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How to Start an Inflatable Indoor Facility

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The HR Side of an Indoor FEC

Part of the Team

Think of a time where you got a job and got thrown into it right away, can you think of any time? You might or might not recall a time where that happened, but what you do know is a successful business does not rely on employees just “riding it out” and seeing if they get the hang of it. They have to be properly trained to do great at their job. That being said, FECs run on great customer service. Learning to instill this in your employees from the get go is priority in a successful Family Entertainment Center. The first day on the Job shouldn’t be about how to ring the guest bell, or how to find the fridge, it should really be about how to represent the company in the best way possible. Give them detailed instructions through videos and real time scenarios between already hired employees providing an atmosphere of high praise and positive energy should really get your employees in the right path to great customer service. Also keep in mind that a happy employee leads to happy customers because moods are generally contagious.

Once the first day is over you really have to begin thinking of great ways to make sure training is effective. You want to really have someone who is as familiar with the Indoor FEC as you are. Top trainers generally serve as great examples of adequate work ethic for the new employees which can be a deal breaker at times. Just think if you had someone who really didn’t care to clean correctly or eat in front of customers while handling there food teaching another employee. The new hire would automatically think its ok because the employee already does it. It’s somewhat of a chain reaction and you wouldn’t want that to go on for too long. Make sure that your trainers as well as new hires never stop learning and or teaching. Making sure your employees are keeping busy guarantees the friendship and learning bond a team needs, therefore leaving a great impact on the company’s image.

Better Hiring

The best way to guarantee a top quality staff is simple. Just take a second to think about the qualities you think generally make an Indoor FEC run effectively, then simply apply them to what you expect of YOUR employees. The best way to find these employees of course is through other hard working employees. It is evident enough to know that People these days generally like to hang out with people they have a lot in common with, which is why people who show energy and positive feedback usually find themselves to know other people of the same attitude or character. Also, you want to focus on getting hiring workers who you know won’t leave after the first couple weeks or so. Keeping an eye out for those junior and senior high school students or freshman college students is a great place to look, simply because these students will stick it out longer and ask for lower salaries then those with more experience.

The application on the other hand should be another great way you find great employees. You want to just see if they could keep a job, see how there spelling is, grammar, and even if they add any pop outs like cover letters, or interesting answers. The interview process should be where you get to analyze exactly how the application and the person work together. If a person comes in all full of energy and dressed suitable for the interview as well as have a impressive job application, it’s obvious that’s young guy. As to if someone who wrote only yes or no responses on their application and dressed casual enough to go to the park and not an interview is really not the right person at all. You should always already have somewhat of an idea of what you want to see come through the door. 

Stickin’ Around

One common trouble indoor FECs come across throughout the seasons is high employee turnover. Staff members tend to leave the indoor FEC mainly because of the same top three reasons, money matters, no motivation, or lack of communication within the organization. Employees need to have these three qualities met in order to want to continue to want to work for you. Usually, a person’s paycheck is the number one reason they get a job in the first place.  Under paying an employee will more than likely result in temporary employees rather than dependable and reliable employees, so key note there is to never under pay good help in an indoor FEC. A good way to avoid temporary employees is by offering raises for consistency in their work ethic or a monthly bonus for staying another month. This way employees don’t feel they are being treated unfairly or doing more than they should when they do go that extra mile.

Maybe more important than money matters is building positive relationships between your employees a having a strong sense of communication and team. Family Entertainment Centers run on providing laughter and fun not only to their guests but within the work environment as well. With your employees having fun and enjoying going to work every day, you guarantee yourself a strong FEC. Managers and employees being able to mingle outside and inside of work leads to employees not wanting to leave the facility because of everything and everyone they would leave behind. Try adding some sort of employee nights out once and a while to permit your employees to have fun and enjoy each other’s company as a team. Maybe even add a twist to their work day on certain holidays like Halloween and Easter. Creating games for them and yourself to enjoy. You would be surprised at the number of FECs that have these extra things for their employees and all the positives that come out of it with just a trip to the roller skating rink or the movies. Communication between employees really does go a long way in the FEC world.

Perfecting Performance Reviews

When a performance review is done correctly, an employee can get the proper guidance to become a successful and highly reliable attribution to the Family Entertainment Centers. Of course knowing exactly what you expect and hope to find from the very beginning makes things a whole lot easier. When hiring an employee, you should have already explained exactly what the job description is and what they should be expecting to do. Letting them know beforehand allows them to comprehend and perform at a higher level than if you hadn’t token the time to explain it. Explaining the job description and groundwork of the position there filling engraves somewhat of n idea of what they are going to be doing when they go into work. Once that happens, employees tend to get more into the rhythm of things and lead to good reviews. Always praise your employees for when they do well; even a simple good job or your doing great could go a long way. Constant feedback gives that boost of energy and satisfaction to employees and lets them strive even farther because they know they can from all of the positive feedback there getting. No one want to go from great job to, you need work on this, or what happened. It would mean there working backwards instead of forward and usually never happens.

Reviews on the other hand shouldn’t always be taken so formal. Simply testing your employees on what their job description is should do. For example a 30 day trail can go ahead and be set for the cashier at the snack bar with enthusiasm, uniform, sales, and customer service being some of the main priorities. Another example would be for the arcade host. Making sure uniform, enthusiasm, customer, service, and how she works in her department should do the trick for that review. The next few weeks you should go ahead and review anything that needs to be reviewed with those doing the reviews. Note down anything that you saw employees constantly did that you feel needs to be worked on. Make any proposals that you think would benefit the company. The whole process of reviews can really make a positive outcome if done properly and carefully. Regardless of who you’re reviewing or what position it is management should acknowledge the employee being reviewed before any decision is made. Having them sign off saying they took part in the process not only demonstrates professional and smart actions but also legally protects you from ay mishaps that can take place in the indoor FEC world.

The Rising Wage

Minimum wage has grown to be a huge issue for some indoor FECs. In recent years, minimum wage jumped from a couple of cents being the difference to a dollar and some cents in some states.  Family Entertainment Centers in some states have had to cut hours, reduced staff, and even bumped up prices on their own revenue to make up for the wage increase. Learning to keep staff and juggle the hours is really the smart choice. With less experienced staff on duty, the slower business is taken care of and the more unsatisfied customers there are. Keeping business flowing is the real target when cost of labor is going up because you need to find a way to still make business. Of course don’t over staff when the business is slow and don’t stay open when hardly anyone is walking through the door at nights. Learn to target your rush hour and slow day so that you know how to schedule your employees all while still making a high profit.

You can always also use other ways of going about raises and bonuses with employees by going about it from a different angle such as gift cards and fieldtrips of some sort rather than giving a 100 dollar to 150 dollar bonus to each employee. Sticking to only giving pay raise to the employees who have definitely earned it through time in the company and quality work ethic should really be your first choice. Other ways of cutting cost can be through your own revenue. Maybe increasing prices on the little things like soda drinks or golf rentals and group parties can sometimes do the trick as well. People will be more understanding doing it this way because it won’t be as noticeable then if you would charge more in arcade games or cut out all the weekday specials. The more people notice, the less business you have so be sure to do the cuts and increase where they need to be done. 

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