

Now we have a new problem. We recently hired a second groomer to do the 'off' hours; the 2 days a week and evenings that our original groomer does not work. We figured that the rent is paid, the equipment is bought and paid for by us, so let's put it to use! It's not generating any revenue sitting there unused.

Our original groomer is NOT very happy with us. She told me that she should have been consulted. Really? Were we obligated to consult our employee before making this business decision? She is acting quit petty and when I introduced her to the new groomer, she was rude!

I told her that this will be good for everyone in our shop. Now we don't have to close down grooming when she goes on holiday and it will bring in new customers for everyone!

Has anyone else run into this kind of thing and what can we do? Any suggestions please.

Thx

 

[Barb04]

Maybe she wanted to be given the opportunity to add more hours to her schedule? Is it possible she felt good about being the only groomer and when you hired another groomer to fill in without even saying something, she felt like she's wasn't as important as she thought.

 

[Greenmagick]

Yeah, I can kind of see where the groomer would be a bit miffed. Not saying its right but if she was the only one, all clients went to her. It can be a bit territorial for sure. I had 7 groomers at one point and 6 bather/brushers......every time a new groomer was hired there was a bit of a shake up.

If you are paying commission, yeah, hiring another groomer, even for different hours, can affect them. It probably wouldve been nice to discuss it before hand.

 

[Kat09Tails]

Groomers are never happy about splitting commissions or struggling to pay their bills. What appears to you as being petty and being rude perhaps is just someone getting over taking a serious pay cut. Like it or not odds are unless you're turning down people left and right adding another person will cut the first employee's pay if they are allowed to work on each other's clients.

If your groomer is being penalized for taking a vacation once or having the audacity of having some time off once and awhile I'd probably be pretty peeved too. Grooming is hard fning work that's underpaid IMO as is, groomers work hard to recruit and keep clients (this is not Tacotime), so it may feel pretty crappy to groomer #1 that groomer #2 was hired without telling her.

That said, This is YOUR business. You need to decide how you want your business model to look. Part of that is deciding how you as an employer takes care of their employees, how you expect those employees to treat each other, and making sure you earn enough profit to cover your expenses.

 

[lizzybeth727]

I've never been a groomer, but as a trainer, I've been in that situation a few times. It may even be worse with trainers because our job is to convince people that our methods are good for their dog; so if there's another trainer at the company who teaches different methods (even slightly different), it can make the original trainer look less like an authority.

ANYWAY, when I was the senior trainer I was always consulted before hiring another trainer; plus I was heavily involved in the interview process, so I felt like it was partly my decision who to hire. I probably would've been a little POed if the boss had hired someone without me knowing.

But again, it's YOUR business and I fully understand and support your decision to hire another groomer. Maybe, though, you'll need to set some ground rules between the groomers as far as "stealing" clients and respecting each other's "space" in the company.

 

[CharlieDog]

What Lizzybeth said. But if the first groomer was already not working those days, then I don't see what the problem is? My thought is that if it's going to bring in money, then do it, but set rules about clients and such.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Don't have experience with grooming, but my mom owns a salon. Never have I met more petty girls. They are generally rude to new employees, and act like they should be asked first before new people are hired, etc, it always blows my mind when they try to tell my mom how to run it.


Best of luck to you.

 

[petlover84]

Maybe she felt insecured about her status in your company. A little explanation might help the situation.

 

[Saeleofu]

Groomers are never happy about splitting commissions or struggling to pay their bills. What appears to you as being petty and being rude perhaps is just someone getting over taking a serious pay cut. Like it or not odds are unless you're turning down people left and right adding another person will cut the first employee's pay if they are allowed to work on each other's clients.

If your groomer is being penalized for taking a vacation once or having the audacity of having some time off once and awhile I'd probably be pretty peeved too. Grooming is hard fning work that's underpaid IMO as is, groomers work hard to recruit and keep clients (this is not Tacotime), so it may feel pretty crappy to groomer #1 that groomer #2 was hired without telling her.

That said, This is YOUR business. You need to decide how you want your business model to look. Part of that is deciding how you as an employer takes care of their employees, how you expect those employees to treat each other, and making sure you earn enough profit to cover your expenses.

:hail: :hail:

Especially if she was your only groomer, I think she should have been consulted.

 

[Grooming Gal]

At this point, your options are to sit with each groomer to discuss the situation, and then another discussion with everyone in one room. This should help clear the air. I'm curious how did you resolve this? How is it working out?

 

[PetStylist]

Unfortunately some groomers get really territorial. If you were busy enough that she is booked out for weeks I can understand a new hire. That shouldn't have resulted in any issues. However, when you bring in someone and your first groomer isn't full yet....It causes serious anger problems with some.

BUT you only hired someone to work the "off" hours and I do think that your groomer is over-reacting. If she doesn't want to work those hours its up to you the business owner to find ways to either let things sit empty or make more money. I have worked for shops that hired groomer after groomer. All the older groomers would go from 8 dogs a day to having 4-5 each and hoping that someone called the same day. The owners would hire for the same hours and I think that was a bad idea! Especially since we only filled up day by day. We didn't even have enough tables(7) at times,3 dryers and only two tubs. (With 12 people!!)