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Don't Leave Your Employees Out In The Cold
01.11.2009Posted by: Ben
If you are from around here, you are probably familiar with the Liberty Tax people. No, not the tax professionals, but the poor souls who are asked to stand in the cold and wave to drivers for hours on end.I just don't approve. Sometimes, sure, employees should get out on the sidewalk and interact with the public. Nothing's wrong with hollering "Hot Dogs Two For a Dollar!" at lunchtime. But there is a line that shouldn't be crossed. And the low-paying job of standing in the cold trying to wave to cars in the hopes that you'll convince one of them to stop and get their taxes done crosses that line.
More importantly, from a brand perspective, do you want to be known as "that company who is kinda mean to their employees?" Sure, they are getting paid and people need work. But maybe they could stuff envelopes or something when the weather is frightful.
Also, sometimes I've seen Caesar's Pizza asking their employees to stand on the side of a very busy road holding a sign advertising $5 pizzas. Surely, the local sign laws prohibit the company from erecting a permanent sign like that, but I guess a human being holding the sign is a workaround. I just think it's too dangerous, but I guess it works out as profit — you sell more pizzas and pay for the employee. But can it really be that much profit to warrant the safety risk?
At least the Liberty Tax folks are in a pretty safe place — on the sidewalk in a slow traffic area. I just wish they would consider alternative marketing concepts and consider the "people plan" to have it's limits.
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