by Beth | Jun 29, 2022 | Good Management
When I owned my restaurant, we would have really busy times, and in those busy times, I would jump behind the counter and help my staff serve our customers. I was notorious for making margaritas by the bucket. I would go into the basement, get out the tequila, lime juice, triple sec, and apple juice (our secret ingredient) and literally create buckets of margaritas to serve with our amazing enchiladas and nachos.
While my staff was thrilled to have me help them get our customers served as quickly as possible, it was a short term fix to a much larger issue. When we would get hit with a rush of people, as the owner of the company, my time was NOT best served by helping out my staff in the moment… my time was best served by getting more staff on the floor in order to help the customers get their orders. In other words, I needed to focus on the bigger picture… why we were short staffed at all in that moment.
Three years into owning the restaurant, I quit making margaritas. I refused to step back behind the bar to help, but instead I would begin calling to get more people on the floor. When I hired a general manager, it became his job to make those calls, and my job was to make sure that we had enough staff trained and ready to go for the busy times.
I see this all the time with my clients. They spend their time doing the extra work when they should be spending time looking at the business as a whole. In other words, make your margaritas on Saturday, and focus on your whole business during the week.
¡Olé!
Power Thought: Observe the margarita makers.
by Beth | Jun 15, 2022 | Employee Hiring
I had a client call me last week with a question of whether or not to re-hire a former employee, and I am positive that he isn’t the only one thinking about it. In addition, it seems that employees are thinking about it too. According to Monster, 30% of former employees are trying to go back to their old jobs, with an additional 20% are thinking about it:
So, what I said to my client is “well, it depends.” Here are some things to think about if you want to re-hire a former employee:
1. Did your re-hire “leave well” by giving you notice and wrapping up projects before their departure? Did they leave on good terms and help with creating a job description or training their replacement? Remember that the way your employee left you the first time will most likely be the way that they leave you the second time.
2. Will your re-hire add value to your current culture? Chances are your business has changed since your employee has left. Make sure that this person is still a fit for your business and the position.
3. Realize that it may be short term. If your re-hire left once, it is most likely because certain needs were not being met. Are those needs being met now? What has changed since their last period of employment with you? Make sure that you both address those un-met needs before bringing them back on board.
One of my former colleagues in the restaurant industry often had kitchen staff that would periodically leave for more money, less hours, etc. He always thanked them for their service and let them pursue the new opportunity. Invariably, they would realize that life was not always greener on the other side of the fence and would try to come back. The ones that left well with integrity and honesty were hired back immediately. Those who left ungracefully, were not hired back.
POWER THOUGHT: Going back to an old employee is sometimes just that: going backwards.
by Beth | Jun 1, 2022 | Employee Retention
Over Memorial Day weekend, my daughter, Katy, decided to foster a Mama dog and her four puppies. We spent 24 hours getting the house ready and drove to the Hylands area near Westminster, Colorado, to pick them up. Then, we spent Memorial Day doing nothing but sitting on the floor staring at the babies. We laughed loudly at the antics these babies had for getting to the food source! We bonded over naming them: Mama Lily, Aspen and Barley, the boys, and Sage and Clover are the girls. We created lasting memories.
This experience reminded me of something vital in the workplace that many of us forget. Retention is so much easier when the employees are bonded and create lovely memories together. Most people generally don’t want to leave their jobs because it is very stressful. Retention is simply providing the motivation to stay, and the best way to do that is this:
1) provide a great place to work
2) provide great work
3) provide bonding experiences
4) pay well.
And I would now add volunteering together to save puppies.
Power thought: It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. Retaining your staff doesn’t have to be ruff!
by Beth | May 18, 2022 | Company Culture
As many of you know, my daughter, Katy has had several surgeries over the last 12 years, and as a kid, she never learned to do a cartwheel…until last week.
Katy is a junior at the University of Miami and is right in the middle of finals. When she simply couldn’t study ONE MORE MINUTE, she and her friends went running through the park to get their Wheaties out. One of her friends executed a perfect cartwheel and encouraged Katy to try. She was nervous, but she tried. And succeeded! She was so excited!
Doing things that we have never done before is vital to our growth and longevity. It also boosts our confidence, which begets doing other things we have never done before. Then we have better creativity, better innovation, and more efficient progress. In addition, it creates a bond to your employee that is unlike any other.
If you want to retain your people, to elevate culture, encourage your employees to learn something new. Brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand, drive to work a different way, or attend a conference.
Soon enough, you and your whole team will be turning cartwheels!
by Beth | May 4, 2022 | Employee Hiring
I am interviewing with one of my favorite clients for a high-level employee making in the 6 figures. A gentleman that we interviewed trashed his last boss, and then asked what type of product we sell. The name of the product is in the company name. He continued to ask questions that would have easily been answered if he had gone to the website for a mere 5 minutes. He chose not to do any research.
My client said, “He sounds like the type of guy that shows up to the gym in jeans.”
Being prepared when you are interviewing for a job is simply a MUST. If you aren’t willing to do even a little bit of research on the company with whom you are interviewing, that is a direct reflection of your (dis)interest in the company and a job.
On the flip side, you as the employer must also be prepared for your interview. Know their name. Have the job description in front of you, so that you can answer questions about expectations. Also, know ahead of time the pay, who the supervisor will be, what the training program will look like and who will be in charge of that process.
POWER THOUGHT: Don’t sweat hiring! Show up raring to go! (In the right clothes, of course!)
