Changing Bad Behavior

I have worked off and on in the retail industry as a cashier since I was fourteen. One common problem I noticed in working with other cashiers at department stores was their accuracy in money handling. One particular incident occurred while I was changing shifts. The girl that was counting her drawer and dropped several pennies onto the floor and kept counting. I waited a few moments and then picked up the change myself and asked if she had seen it happen. Surprisingly, she admitted that she had and said that she was not intending to pick it up at all. I asked why she did not pick up the change and explained that her count would not be accurate. Her perception was that it was just a few pennies and that it would not matter. I began wondering how detrimental this would be to businesses if all employees had this same attitude and realized there were probably a lot more employees like her in the work force.

Over time I noticed that this attitude carried over into her other duties as well. She was rude and embarrassed her customers, passed off duties the supervisor assigned to her and put merchandise back anywhere she wanted to to avoid walking across the store to where it belonged. I noticed that this behavior was obvious to those around her because other employees went out of their way to avoid working with her. I wondered why management failed to correct this over several weeks. I did not want to be the person to bring it to their attention and get into some altercation with her, so I tried to avoid it for a few days. I continued to watch her mistakes and could not help but feel like I was creating a whole seperate problem by not trying to fix this situation.

Then I realized that she may have never been exposed to behaviors that are necessary to perform this job well. Maybe she needed to be coached in customer service and be encouraged to practice accurate money handling and by avoiding her, I was depriving her of a role model. I thought “what possible change could I possibly bring about? I’m no manager.” I tried working around her. I put myself on the register next to her and stayed after work to count out the drawers with her. Slowly, she became interested in how my drawer was so accurate and questioned why hers was off. I provided some polite tips that hinted even the change matters. A few times she asked why customers went out of their way to fill out positive comment cards about me. Again, I tried to provide insight into what better customer service looks like. Slowly, I noticed a change in her and more of an interest to do better.

This scenario showed me how you can bring about change and instill a desire to do better by being the example and politely offering suggestions when curiosity arises. It was empowering to develop myself through simply developing another.

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