I was much happier when my induction course in Birmingham was ended and I could get back to proper work at the three-screen Odeon cinema in Romford, where I had recently become an assistant career manager.
It is not that I have anything against Birmingham. In fact when we lived in Redditch we went to the city a few times, including a trip to a museum. It is just out of the three major cities in that area I prefer Liverpool over Birmingham and Manchester. In fact Liverpool is my favourite city in the world, after all I was born there as was my mother.
No, I just preferred a working environment over what was basically a glorified classroom. Also it meant that I was back with my little family every day, or nigh, depending on my shifts.
With a management team of three, Tony, the boss; Sheila, the local assistant manager; and myself as career assistant manager, two of us would always be rostered on every day (except if someone was on holiday when an assistant from another cinema nearby would do a couple of shifts), and shifts would overlap so that at times all three of us were present.
I actually preferred it when Sheila and I were rostered on together because, although I liked him, I didn’t always agree with the way Tony dealt with some situations.
A prime example was the way he dealt with the cleaning staff.
The cleaners came in every morning, yes, every morning including Saturday and Sunday because cinema audiences to not make less of a mess at weekends, in fact a Saturday night audience could often make more of a mess than the rest of the week put together.
Their shift would start at about 7am and would be almost finished by the time I came in for an early managerial shift at about 10am.
When Tony did his first inspection tour of the day, one of us would always be visible to staff during opening hours, he would note everything that was wrong, or not up to his standards, and if he was not satisfied he would make his displeasure abundantly clear to the cleaners.
I, on the other hand, would keep an eye out for anything that had been done really well so that if I had to point out a flaw I could balance it with a compliment, even if it was only pointing out how clean the ashtrays were, or an extra shiny hand rail.
I generally found, on my observation tour, that conditions were above average as the staff had made an extra effort. It is something that I have kept in mind and utilised ever since.
After all, it is easy to tell a reporter their copy needs a complete rewrite and leave it at that. On the other hand telling the : “There’s a good story in there, with all the facts, but it is not clear enough for readers to understand them.”
Of course a cinema staff has more than managers and cleaners, but the same principle applies to dealing with the ushers and usherettes (yes I know it sounds sexist but that is how they were listed on staff rosters and wages ledgers at that time), the ticket kiosk and confectionery sales staff, and, last but by no means least, the projectionists.
The most important lesson for any would-be manager to keep in mind is that a happy staff makes for a well-run cinema. Just don’t let them see you as a soft touch.
I did learn quite a lot from Tony, sometimes not by what he told me, or the way he did things, but often by doing it by the book (or my interpretation of the book), or the way I felt was best.
Before the year was out I was already applying for managerial vacancies throughout the country.
It didn’t take me too long but that’s a story for another time.
Robin's Nest 