Dennis-

    Thanks for your well stated thoughts- to clear one thing up, however,
Alan was not the one who made that comment- by Director I was referring to
my Division Director, who in fact made this comment at a large staff
meeting, not off the record at all (unfortunately!).
    Also- I'm not attempting to improve their service with higher pay, I
believe that though we can all always improve, my staff are doing a great
job with helping our visitors, and would like to reward their hard work in
the many areas to which they are assigned by paying them an hourly rate they
can support a family on.  You see, most of my cashiers are adult women with
children, not students looking for "cool" jobs.  They strongly believe in
what we are doing here at the Hall, but simply cannot support their families
on what we pay them.  Obviously, an extra dollar or so an hour is not going
to turn that around, but as I'm sure we all know, every little bit helps.
    Two other quick notes- I try to do everything I can to keep Admissions
from becoming monotonous, or to keep others from thinking it is- and try to
reward my staff every day for a well-done job, however, the sad reality is
that even if you love the place you work, and enjoy the role you play in it,
if you can't afford diapers and milk, you'll have to take a job where you
can...
                                                            Thanks again,
                                                        Michelle Levengood
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Kois <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>; Michelle
Levengood <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: Dennis Kois <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, March 01, 2001 9:32 AM
Subject: Re: Question Re Frontline Staff Pay


>Taking a quick look at the Museum Assoc. of NY 1999 salary survey (a wee
bit
>out of date, admittedly), it lists "Admissions Clerk" in the NY City
Museums
>section as having a median of $19,850 per year for full-time staff. That
>works out to about $9-10 per hour. The survey doesn't address part-time
>staff, though, and also doesn't address starting pay rates (what does an
>admissions clerk at the Hall make after 1 or 2 years?). And the sample is
>only 4 museums. I would predict, though, that there is no way most NYC
>museums are paying part-timers near $9 an hour for admissions. I know our
>institution isn't.
>
>Also, I am sure I will be slammed for this, but while I agree they are very
>important parts of visitor experience, I don't think paying admissions
staff
>more is necessarily going to improve either visitor service or lower staff
>turnover. Admissions jobs are monotonous entry-level positions, and even if
>you were paying $8.50 an hour your staff would still be leaving- for
college,
>summer camp, or for what are perceived as "cooler" jobs like working at
>Banana Republic (where they get a clothing discount, to boot!). Perhaps
>creating a way to shuttle your talented admissions staffers into other
>slightly higher paying positions (admissions supervisor, or trainer, etc.)
>might be a bigger enticement to stay than just paying more across the
board.
>
>Just my 2 cents. Also, as an aside, you might want to be careful about
>publicly posting near-direct quotes of your Director's comments about
>internal issues, which I'm sure he intends to be "off-the-record." I know
you
>kept his name out of it, but this is a big forum and you have to assume
that
>someone on Museum-L knows Alan Friedman personally or professionally... I
>don't know how he'd react to having his comments publicly editorialized
>without him knowing. Although for that matter, he used to subscribe to
>Museum-L, so maybe he does know! :-)
>
>Dennis
>______________________________
>Dennis Kois
>Assistant Manager of Design
>The Metropolitan Museum of Art
>New York
>
>
>>    A while back I posed a question to the group concerning the titles you
>>use for your Frontline Admissions & Coat Check Staff.  I did this because
as
>>the Head of Admissions here at the New York Hall of Science, I wanted to
>>change our current title of Cashier/Clerk to something that would show
their
>>value a bit more, as well as be more visitor friendly.  Many of you were
so
>>helpful, that now I have another request.
>>    Since it looks as though I was successful at changing their titles,
now
>>I'd like to work on their pay.  Currently, our Cashier/Clerks (soon to be
>>Admissions Service Representatives!) start at a rate of $6.00 per hour.
>>I've been told that this can be significantly higher at other Museums.
Can
>>anyone find out what your staff in a similar position make at your
>>Institution?  When broached, my Director has told me that I should be glad
>>that they're at least paid more than minimum wage (pretty much a direct
>>quote).  For me, someone who knows how valuable they are, and how
>>responsible they are for a pleasant visitor experience, that thinking just
>>seems ridiculous.  I loose great people all the time who believe in our
>>mission, and love the Hall, but are stolen away by the $8.50 an hour they
>>are offered at the Gap or McDonalds.  I'd like to combat this if possible.
>>    Any help you can offer will come with my sincere thanks.
Unfortunately,
>>if I can't prove that many Museums offer their Frontline more than we do,
>>I'm afraid this situation will never improve, and my staff will never be
>>paid even close to what they're worth.  Again, thanks...
>>

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