Strategies to decrease downtime due to employee sickness?

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'm wondering if there are any strategies for increasing uptime that I may be missing.

I have three photographers who shoot real estate photos for my business. They are normally fully booked for each day.

The problem comes when one of them gets sick. The jobs that we have confirmed with the clients (could be four or five houses a day) need to be rescheduled for the next opening we have with another photographer. That's a lot of jobs we have to try to find room for. The problem is that sometimes we get so busy that we don't have any openings that are soon enough for the clients.

This doesn't happen all that often, and I'm a realist when it comes to "shit happens." Sometimes we just have to cancel if we are really out of our capacity.

But are there some other strategies that I might be missing?

- Having a photographer on standby just for emergencies isn't feasible, especially considering that our shooting rates are lower than the competition. If I passed on the job to an outside photographer, I would take a loss on the job, plus they won't shoot the way our core team is trained to shoot (we have a certain look and quality level to our shots)

- We can purposefully NOT run at 100% capacity. We could, say, purposefully leave two hours a week or so open on our calendars for those "oh crap" moments. But of course that means that we're purposefully not running at capacity = not making as much as we could.

Thoughts?

 

[cbrunny]

Offer health insurance. Pay for a gym membership or some other such thing that promotes a healthy lifestyle.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

The answer is to not run at capacity - you have enough historical data to factor in these sick/vacation days into your projected capacity.

So plan accordingly, either overtime or run under capacity.

 

[Aharami]

glad to see your business doing well. Do you still shoot RE? Or act as the manager/owner only?

 

[Carson Dyle]

If margins are so thin that you can't run below capacity or afford to pay overtime to the remaining photographers, something tells me your business isn't very healthy.

What is turnover of these photographers like? Are they real, trained photographers, or just folks who took the job and you showed them how to work a digital camera?

 

[Slew Foot]

dont offer sick time, you work or no pay. Make em contractors.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

If margins are so thin that you can't run below capacity or afford to pay overtime to the remaining photographers, something tells me your business isn't very healthy.

What is turnover of these photographers like? Are they real, trained photographers, or just folks who took the job and you showed them how to work a digital camera?

It's not the margin thing. The photographers *want* to work at full capacity. They get paid for the jobs that they shoot. So obviously they want to shoot more.

Turnover is zero. Same photogs since inception, like 6 years. Real photogs. I provide all the equipment and specialized training since real estate is a specialized type of shooting to begin with.

 

[Mai72]

The answer is to not run at capacity - you have enough historical data to factor in these sick/vacation days into your projected capacity.

So plan accordingly, either overtime or run under capacity.

Why would you ever want to run under capacity? I don't get this mindset. If I were in business I'd want as much business as I could get, and once I acquired enough business I'd find a solution. It's like saying you wouldn't want a packed restaurant because the wait times would increase. Does that mean that I should hope that I don't have a line of customers at lunch time? No, You want problems. It means you're doing something right.

 

[Crono]

If it doesn't happen enough to justify having an extra employee or to contract it out/have someone on-call, then there's not a lot you can do except eat the cost and inconvenience when it does happen.

 

[Carson Dyle]

It's not the margin thing. The photographers *want* to work at full capacity. They get paid for the jobs that they shoot. So obviously they want to shoot more.

Turnover is zero. Same photogs since inception, like 6 years. Real photogs. I provide all the equipment and specialized training since real estate is a specialized type of shooting to begin with.

So, are they contractors or do they get paid some kind of base plus?

If they're paid by the job, do you mean to say that none of them can fill in and work some extra jobs? Most people being paid by the job would be happy with the chance to earn extra money occasionally.

 

[Capt Caveman]

If they are not working 7 days a week, offer them overtime.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Do you offer sick or personal time as a benefit? That is, when these folks miss work, do they still get paid somehow? If not, you're probably already working with the biggest incentive there is (short of firing them for getting sick).

 

[Ruptga]

- We can purposefully NOT run at 100% capacity. We could, say, purposefully leave two hours a week or so open on our calendars for those "oh crap" moments. But of course that means that we're purposefully not running at capacity = not making as much as we could.

Just do that. Two hours per week is not going to cost you much, and it may actually make you more in the form of a more loyal customer base (due to fewer rescheduled and missed bookings) that is willing to pay a bit more than you charge now.

