June 1, 2018
Published by 
Stephanie Ramsey on June 1, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on June 1, 2018SCENARIO: Jordan Watson, owner of Watson Family Funeral Services, recently found himself dealing with an employee situation he simply didn’t know how to address. His firm had been serving his East Coast community for multiple generations and had a stellar reputation. Indeed, he often thought of his staff as his extended family rather than employees. The business served just under 300 families per year, and the team frequently received accolades from the families it served. About six months ago, the longtime office manager, Shelia, retired. The assistant office manager, Karen, was promoted to her role and a new assistant office manager, Barbara, was hired. Barbara was new to the funeral industry but had a few years of experience working in a busy doctor’s office. All indications were that she would be a good fit for the position. After she […]
April 25, 2018
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on April 25, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on April 25, 201810 ideas to help you improve your workplace environment and motivate employees to stay long term. TODAY, ONE OF THE BIGGEST challenges the funeral industry faces is finding and retaining qualified staff. Each year, it seems as if fewer students are graduating from accredited mortuary school programs, and most of those who do graduate do not have any practical experience in the industry and find themselves surprised by the reality of the workplace. Quite often, the stress of the work combined with the unusual work hours lead to new hires jumping ship to find another career path. Locating staff appropriate for a funeral service business can be a complicated and expensive process. However, retaining employees is another hurdle as funeral businesses find themselves competing for the same candidates. Rather than focusing solely on how to find new employees, perhaps funeral […]
March 20, 2018
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on March 20, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on March 20, 2018Scenario: Remember David Jackson from case study #8? Jackson owns a three-location funeral business in the central United States employing more than 20 people. The primary location serves more than 400 families per year, the second location serves about 60 families and the third location, a brand-new business, served 30 families last year. If you recall, this past summer David brought on a part-time employee (Jessica) to assist with administrative tasks. Her main assignment was to file the large amount of backlogged paperwork that existed at his primary location. Unfortunately, Jessica felt free to read everyone’s personnel file as she filed other paperwork. Even worse, she then shared salary information with certain employees about their co-workers in similar positions. Jessica was unaware of confidentiality issues with personnel files, and case study #8 explained how David addressed Jessica’s actions. However, part […]
February 9, 2018
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on February 9, 2018
Stephanie Ramsey on February 9, 2018Is your funeral business at risk of an EEOC investigation for sexual harassment/sex-based harassment? When I ask funeral business owners and managers this question, most immediately indicate that they do not have a problem with sexual harassment in their businesses. When I inquire about their confidence on this issue they proclaim, “our business has a professional atmosphere and we have great employees”. Unfortunately, a professional work environment does not mean that everything is perfect. Even “great” employees are accused of harassment. More importantly they are found guilty of such harassment. If your employees have not been given training to specifically understand what constitutes sexual harassment your business might be at risk of facing a complaint. This is especially true given the current public climate that is supporting those who come forward with stories of harassment. Funeral business owners need to […]
December 19, 2017
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on December 19, 2017
Stephanie Ramsey on December 19, 2017Scenario: David Jackson owns a three-location funeral business in the central United States. He employs more than 20 people. This past summer, David brought on a part-time employee to assist with administrative tasks. The priority was to file the large amount of paperwork that everyone at the primary location had neglected. This part-time employee (Jessica) had worked for the funeral home part time during high school and her summer breaks from college. Jessica was very personable and didn’t seem to mind all the hours she spent filing. At the end of summer, David was confronted by one of his female funeral directors wanting to know why she wasn’t paid as much as another male funeral director. During their conversation, David was made aware of how this employee knew her male counterpart’s salary. Apparently one of the reasons Jessica didn’t mind […]