Though stores bombard us with holiday displays as soon as the back-to-school sales are over – or even earlier – November is the unofficial beginning of the holiday season for many people.

With the changing leaves and the cooler air, the approach of the holiday season also brings plenty of retail activity for many facility owners. Suzanne Locker explains in “Rethink Retail” (p. 14) how you can convert small spaces into money-making retail areas. She also has some great ideas on items you can quickly prepare to fulfill your customers’ gift-giving needs.

For some facilities and their owners or managers, this time of year might also bring holiday bonuses or year-end reviews for employees. In her article on staff reviews, Veronica Boutelle offers valuable advice and wisdom on conducting performance reviews and the many ways reviews can improve a facility and its staff.

Holiday bonuses and year-end reviews are just two ways facility owners and managers can take care of their employees. In this issue of Pet Boarding & Daycare, we feature several articles about keeping staff members healthy, safe, educated, and happy. Architecture expert Rick Bacon explains how you can improve efficiency by incorporating staff input into facility design (“Ask Your Staff to Help You Improve Efficiency,” p. 21). In “The Challenge of a Changing Workforce,” Joan Nieman presents the first part of her series on the Millennial generation. Who is the Millennial generation, and how can the pet care industry improve the way it hires and manages them? Also in this issue, Susan Briggs explores the difference between offering a job and a career in pet care, and Wheeler del Torro explains the benefits of high payroll.

Continued education is yet another way to take care of staff members, because it helps pet care professionals improve their skills and expand their knowledge of topics like animal health, animal behavior, and business. Pet Boarding & Daycare strives to play a role in your education not only with our magazine articles but also with the first ever Pet Boarding & Daycare Expo. A three-day educational conference and two-day trade show, the Expo kicks off in Baltimore on November 6 and features the boarding and daycare industry’s leading experts and vendors. We hope to see you at the Expo!

From all of us at Pet Boarding & Daycare, Happy November and December! They are certain to be busy and productive months for all of us in the boarding and daycare industry!

– Cindy Agoncillo, Managing Editor

Next Article