by Beth | Aug 10, 2022 | Company Culture
“I hired a Cultural Terrorist,” my client announced to me last week.
“A cultural terrorist?” I repeated.
“Yes,” my client lamented. “She was our top salesperson by a lot of money, but we simply couldn’t keep her anymore. She made everyone’s life here miserable, including mine. I lost a few key performers over her. So finally, I fired her. “
“What happened next?” I asked, wide-eyed.
“You wouldn’t believe it! First of all, just the energy around here is lighter. People laugh more. There is more talking in the bullpen. But also, the second layer of salespeople have totally stepped up and in the 6 weeks since I fired her, the next four salespeople have almost made up the difference,” she said. “It’s as if everyone knew what a trainwreck she was, and the awful stories that I am hearing about her… well, it was the right thing to do, and I should have done it months ago.”
Like my client, when you hire an employee like this, it has a few effects. They only care about themselves. They use up resources. They are nasty to other employees. This is called a cultural terrorist. That ONE employee can ruin your business, your reputation with your clients, and your ability to keep your people working for you. They aren’t worth the money that they make for you, and it is time to let them go.
POWER THOUGHT: Don’t sacrifice the whole staff for ONE cultural terrorist. Cut bait and move on.
by Beth | Jul 27, 2022 | Employee Hiring, Employee Retention, Interview Techniques, Recruiting
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by Beth | Jul 13, 2022 | Lifestyle
My daughter Katy has 3 high school friends that I take on vacation every year. I absolutely love going on vacation with them, and this year, we went to Key West Florida to dig through the sand for seashells.
Also every year, I worry about leaving on vacation. I worry that my clients will be mad that I am gone. I worry that something big is gong to happen while I am not there. I worry that putting off the recruiting process will drag out longer than I want it to… worry, worry and more worry.
Here is the truth: none of those worries ever come to fruition. As a matter of fact, the opposite is usually true. My clients are able to get more work done, because I am not there. They are relieved that they get to take a break, and typically, the hiring process goes faster upon my return.
In addition, I am happier and more relaxed, and I have time to think about the hiring process from the 30,000 foot view, not just from the ground level.
Vacations have always been important: whether you go somewhere exotic or have a “stay-cation” and spend the week at the pool working on your tan lines. But especially this year, vacation is more important than EVER.
Not only are people burnt out, a huge amount of people are leaving their jobs. If you want to keep your best employees, my advice is always to let them go on vacation. And when they are gone, make sure that you are covering their work so that they can completely unplug.
We know that innovation comes from experiences outside the office. So, if you are worried that no work will get done, some of the BEST work happens when you and your team unplug.
When we return, we all have killer tans, and you get solutions to big problems.
Win/win.
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.
