Darryl Hodgins

We all know that the number one phone call that retail employees get is, “What time are you open until tonight?”  After that it’s, “What time do you open in the morning?”

Makes sense, retailers want to put this kind of information in the hands of their customers, so that it’s available immediately online. Let’s search for the local store on hardware retailer Rona’s website.  When Google <store name> + <city name> doesn’t work, I’m stuck with using their website. Here’s a great example of what not to do:

Step 1. Go to home page and enter postal code into the box.

Step 2. Click on the “Find a Store” link at the top of the screen.

Step 3. Enter your postal code again.

Step 4: Fantastic! A Map and Everything!

Rona’s website fails this test.  Not only am I required to enter my postal code into a form to get into the site (hint: search engines can’t do that), I have to enter it a second time to find my closest store. Now I’m frustrated.

How to avoid this kind of pain:

1. Ensure that all retail locations of your stores have a page on your site that can be browsed to. This will improve the chances of a search engine picking them up, and providing the user with a direct entry point to the store.  Remember that your site’s search functionality is nowhere near as good as Google.
2. Asking for postal codes or user’s location should always be optional. This forces the user to abandon the usual mouse-click flow of a website. Instead, allow a “browse” option. If specific location is required for pricing or availability, don’t display the price/availability first. Or figure out a better business model.
3. Never ask for the same piece of information twice. It’s annoying, redundant, superfluous and unnecessary. It’s worse than a business associate forgetting your name. Websites have cookies, sessions and a million other ways to keep track of customers. Make use of this technology. There is no excuse.

It seems to me like there are a few companies that have an ideal mix of work/life balance, but more often than not, these companies are really not living the balance.  And often if we try as employees to engage in some semblance of a balance, well, there are just so many aspects to life to find balance.  It’s tough!

Why can’t we do like other countries do?

In Spain, Mexico, and other places that use Spanish words, they have a thing called “siesta.”  People take a rest in the afternoon and (usually) come back to work afterward, refreshed and ready to take on whatever’s on their plate.

In Japan, like we all saw in that episode of Heroes, they go up to the roof every morning and do crazy exercises. Workers begin their day with oxygen-rich blood coursing through and feeding their brains.

Here in Canada, what do we get? Maybe a bike locker in the basement and a maybe a shower room. The rest is up to you. As long as you don’t do it around company facilities or on company time.

But study after study shows that workers are more productive when they have endorphins running through their systems.  Easy to write a business case and point to these kinds of things.

Are companies just to chicken to expose themselves to the legal implications of doing anything other than sitting in an office chair? Mind you, I have a massage therapist who tells me that more of her patients are so messed up from sitting in office chairs all day…

Don’t get me wrong, I love the kind of work that I do, I just think it needs to be more balanced.  I’m a bit upset today since I haven’t been feeling well, I haven’t been able to get outside and run or bike, so perhaps at this moment I am just feeling a bit of cabin fever.  Fortunately for my work, I am able to sit here in a chair with my laptop.

So, in an effort to actually propose some kind of solution rather than just complain, here goes:

Work from home one day per week.  Instead of commuting, in the time that you would normally commute, go for a run or a yoga class.  Then get to work (and quit blogging all the time)!