Sorry that you trod on my toe! 5 lessons from my 1st ever job

I want to tell you about my first paid job. It was the late 80s, in the run-up to Christmas. I was sixteen and a half. My job title? I was a Temporary Seasonal Part-time Assistant with a major high street retailer. That’s right, just a few steps down from Chief Executive. Mind you, I wasn't particularly good at it. I was shockingly inept with a pricing gun. And I had no clue what a sweet potato was. I'd probably have looked for it in the confectionery aisle. But there were some things that I learned while doing that Saturday job that have stayed with me, and that are relevant for the charity sector. Think ahead, come prepared Most of my colleagues would wear gloves while stacking shelves. At first I wondered why. Well, we unpacked yogurts into fridges from plastic trays, and then packed the plastic back into metal cages. Working bare-handed, I would repeatedly get tremendous static shocks. Do you learn from the jolts you get in your organisation? Do you warn your colleagues to look out for them? Share your knowledge I used to dread being asked by customers where to find particular products. I only worked Saturdays and they kept moving stuff around. What I needed was a handy summary of where everything was or what had changed. How do you ensure that time isn't duplicated in your organisation? Particularly, how do you help part-time staff feel like they know where everything is? Don't invent unnecessary jobs One afternoon, rather than help out in