Why We Do What We Do
Creek Bed Farmacy is a fun family experience as well as a farm that raises the best quality produce.  To create a farm visit that people will want to experience again and again, we should be FUN!  Fun is perceived individually, but by creating and implementing our tested framework of appearance and behavior, we can exceed most guest expectations.  When we exceed expectations, we turn our guests into fans.  Fans tell others about Creek Bed Country Farmacy without us having to pay for advertising - enabling us to grow our business.

You Are Important!
Creek Bed Farmacy is an experience provided to the guests by you, our employees.  No one can be everywhere, so each member of our team must not only hold down his or her assigned position, but also be able to engage the guests with a smile and nice conversation.  If one link on the team fails to deliver, the guest experience suffers.  That’s why we only keep the BEST PEOPLE.

If It’s Not You
This might not be for you.  Not everyone is “wired” for agritourism.  You’ve got to smile.  You’ve got to forget about your life and focus on the guests.  You’ve got to want to please guests and make them happy.  You’ve got to be this way when it’s too hot, too cold, raining; when you’re tired, frustrated, sad; when you’ve just broken up with your boyfriend/girlfriend, and lost your keys.  Even if your day has been lost or tiring, the guest is meeting you for the FIRST TIME.  You have the chance to treat them to a wonderful experience they will remember.  Being cheerful is part of your job description.  If you can’t separate your life from your work responsibilities, we encourage you to find a different job.

Appearance

Why Have a Dress Code?  In creating a quality experience, uniformity is key.  Guests should be able to clearly identify staff.  Now, the dress code for Strawberry Season is much more relaxed than our Fall Season, but we still want you to look your best!

Employee Dress Code.  While working for the farm in the pre-season, employees should dress for the weather, including gloves or jackets and sun block or sun protection as needed.  When Creek Bed Farmacy is in season, employees must be presentable and in uniform.

Pants & Shorts.   The bottom half of the employee uniform for Creek Bed Farmacy consists of long pants (jeans, khakis), joggers, capris  or a decent length pair of shorts .  No leggings please.

T-shirts.  You will receive 2 short-sleeve t-shirts at the beginning of the season.  You are required to wear clean shirts every day to work.  All T-shirts must be sized appropriately for comfortable movement.  When the weather gets cold - you may purchase a farmacy sweatshirt (at our cost) or wear your own sweatshirt / coat along with a Farmacy name tag.

Hair.  Men and women should keep a neat hairstyle, out of the eyes for safety and visibility.

Grooming, Jewelry & Make-up. Please show up to work clean & ready to sparkle; even if you get some dirt on you while on the job.  B.O. & dirty fingernails do not build our family-friendly brand.  Jewelry is not recommended while working in the strawberry patch.  If you see the ring that Julie lost out in the field, it’s yours.  Facial make-up should be light and family appropriate.  Most of the time you won’t want any because of spraying on sun-block.

Shoes.  Closed to shoes are a must.  Straw hurts when it gets wedged into a sandal.

We retain all rights to judge and decide on issues relating to employee personal appearance on the the job.

Work Communications, Safety, Clock-In
Radio Operation.  Channel 1 is the farm channel.  Radios are for official use only.  To talk over the radio, listen to make sure no one else is trying to talk; press the side button for a second, then begin speaking clearly.  If you are trying to locate a particular employee say, “Paul, do you have a copy, Paul.”  Repeating the person’s name increases the chances they will hear you in case you didn’t hold down that side button before speaking.

Clocking In / Out.  During our fall season we have you fill out time cards.  There is a time card holder in the Admissions Building, Maze Information Booth & Lean-To.  Wherever you sign in, sign out at the same place.

Arrival at Work.  Employees are expected to arrive to work 5-10 minutes BEFORE their scheduled shift to receive assignments.

Personal Cell Phones.  Employees are welcome to carry their personal cell phones.  Your ringers should be turned OFF.  Do not take or make personal calls during work hours.  Do not even try to LOOK at your phone while guests are present.  We do, however, appreciate it if you see a nice picture for our website to take it and email it to julie@creekbedfarm.com.  If you are taking someone’s photo, please ask them if it’s OK with them before you snap the pic.

Weather
We will contact you!  Make sure that Julie or Darrell have the best number to call or tet you at.  If there is bad weather, you’ll receive a text notice from whentowork.com an hour before your shift is to start.  Make sure you set up text messaging in whentowork.com.  The instructions for that are found at https://when2work.com/help/mgr/h-textmessages/

For example, if I want to set up text messages for my cell number (I have US Cellular as a provider), I would enter in:
6086974141@email.uscc.net under the contact / text section of my employee information.

If bad weather approaches while you’re here at the Farmacy, we will come and get you if you are in the field.  We keep a weather radio in the camper, as well as getting weather alerts on our phones.  If it starts raining hard, we’ll have you call your ride or go home.  If there is  a tornado, we will go to the farmhouse basement until it passes.

Scheduling
We use whentowork.com to schedule everyone.  You will be emailed instructions on how to log in.  If you have difficulties please contact JULIE.  You may also check the schedule book at the camper or the lean-to.

