As the holiday season approaches, several inevitable occurrences will try our patience. Along with people jostling in lines, the NASCAR-like jockeying in the parking lots, out-of-stock merchandise and interminably long lines for Santa, we also have to endure the banes of holiday shoppers—temporary help in stores and holiday-decorated “tip jars.”Let’s start with temporary help. Most temps receive only perfunctory training year-round, not only during the holiday rush. Why spend time thoroughly training people who will only be employed for a short time?

In that regard, I’m reminded of a company that won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award several years ago—Pal’s Sudden Service in Tennessee, a fast food chain. The company spends as much time training part time and temporary help as it does permanent employees. When asked “Why?,” the response from president and CEO Thom Crosby was, “We train our temps and part-timers in the same manner as our permanent staff. What if temps and part-timers remain on our payroll due to increased business? We end up with untrained staff, and customer service quickly deteriorates.” That’s one of the reasons their company is an award winner.

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