by Beth | Jun 24, 2024 | Uncategorized
When I was in college, I lived with my brother and cousin in a condo right north of campus in Austin, Texas. (Hook ‘em Horns!) Anyhoo, when it came time to study for finals, the boys would suddenly get the cleaning bug. They would scrub cabinets, carpets, toilets, grout, windows, trash cans, seats in their cars, baseboards, the fridge, microwave and particularly, the oven. Seemingly until finals, they had zero interest in cleaning.
Fast forward to today, I am working on book number 5. Actually, I am working on NOT working on book #5. I am doing everything that I possibly can to avoid sitting down to write the damn thing.
Recently, I have scrubbed every cabinet, every drawer, cleaned out every closet, and changed every filter on every major appliance in my house. All under the guise of WORKING. Do these things need to be done? Yes. Do they have to be done NOW? No. Do they have to be done by me? Also no.
To be fair to myself, there are times when doing menial labor can actually spur on the creative process. I have written many a blog while doing dishes, but this is not one of those times. I simply need to sit down and write, or this book will never get finished.
I am Procrasta-working.
Usually, I am pretty good about getting the things done that need to get done. I usually have a list of the top three things that I HAVE to do that day, and I work hard on getting those done first thing in the morning when I am at my best. Not this time.
You didn’t know this, my dear reader, but you just became my accountability partner in getting this book written.
Congratulations.
Cleaning my oven is just going to have to wait.
POWER THOUGHT: Procrasta-working is doing all the things without doing the thing.
by Beth | Jun 18, 2024 | Employee Retention
I was sitting in a client’s office a few weeks back when my client offered me some coffee. We went to the kitchen and there was the most beautiful coffee machine I have ever seen. I made the yummiest, most foamy cup of coffee out of this work of art, and the angels sang.
As I ooh’ed and ahh’ed over this cup of magic, there were 2 other employees in the room. I gushed to them: “Are you just in heaven every morning with this coffee machine?” And one of them replied, “Oh no. I drink coffee out of an old pot,” she announced proudly. The other woman nodded and beamed at me. I looked at her like she had grown a third head and said, “What?? WHY?”. Her answer shocked me: “The CFO makes our coffee every morning out of a pot in his office.”
Several years ago, in their old building, the finance department was in the basement, far away from the kitchen. So, the CFO who came in really early, would make the coffee every morning. The habit stuck.
She continued her story with, “He goes to Target once a week to buy a small bag of this coffee. I don’t know why he doesn’t just buy a big bag.” (“Because it gets stale faster”, the CFO informed me.)
Each of these women have worked for this CFO for 5 and 6 years respectively, and neither has any plans of ever leaving.
Maybe it is the love that goes into each cup of coffee – something a fancy machine can never do.
POWER THOUGHT: The best part of waking up is going to a job where you feel valued and cared for.
by Beth | Jun 5, 2024 | Employee Hiring
When I bought my house three years ago, I decided that I wanted some new dishes to complement my regular white ones. I actually walked into Williams Sonoma and bought 8 blue dinner plates and 8 blue salad plates to go with my blue kitchen. I also bought 8 blue linen napkins to round out the place setting. I was in total bliss.
Every year at Christmas, I host my Vistage group for our Christmas meeting. I have one red and green table and one blue and silver table to accommodate about 16 people. I pulled out my trusty blue linen napkins and alas! I could only find 7.
I looked EVERYWHERE for that missing blue napkin. I thank my lucky stars that one person in our Vistage group couldn’t attend the meeting, so I only needed 7 blue napkins.
But still.
This spring, I cleaned every closet, every cabinet, every crevice, crook and cranny of my house, and I couldn’t find that damn thing anywhere. Finally, I started looking at the Williams Sonoma website to buy 8 more napkins, but my OCD kicked in when I realized I would still be short one napkin.
SIGH.
Then, one night, I was going to Boulder to have dinner with my good friends, Lisa and Michael. It was a hot night so I put on a sundress. I turned around to walk out of the bathroom, and there on the floor in the middle of the bathroom was the blue napkin.
WHAT??? My only guess is that thanks to good ole static cling, it was stuck to my dress.
This exact situation happens in hiring all the time. You search and search. You interview. You lament. You worry. You cling to hope. Until one day, your amazing employee drops in your lap. And then, you are so happy that you forget all the other horror.
You are so happy that you hired a great employee, and I am so happy that I have an even number of napkins. YAY!
POWER THOUGHT: Your napkin/employee isn’t lost. It just hasn’t dropped into your lap yet. Keep searching.
by Beth | May 22, 2024 | Lifestyle
In February, my beloved friends, Shelly and Jeff, came to visit me for the weekend. We had a BALL! We drove to the mountains one day, ate at my favorite restaurants, hung out and got caught up. It was a lovely, lovely weekend.
While we were making dinner one night, I dropped a jar of salsa. It spilled everywhere, shattering glass and tomato chunks all over the floor. I dutifully cleaned it up.
A few weeks later, I dropped a piece of lettuce on the floor, and I noticed that some chunks of salsa were stuck to the side of the refrigerator, but I was in a hurry and didn’t do anything about it. And, I continued to not do anything about it… for 3 months.
Sigh.
Every time I walked into my kitchen or sat at my dining room table, I would euphemistically slap my forehead and say, “Oh yeah! I need to clean that!”. Then, I was off doing the next thing.
I am horrified to report that last week (May 15th) I cleaned the dried salsa off my refrigerator. It took less than 5 seconds.
We all have that running to-do list that includes things like cleaning the salsa, and it can eat away at you if you aren’t careful. I saw this video that said to do ONE more thing each day before you knock off work. Just one. Food for thought!
And, I feel so much better about my clean fridge that I am using it for blog material. 😊
POWER THOUGHT: Clean the salsa. Then you have time to LEARN the salsa.
by Beth | May 8, 2024 | Employee Retention
As many of you know, my daughter, Katy, is a postpartum nurse at a hospital outside of Dallas, Texas. About 8 weeks after she started out on her own, a young couple gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and Katy was their nurse. They were so moved by the care that Katy gave them, that they named their baby girl, Amelia Kate, after Katy.
What Katy didn’t know is that they also nominated her for A DAISY award. The DAISY Foundation was founded in 1999 in the memory of Patrick Barnes, who died after an 8-week hospitalization. The Barnes family was so grateful for the nursing care that their family received, they started the foundation as a way to recognize compassionate nurses. To date, there have been 2.5 million nominations across 39 countries.
According to research, organizations that recognize nurses through the DAISY awards have higher retention rates for nurses, better recruitment, and happier, healthier work environments. It reminds nurses why they became nurses, and recognition helps elevate care across the industry. Nurses are more engaged in organizations where DAISY awards exist, and patient care is enhanced. You can read more about it here: www.daisyfoundation.org
Katy says that a DAISY award is the Academy Awards for nurses. And, she won. I am bursting at the seams with pride.
What is your company doing to recognize outstanding work?
POWER THOUGHT: “Nurse” your employees through recognition.
