Wonders of Wine and Food

 Working Alone

Is it wrong to have only one employee working in your winery tasting room. I believe it is. There are times when an employee can be over whelmed by the number of customers that show up. This effects the ability to property service the customer to their expectation. It results in unhappy customers not to mention loss of sales. 

Unhappy customers tent to tell others destroying the reputation of the winery. You lose new customer, you lose the chance of a of a first time visitor ever returning.

It is also a safety concern. A person is working "alone" cannot be seen or heard by another person.

It is important to consider all situations carefully. Working alone includes all workers who may go for a period of time where they do not have direct contact with a co-worker or management. 

A robber is more likely to strike a location where they know employees works alone.

What creates a situation where employees work alone. Labour cost, management is trying to reduce the cost of doing business. But is it worth the risk.

Your risking loss of sales, unhappy customer, unhappy employee, injury to an employee and safety concern.

Friends came to visit us a few days ago who are frequent visitors to the Okanagan. They told us of a visit to two wineries. One a really good experience. The other, a major winery, was not a good experience, because there was only one person working and they were overwhelmed. having to deal with the inside tasting room and the outside patio tables. Guess which winery they will return to on their next trip and which one they will not. Which winery did they buy wine. Which one they did not buy wine!

Restaurant operators across Canada are struggling to find enough staff to run their operations. This labour crisis has been highly publicized by Canadian media as a “labour shortage.” One the concerns listed by restaurant workers, long hours on their feet, lack of washroom opportunities and working alone.

A successful winery requires a strong business plan and a team of innovative and passionate workers. The wineries that are successful are constantly finding new ways to connect with their customers and provide exceptional experiences for all their guests.

Selling directly to consumers is one way wineries make money. For wineries, this is often one of the best ways to make profits. When a consumer purchases a wine bottle directly at a winery, they typically pay the full retail price for it, and all the sales go straight to the winery.

In my career as a area manger for a fast food change One of the first things I did when promoted was informed the mangers that no one works alone. Those restaurants that where using one person on a shift all of them had increase sales with additional staff.

If you’re an employer, you must identify and eliminate, or if that is not possible minimize, hazards to anyone who is working alone. As part of this, you’re required to develop working alone policies and procedures, including a system to check the well-being of workers at predetermined intervals.

Your obligations related to working alone and preventing workplace violence are detailed in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, under section 4.20.1, Working Alone or in Isolation and section 4.27, Violence in the Workplace.