There’s a big difference between important job training and spending valuable funds on something employees learned how to do in kindergarten.
Pennsylvania’s Liquor Control Board plans to spend more than $173,000 on training that will make workers “friendlier” and “more well-mannered” at the 650 statewide stores it operates.
Pittsburgh-based consulting firm Solutions 21 has been hired to coach store managers and employees to say common things like “hello,” “thank you,” and “have a nice day” to customers. In addition, the training will teach workers when the best time to greet customers is and how far they should stand away when doing so.
The expensive training is drawing fire from around the Keystone State. Political activist Eric Epstein said the training was “a demented interpretation of happy hour.” He went on to claim, “it’s a sad state of affairs when you have to train people to be kind and courteous.”