I was wondering what some of you are doing to keep your employees honest.

Let me explain my situation so that you all may better understand what I'm dealing with. I run a busy 10-screen, and we start out paying $6.25, with a $50.00 signing bonus after 3 months. Unfortunately there is a 20-screen about 1-2 miles away that pay $8.00, with a $100.00 signing bonus. That's more than my starting managers make! Hell, some of their assistants that only run concession or usher make more than ME!

So some of my employees end up finding extra "cash sources", which then in turn comes out of my pocket!

The practices I am doing currently include:

Auditorium headcounts to reduce box office scams. We physically count heads every day, every rush, then compare to actual ticket stubs or tickets sold into the computer (depending on how busy it is).

Personal inventories. Each concession worker starts the day with x-number of items (5 of each candy, 50 bags, etc.). If anything is added, it is logged into his/her log sheet. At the end of the shift, the actual stock is compared with what was rung up in the computer (I've caught several people using this method).

Then of course cash vs. computer total.

Is there anything else I can be doing?

Hey, I know, hire trustworthy employees, right?

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Kyle Abel
General Manager
Plano Movies 10

Employee theft is truly a concern for any business. IMO one of the biggest deterrents is video. Cameras placed in strategic positions throughout the building. Letting employees know that yes, they are there, and yes they are watched. But it also needs to be explained to the employees that the cameras are there for their protection as well as the theatres. Many a con-artist, theiving customer, and vandal has been caught by video.

Also constant manager interaction is very important. A manager that "hides" in the office is going to be more prone to staff issues than one that is constantly on the floor.

When all else fails and we're still doing badly in shortages, we just tell the employees that they no longer get the perks of working at a theatre - no movies, no soda/popcorn, nothing - until the situation improves. You would be amazed at how fast people come crying for their free movies back. Some even cry so loud some names of people slip out

What always amazes me though, is how theatre execs will equate concession workers to instantly replacable drones. Anyone who has been in the business for a while, and has tracked employees, knows that there are some concession workers that pull in dramatically more sales than others. These people are rarely sought out or rewarded by chains that try to tighten purse strings.

The low pay of concession workers is a problem that will only cause more deadbeats to apply for the jobs, resulting in lower per-caps, resulting in lower wages, resulting in more deadbeats applying, resulting in...

The truth is that by proper scheduling and HIGHER wages, the concession income can be maximized, at a slight increase in staffing costs.

Payroll is one of those beancounter "suck 'em dry" targets. The CEO has to keep whip in hand to fend off cuts in this area.

Look at it this way. You want to raise a top flight concession worker from $6 per hour to $8 per hour. How much is that worth? If, in an average hour, the worker sells ONE extra $3.00 bag of popcorn, the theatre has made money. Anything more than that is gravy for the theatre. GOG is usually less than 20% of retail price, and having it sit on the counter or in the warmer does no good to the bottom line.

By the same token, understaffing and losing $20 in sales an hour when staffing costs less that $10 per hour is sometimes totally beyond the comprehension of an accountant trying to make things look good on paper.

Once a staff is brought up to speed and deadbeats removed, the manager can be very picky about who gets hired and staff turnover can be reduced. We all know that there is _at least_ two days wages lost whenever there is a staff member quit and replacement. Some of this is training expense, some is from fumbling of the new worker, and some is from reduced productivity of a worker ready to quit.

Example:
($6 + $1 workman's comp. & social security matching &c) x a 5 hour average shift x 2 shifts = $70. If an employee works 3 shifts per week for 2 months (8 weeks), then quits, that $70 spread over the 8 weeks is $8.75/wk or $.58 per hour overhead. Reduce the turnover rate by 1/2 and the overhead drops to $.29 per hour.

Managers shop for jobs too. The problem with this is word often gets back to a home office and the manager's days become numbered at the company employing him.

I sometimes have thought that the reason for some companies working managers to death was so they wouldn't have time to apply at the competition or learn what they were paid.

When I started in the business company loyalty was important, and it was one of the prices you paid to eventually get a good position. That hasn't been true for years, even though some die-hards will deny it. Generally those die-hards work for a chain on its way down the top 100 list. DMs at GCC and AMC worked for years to get their positions, only to get kicked back into managing a theatre. Don't buy into corporate BS. When you work for a company, give them 110%, but recognize the reality that you are always expendible and once you have your paycheck in hand you've been paid in full, end of story.

Document what you have done with figures, pictures, and outside evaluations. Build up a nest egg and credit rating. When you are totally handcuffed and can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, line up a couple of good possibilities and a fall-back job, then go in and professionally explain that you have to be given more latitude or a better location, or you must leave. Explain your reasons only if you think they stand a snowballs's chance in hell of being understood - some employers won't even listen, and with those, the less said, the better. Give the current employer time to decide if a change is possible, offer to train a replacement, and be a total pro. in your attitude. You want that great recommendation you deserve.

YOU own your career in the business. If you sit in a dead-end location for years without doing anything about it, it isn't the company's fault. Competition for good jobs is tough, changing employers is tough, but that is the way the system works unless you are related to the boss.

Changing jobs exposes you to different management styles, improves your ability to think on your feet, and can improve your salary. It often requires a large move, which broadens your horizons and lessens your dependence on a home town.

Please permit me to add this thought: If you have the skills outlined above to be a really first-rate theatre manager, you might also have what it takes to successfully operate your own business, but NOT in exhibition, something different. The "attitudes" we see in many kids today didn't just happen overnight. They are not dumb. They know the corporate world, if they go there, regards them as just so many interchangeable and replaceable parts. As soon as "they" don't need you any more, you're Gone.

I personally know of several very heartening cases of local teenagers doing very well in their own businesses. My favorite is the high school kids making $50 per hour designing and managing websites; worth every penny, these kids are damn good at what they do!

Another young fella, who's also a bodybuilder, has built up a large clientele cutting lawns @$10 a pop in the summer. He has a truck and good equipment, does good work, and can knock off 2-3 an hour where close together. Moves very fast, wish I had his energy! Winter, in tax season he works in a local tax-prep office. Has an attractive young wife and a baby.

So there IS hope out there. "Find a need and fill it."

I'm getting very ambivalent about exhibition these days, and expect a huge shakeout. Warehouses might start filling up with used film projection equipment nobody wants, worth only pennies on the dollar. They are already filling up in some areas with used office cubicles & furniture from all the dotcom layoffs. Can't even give the stuff away. Watch San Francisco area for much more of this thru the end of the year.