And it's a slightly different topic, but if you are always 100% booked you are probably undervaluing your services somewhat.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

So, are they contractors or do they get paid some kind of base plus?

If they're paid by the job, do you mean to say that none of them can fill in and work some extra jobs? Most people being paid by the job would be happy with the chance to earn extra money occasionally.

Sorry, I meant to say that they are contractors. So no salary or hourly.

There are a couple issues:

- sometimes logistically it can't happen (transit time to the property is too long, can't fit it into the schedule)

- sometimes they don't want to work even if paid extra, especially if they're already fully booked, and that's totally ok

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

The answer is to not have piece of shit employee's. Unless you are falling over nearly dying - coughing up a lung and getting other people sick - the last thing you should be doing is calling in a "sick day". 9 times out of 10, it's simply trying to get out of work for the day.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

If it doesn't happen enough to justify having an extra employee or to contract it out/have someone on-call, then there's not a lot you can do except eat the cost and inconvenience when it does happen.

Yeah, that's what I was originally thinking. UNLESS I'm missing some additional strategies, hence the thread creation.

 

[Mai72]

When you have a photographer who calls out sick, do they tell you in advance? I know emergencies happen and real life gets in the way. Hell, a photographer could get into a car accident on his/her way to a shoot.

How are you at taking photos? I know it's probably not idea, but you might consider this as an option. Learn the skill yourself so you can pitch in whenever an emergency arises. I know it will take time, but once you learn how to take proper photos it will pay itself many times over.

Could you hook up with a local college? Do they have a photography class? Maybe you could ask if anyone there wouldn't mind being called in when your main photographer is out sick. Don't know how reliable that would be.

I kinda like my first suggestion. My parents were business owners for many years, and the one thing my dad said to me was "no one is going to care about your business like you."

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Why would you ever want to run under capacity? I don't get this mindset. If I were in business I'd want as much business as I could get, and once I acquired enough business I'd find a solution. It's like saying you wouldn't want a packed restaurant because the wait times would increase. Does that mean that I should hope that I don't have a line of customers at lunch time? No, You want problems. It means you're doing something right.

Oh, there's definitely a balance you want to strike. Turning away too much business means the clients go to competing businesses and could get locked in and never come back. And client reviews may go down. Unless your business is truly that special, like a limited edition Ferrari, then there's a point where too much business that you can't take is bad.

The problem is that we sometimes have too much business for the current team, but not ENOUGH business to justify another full-time or even part-time photographer.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Do you mean to say that there are no other contractors you can turn to when there's extra work? Some housewife with an art degree, a photography student, your brother-in-law Ed who sleeps until noon and sells weed?

You mention your rates are lower and you'd lose money by shipping the work off to other contractors. So that must mean you pay your guys less than everyone else does. How do you manage to pull that off?

 

[OutHouse]

The answer is to not have piece of shit employee's. Unless you are falling over nearly dying - coughing up a lung and getting other people sick - the last thing you should be doing is calling in a "sick day". 9 times out of 10, it's simply trying to get out of work for the day.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

The answer is to not have piece of shit employee's. Unless you are falling over nearly dying - coughing up a lung and getting other people sick - the last thing you should be doing is calling in a "sick day". 9 times out of 10, it's simply trying to get out of work for the day.

Glad I'm their boss and not you.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Are you also classifying these people as independent contractors for tax purposes? If so, I have feeling that the IRS might like to have a chat with you.

 

[shortylickens]

Have the cleaning crew sterilize door knobs frequently.

Also, combining sick days and vacation days has been known to drastically reduce illness in the workplace.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Are you also classifying these people as independent contractors for tax purposes? If so, I have feeling that the IRS might like to have a chat with you.

They set their own rates and always have the option of setting their own schedule... in fact I'm dealing with that at the moment. They are increasing their prices and I have to figure out how to onboard customers to the new pricing scheme in a gentle manner. And we are working on a more streamlined way to have them confirm a scheduled meeting time with the client.

 

[kranky]

I think what your doing now is the right call. Let them work at 100%, and deal with the occasional sick day. If that eventually leads to bigger problems (losing customers, bad word-of-mouth), then you can take a different approach at that time.