“If an owner of a business provides low-skill jobs, then there will naturally be a low salary ceiling. If the salary ceiling of the employees is low, then you’ll have a lot of turnover. If there is a lot of turnover, then bosses tend to treat their workers almost as liabilities rather than assets. All of this contributes to an employer investing less into his/her employees, which in turn results in mediocre service, particularly when your target customer is primarily concerned with affordability instead of quality.”

Certainly Pacino gives the thinking of a lot of folks however my experience has shown me, if you actually provide your employees better pay and benefits than they can find elsewhere in a similar position, this combined with having a manager who takes a personal interest in their folks by understanding with advice, some time off when needed etc, then expectations can rise mainly because all of a sudden now the employee does have something to lose, they just can’t go down the street and get the same thing, turnover tends to drop like a rock. When expectations rise, productivity also goes up. Suddenly you don’t need all the people you needed before, a better job is done and actually costs go down while the quality goes up. It is a win-win situation for everyone.
Just as an added note, an employee should never be a thought of as a liability much less treated like one. You can be assured if the employee thinks that is the way they are looked at, sure enough, they become a liability.

Terri, attempting to fix a problem without a clear diagnosis won’t solve anything. I have only tried to add some substance to what is otherwise an unproductive and uninformed rant by Cebo. Saying that PCB’s hospitality industry needs to better train its employees does little to actually improve this community. On the other hand, a more productive article would include a candid analysis of the reasons for PCB’s hospitality mediocrity and a clear admission of the real obstacles which impede our progress. I have tried to add both to this discussion.

Cebo’s comparison of PCB to New Orleans and Orlando is simply uninformed and unfair. The populations, wealth, and clientele are much too different for any useful comparisons. Thus the crux of his argument is unsound. In fact, our clientele means everything to this discussion. Our particular clientele is largely responsible for both our prosperity and our limitation. Over many decades, PCB has evolved as the affordable beach vacation destination. With this label comes both good and bad.

As a result of our growth PCB is in the middle of an identity crisis. We’re sort of like an 18 yr old high school graduate. We’re considered an adult in some ways by society, yet we’re still a teenager. We want to grow up, yet we aren’t quite ready for every adult responsibility. What I mean is, many of PCB’s residents have grown accustomed to the growth and are ready for bigger and better things. In many ways, we are trying to shed our old skin, trying to reinvent ourselves. However, despite our growth and the changes which we have seen, there remains the limiting factors which have always plagued this area. While much has changed over the years, the limiting factors which I’ve described has remained largely unchanged.

Simply put, we will likely need more significant investment from outside of Bay County to take the next step, not to mention, one heck of a marketing campaign to steal some market share away from the Destin area. Given the current economic climate, rapid change doesn’t look promising.

Terri, you’re obviously an optimist, too. I have heard of the Pike’s Market fish employees (and seen a training tape on that). It was remarkable. We used much of the Disney training concept at Amelia Island Plantation…you really can’t go wrong. First, hire someone who is as smart or smarter than you if you really want to be a smashing success.

Did you ever hear of the Pike’s Market fish employees who had a pretty grim job dealing with fish AND people all day. They had a turnaround because someone believed they could make their job better and they got training and support from upper management.

If an owner of a business provides low-skill jobs, then there will naturally be a low salary ceiling. If the salary ceiling of the employees is low, then you’ll have a lot of turnover. If there is a lot of turnover, then bosses tend to treat their workers almost as liabilities rather than assets. All of this contributes to an employer investing less into his/her employees, which in turn results in mediocre service, particularly when your target customer is primarily concerned with affordibility instead of quality.

This is simply why the hospitality industry is what it is on PCB.