If you are on the schedule, and something comes up - it’s YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to find someone to cover your shift pending our approval.

Parental Involvement with Scheduling.  Parents are expected to assist the employee in achieving perfect attendance records.  Parents may not call in for their children.  We believe it is important for our youth workers to learn the responsibility of managing their time and taking responsibility for their actions.  Please take the time to impress upon your young adult the importance of on-time work performance.

Working Hours and Pay.  We do not guarantee any number of hours per week or per day.  We reserve all rights to make schedules and pay rates according to performance, experience and ability.

Some of the hours are weather dependent.  

We do not discriminate against any person’s characteristics or beliefs.  We do reserve all rights to create the best experience for our guests, and thereby reserve the rights to control our employees’ appearance, speech and actions while working at the Farmacy.  That being said, if any fellow employees or guests are making you uncomfortable, please contact us immediately.  We want you to feel safe in your work environment.

Professional Behavior
Respect Other Employees.  You are required to offer respect to your fellow employees.  If you are introduced to someone new, greet them and put forth your best effort to work together.   We usually have more people apply than we can hire, so find a way to work out any issues you may have - or you will be asked to leave. Again, if you have a safety concern regarding employee conduct - please bring it to our attention immediately.

Smoking.  Employee smoking is not allowed on the job.  If you need to take a break and pretend you’re a chimney, please go to the smoking area designated by Darrell or Julie.

Drugs in the workplace.  If an employee comes to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol, that employee will be fired and wages for that week will be garnished as reparations for impacts on our guests.  We will contact the proper authorities and/or summon your parents.  We expect full cooperation from parents in dealing with these situations.

Disciplinary Actions.  We operate on the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” principle.  If you receive three negative marks during one season of your employment, your position will be terminated.  Strikes are by management for tardiness, leaving work early without authorization, poor quality work, inappropriate behavior to employees or guests, unsafe working habits or other behavior that is deemed counterproductive.  The first infraction is between the employee and management.  Parents of youth workers are notified of the second infraction.  On the third infraction, your employment will be terminated.  We are looking for good employees and will NOT tolerate a poor work ethic.  (Parents may request to be notified of the first infraction).

Guest Interaction
Every Employee is required to interact with our guests.  If you cannot hold a conversation or greet guests warmly, choose another job.

Appropriate interaction may include, but would not be limited to:
Saying hello & asking how their day is going
Encouraging them to visit again in the Fall
Sharing facts about the farm
Asking if you can help or give a tip about making picking easier
Asking what they’re using their strawberries for.  Show interest in their recipes, etc.

Our guests are paying to be treated like honored guests for the day.  Most people don’t get honorable treatment when they go out, so we really shine when we show them how much we appreciate their business.

Dealing with Difficult Guests.  Difficult guests represent two key situations:
Something probably under OUR control has gone wrong;
We have the opportunity to win that guest for life.

Our system for handling complaints.  After the guest has approached you and you have determined that something is wrong, take them aside (away from other guests) and ask them to explain their situation.
Once they start to tell you the story, don’t interrupt them.  Wait until they’ve explained the entire situation.
Give them a couple seconds of silence after you think they’re finished talking, just in case they have more to say.
Tell them, “Thank you for your feedback.  I’d like to repeat back to you my understanding of the situation.” Once finished say, “Is that a fair understanding of the situation?”
If it is, say “I’m glad we’re on the same page.  (Sir or Ma’am) we’re pleased you came out to the Farmacy and we want to make your experience the best possible every time you visit.  What may we do to fix this problem and make it right with you?”  THIS MAY SOUND SUPER CHEESY - but you must show the customer that you are sincere.
Once you have identified the problem and heard the guest’s suggested solution, implement the solution if it sounds fair to you - then tell Darrell or Julie about it and how you handled it.  EXAMPLE:

A guest comes to you and states that they received a few bad berries in their pre-picked tray.  You say, “How may I help make this right?  Please take this free quart of strawberries.”  If they’re good with that - end the conversation with; “Let me know if I may do anything else for you.  Thanks for coming to the Farmacy!”
REMEMBER:  LISTEN, REVEIW, SUGGEST / ASK FOR A PROPOSAL, SOLVE THE PROBLEM, ALERT JULIE OR DARRELL.

The Unreasonable 1%.   If a guest is irate because they were ejected for breaking the rules, and keep arguing after you’ve started the steps above, reply calmly “Excuse me, I will get the owner to come and speak with you right away.” THEN CALL JULIE!
This may happen if people are trying to sneak in dogs (ONLY SERVICE DOGS ARE ALLOWED - NO EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS ACCORDING TO THE FOOD SAFETY MODERNIZATION ACT, OUR INSURANCE PROVIDER AND ADA RULES).  They may even try to flash an official looking Service animal ID card at you - these are all FAKE and purchased from the internet.  The state of Wisconsin does not issue any service dog ID’s. Please review all other farm rules on our website at https://www.creekbedcountryfarmacy.com/corn-maze/

Thank you for taking the time to read through our expectations.  We look forward to working with you this season and appreciate all that you do to help make the Farmacy a great place to work & visit!