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My boss brings her kids to work
I'm a hairstylist. My boss has been doing hair for 20 years but opened her own salon in March. I've been working in this salon for a little over 5 weeks and I love everything about it but one thing. Her husband will go pick up their 6 and 8 year old kids from school and bring them to the salon. I love kids and I love them, but they DO NOT listen. They fight and whine andante riot me while I'm working on somebody. I think if it was me getting my hair done, I would want it done in a relaxing environment. I'm new to this, and I don't want to overstep my boundaries or hurt feelings but it's getting old quick. Help me!!!
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I have worked in environments with similar circumstances and have been employees by a home-based business before which has some parallels to the challenges you are facing.
Have you addressed the issue with you boss? I assume you haven't considering your statement about not overstepping your bounds. While I certainly think you should do so, there are some ways to go about it that might be better than others.
Rather than getting into a discussion about the behavior of the children, you may want to consider approaching it from a different angle. For example, perhaps you can inform your boss that it might be a concern for your clients in regard to the safety of the children, the focus of the employees or even the professional atmosphere of the place.
If you go it at with this point of view, your boss would probably be much less likely to feel like you are attacking her on a personal level.
Come at the problem from a place of concern rather than one of frustration.
If the issue doesn't get better after approaching her and giving it a little time, you'll have to make the decision as to whether or not this is something you are willing to deal with. After all, she is the owner and ultimately makes the rules.
Good luck.
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I think you should approach it from the customer experience angle. That it tends to make them edgy and noticeably tense and compromises communication somewhat, which is very important between client and stylist, as she will know. Point out that you can keep it together and still do the job to an acceptable level. This should help depersonalise the issue and avoid a head-to-head confrontation. She willl presumably value her client-base and company reputation as all businesses essentially exist to make a profit in the final analysis. If she implies that it is your job to keep the kids in order then don't be afraid to tell her that you simply cannot do it. You are a stylist and never claimed to be an accomplished child-minder. Put it politely but firmly. I would say that hairstyling is a business where the total customer-experince of the whole salon visit is a very significant factor in securing returning trade in my opinion. And you feel this hard-to-quantify element might be at risk?
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This is a catch 22 type situation. Starting a new business probably means money is tight. This means they probably can't afford after school care for the kids who are too young to be left home alone. The kids are probably also board. It was probably fun to go to moms work at first but that has gotten old.
There is probably not much you can do about it unless you notice that repeat business is not there. Then you have the right to say something to the owner for now it affects your earnings. If the children being there are not affecting your earnings then you can either grin and bear it or think of ways to that might engage the children so they are not bored.
Children of that age have short attention spans. Also at that age are generally very helpful. Maybe there are things they can do like keeping the magazines neat, taking the towels back to the washer or wherever they are kept for the laundry service to pick up. The eight year old might be able to sweep the floor or tidy a work station.
They can be rewarded for their help with a new toy at the end of a week or a favorite snack. Given childhood obesity problems I favor the toy giving as a reward.
These are things you could suggest to your boss. I'm sure she is as aware of the problem as you are but is torn between being a good parent and being a good shop owner and giving good service to her customers.
In short try giving your boss a solution to a problem she is probably well aware of rather than just saying something to her about it. As they saying goes we are sometimes too close to the trees to see the forest.
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She probably either can't afford after school childcare or is trying to save a buck, or couldn't find someone available to take them.
Since she has the option of taking them at her work place because she is the owner, she's taking it. Even good parents can end up with children who act disobediently so you can't blame it on bad parenting. This is all stuff you don't know anything about.
If it irritates your customers to the point they all stop coming and you're losing earnings, you need to ask if they mind telling you why they are not coming back. You can't assume anything here. If you do have several people who give the reason of her children, then it is an issue you can bring up to her. If she doesn't try harder to find another place for her kids, then find work in another salon.
If it doesn't irritate any of your customers, you're not losing business, but yOU can't handle the childrens presence as it causes you to lose concentration on your job, then you need to find somewhere else to work.
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