The hammer is coming down!

So, since my last post (of a month ago..sorry about that) I've hired two new hairdressers, Tiffany and Lynn.  For recent graduates of the local cosmetology school, they're working out quite fine!  I'm so glad I hired them!  They're reasonably drama-free, and eager to learn!

Now, for the shenanigans:  Tina went on vacation for two weeks, starting the beginning of August.  She just came back this week.  Now, Tina has a nasty habit of calling out either before she goes on vacation (or a long weekend), when she's supposed to be coming back, or both.  So, it was (partially) no surprise that she called out the day she was scheduled to be back to work, due to her flight being delayed.  When I spoke to Coral about this, we came to the decision that Tina needed to be written up.  Granted, the delay was beyond her control, but this isn't the first time she's called out when she's supposed to be back to work.

When I sat down with her yesterday to talk about this, naturally, her defenses were up, quite a bit.  I had cold, hard facts to present to her, and, to her credit, she didn't try to dispute them.  And, this is not the first time we've talked about this stuff.  It is, however, the first time she's been written up about it.  I told her, flat out, this activity must stop.  Me writing her up isn't PERSONAL, it's PROFESSIONAL.  And, as professionals, we don't need to take this out to the salon floor.  It doesn't need to be discussed with co-workers.  It just needs to be solved.  We'll see how this goes.

Rita, Rita, Rita.  Nothing ever changes with her.  I wrote her up about two weeks ago, on a technical issue.  She's a lousy hair cutter, period.  Inconsistent, unsure of herself, and it shows in everything she does.  She really messed up a haircut...to the point that the client went elsewhere to get it fixed.  Now, the client is a bit of a drama queen, she's a bargain shopper, always looking for the "deal". And, she didn't feel comfortable sitting in Rita's chair.  Didn't stop her, though...her mistake, really.  HOWEVER, as I said to Rita : Even when you feel the customer is wrong, the customer is ALWAYS right.  So, Rita got written up.  She's to cross check her haircuts (which I really haven't seen her do), conduct a thorough consultation (not really), and repeat back to the client what was said, then discuss what she's going to do.  Because Rita is a bit "limited", she lacks the vocabulary to effectively convey she knows what she's talking about.  And she also tends to lack the skills or the attention span, sometimes, to follow through.  Sigh.

On Tuesday, I posted a note stating salon meeting on Sunday (today), after work, wanting to make it easier for everyone to come.  Of course, Rita has a game she must go watch, as her daughter is a cheerleader at this game.  I get being a parent.  I get wanting to be supportive of your kids.  Salon meetings are MANDATORY.  You get paid to attend them.  And you don't get to get out of them.  I got so irritated with her on Tuesday that I got all passive/aggressive on her and just said "Whatever, Rita"  which she took as "I can go do what I want and not attend the meeting".  So, last night, as I was leaving, I told the girls "See you tomorrow afternoon" to which Rita started to talk to me about it, trying to get out of going to the meeting. "But, but but".  "Rita, I talked to Coral about this, and salon meetings are mandatory.  If you don't show up, I have to write you up."  We'll see what happens later today.

Is Rita my favorite??  No.  Does she know that??  Unfortunately, yes.  I'm friendly enough with her, but my distaste is a bit hard to cover, at this point.  Professionally, I've covered for her and fixed her mistakes far too many times to continue to tolerate her behaviour.  And, the chat I had with Coral the other day was quite revealing.  We both came to the same conclusion:  Rita won't be working for us a whole lot longer, one way or the other.