On my last trip to electronics store Fry’s, I had to return some merchandise. While I waited in the customer service line, I saw two employees standing against the wall doing nothing.

Every few minutes one of the employees helping customers would yell “customer service” and the mystery person against the wall would come over, type a few things in the computer, and return to his or her post against the wall.

The only task this wallflower had was to approve a return. While this may be a necessary step in Fry’s process, it isn’t for me as their customer.

I have to wonder why I’m waiting in such a long line when I see employees standing around doing nothing. Can’t one of you go open a new register or help me find something?

If your employees are idle, don’t let customers see them. Better yet, leverage them to increase customer throughput.

Think about why you’ve got idle employees. Maybe you’re overstaffed. Maybe you’ve got a bloated process. How can reducing idle labor save you some money and increase your efficiency?

Keep up-to-date with the latest Return Customer articles:
Subscribe to our RSS Feed Sign up for email updates